We take all of December off from "formal" school work to do all things Christmas or to do nothing at all. I just want to soak it up while my kids still believe in all the magic.
I planned simple and easy themed days and the rest of our time was spent reading Christmas books. Our read aloud is Family Under the Bridge and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
We read the book Who Would Like a Christmas Tree that was all about how the tree is home to many different animals all year long. Then we watched a kid video about how the evergreen tree became a symbol of Christ. I couldn't have said it better myself it was so sweet saying that the boughs of the tree stretch out to God and the tree is like an arrow to heaven. I didn't know the story of Boniface so I learned something too. Then we made tree ornaments.
We watched and read Polar Express then built trains. Lydia actually put together the train herself for the first time. Then we had hot chocolate and added our own Polar Express under the tree. Last year we went on the Polar Express train. It was magical.
We watched all three versions of The Grinch. Gracies favorite is the Jim Carey one because you get to see the Grinch as a baby. Timmy likes the one in the movie theatre. I'm partial to the original because it reminds me of my own childhood. We made Grinch kabobs for snack.
Then I read to them How the Grinch Stole Christmas while they painted a Grinch of their own.
Our Grinch even got in our the Elf fun.
Our elves brought us a snowman breakfast and we watched the movie.
Then we made some pretend snow. Even I played with it because it's so cool. Then I broke out the snow cone machine and we we got our gloves and played with the closest thing we have to snow. Timmy even made a snowman.
My favorite movie! We painted our own Buddy Elf.
And then we decorated or hallways like Buddy decorated the store. Making these snowflakes was so much fun. Each one a surprise. The kids were so amazed. We also made paper chains. It's came out so cute!
We read 3 versions of this book. They bit said their favorite was the Gingerbread Friends.
Then we made homemade gingerbread and brought some to the neighbors. They came out so delicious!