Category Archives: Christmas

Dec7

Strawberry Santas

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I’ve been seeing photos of these little strawberry Santas popping up on my Facebook feed over the last couple of weeks, and I wanted to try it out.

I bought the largest strawberries that I could find because I thought it would be easier to use for this task. For the filling, I made basic white buttercream, but it would have worked well with fresh cream too, or maybe even creme fraiche or cream cheese.

The cut strawberry.

The cut strawberry.

The kids had a couple of strawberries each. L cut her own strawberries up, but I helped A with hers. We cut off the top to give it a flat base when we turned the strawberry upside down for the body. We cut off the point of the strawberry to make the Santa hat. The kids had a good time spooning buttercream onto the cut top of the strawberry to make the head. I think they ate quite a lot of the buttercream along the way too!

Adding buttercream.

Adding buttercream.

Both of the kids had trouble dabbing a small bit of buttercream onto the top of the Santa hat for the pom pom. The first couple had very large pom poms! They wiped the buttercream off these ones and ate it, before trying again.

Each strawberry Santa got two little sugar cachous as eyes and they were done. These were easy to make and didn’t take too long. The hardest part for the kids was waiting until after dinner to eat them!

Strawberry Santa

Strawberry Santa

Dec4

The First Christmas by Rod Campbell

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IMG_2803The First Christmas by Rod Campbell, boardbook, first published as My First Nativity by Macmillan Children’s Books in 2011, this edition published in 2014.

This sturdy boardbook offers a simple introduction to the original Christmas story for toddlers and preschoolers.

The illustrations are simple and appealing for young children, and the language has been simplified somewhat to reflect the intended audience. However, my kids had not encountered a couple of the words, such as ‘lowly’, which I needed to explain. They also had other questions related to the story, so The First Christmas was a good talking point to begin a discussion on the stories surrounding Christmas.

Nov30

Book Advent Calendar

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Each December as we count down to Christmas, the kids like to have an advent calendar to mark the days. There are many types of advent calendars available for purchase, but this year I was vaguely thinking about making one. Before I had decided on what I was going to make, I saw a picture of an advent calendar that someone had made up with books (I don’t know where the photo originated). I thought this was brilliant, as L and A love books. The picture I’d seen was using Christmas themed books, but I ended up just using books that I thought the kids would like.

Some of the books ready to be wrapped.

Some of the books ready to be wrapped.

A lot of the books came from my favourite secondhand bookshop (Canty’s Bookshop in Canberra), and some I bought from the Scholastic Book Club at the kids’ school. A few of the books were mine when I was a child, and I am now giving them to my kids. There is a mix of fiction and non-fiction, with a couple of Christmas themed books. I think L and A will enjoy these books, and they will form part of their Christmas presents.

 

All wrapped up.

All wrapped up.

I took 24 books and wrapped them in Christmas wrapping paper. Then I randomly sorted them and numbered them from one to twenty-four. I placed them all into a cardboard box with the numbers facing forwards. On the first of December, L will open the parcel numbered ‘1’, with one parcel for each day leading up to Christmas.

This is an advent calendar that you can really customise to your own child, by choosing books to their reading level and interests. It would be a lovely present for an adult too. Library books could be a good alternative to buying the books, especially if you want to use picture books or Christmas books, but don’t forget to return them!

Ready to be opened.

Ready to be opened.

Nov25

Ice-cream Cone Christmas Trees

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Waffle cones pre-cutting.

Waffle cones pre-cutting.

I saw this recipe on The Organised Housewife last week, and thought it looked like a quick and easy Christmas food idea. I went to gather our ingredients, but our local grocery store didn’t have any normal pointy ice-cream cones! They had plenty of flat bottomed cones, and waffle cones. I’d already told the kids I had a Christmas activity in mind for after dinner, and I didn’t have time (or the desire) to drive elsewhere to find the cones, so we went with waffle cones.

After cutting.

After cutting.

These could have made some very wonky Christmas trees, so I carefully cut off excess cone using a knife, so that when the cones were turned upside down they sat on a plate without falling over. The bits of cone that I cut off, Big L ate with ice-cream, buttercream, Nutella and sprinkles later.

Icing the cone.

Icing the cone.

Adding sprinkles.

Adding sprinkles.

L helped me to make up a portion of light green buttercream, which we used to cover the cones with. Then we added red and green m&ms, pastel coloured sprinkles and mini m&ms. The kids added jelly babies to the top point of their trees at the star/angel.

Carefully placing m&ms.

Carefully placing m&ms.

This was fun, messy and very sweet, but a great activity around Christmas time.

 

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Nov25

Peppa’s Christmas Wish

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IMG_2734Peppa’s Christmas Wish, boardbook, published by Ladybird Books in 2012.

In Peppa’s Christmas Wish, Peppa and George have been to see Santa and told him what they would like as a present. They spend Christmas day with Granny and Grandpa Pig, but when it comes time to open the presents, there doesn’t seem to be one for Peppa. Will she get her Christmas wish?

Peppa Pig is a staple in our house at the moment, the kids love her adventures, and really, I do too! When my preschooler saw a Christmas book featuring Peppa, she just had to have it. Being a sturdy boardbook has meant that my toddler could enjoy the story too, without damaging the book. He has spent quite a lot of time on his own with this book, just looking at the pictures. My preschooler loves the story and the illustrations, but then, she does love anything Peppa related. Peppa’s Christmas Wish is great for sharing with young children in the lead up to Christmas.

Nov23

Felt Christmas Tree Decorations

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IMG_2659I was browsing in Riot Art & Craft the other day and we came across these little felt decoration kits. They looked like fun, so I bought two.

Sorted and ready to go.

Sorted and ready to go.

The circles came pre-punched in felt rectangles, so the kids popped them all out then put the scraps in the bin. Once we’d sorted the circles into piles of different sizes, I noticed that we were short a few circles, and the kids had to go and get them from the bin (luckily they were in a new bin bag so there wasn’t anything yucky in there!). We sorted the piles from biggest to smallest to make it easier to pick up the right sized circles.

Threading the felt circles.

Threading the felt circles.

We tied knots in the end of the silver string and threaded the plastic needles. Then the kids got to work, first adding the cylindrical bead for the tree trunk, and then the felt circles in descending order and finally the star bead. This was where it got a little tricky however, because then the instructions suggested making a loop and taking the thread back through the beads and circles to tie it off at the base where we started. I had to help the kids do this, and the star bead mostly popped off when we tried to tie the thread at the opposite end. The star was easy to thread back on, and then I added a knot above it to stop it slipping off again.

I have added a drop of craft glue to the bottom of the trunk bead and the top of the star bead to prevent the thread pulling through in the future. And I trimmed the end of the thread ready to hang on the Christmas tree.

L (7 years) found this an easy and enjoyable activity that she could complete herself. On the other hand, A (5 years), had more difficulties and required more help with tying the knots and getting the thread back through everything. Putting on the beads and felt circles was easy enough, but she kept letting the thread go, and she had trouble re-threading the needle. A made several trees with help, and still enjoyed it, but L could have done this as a solo activity.

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Nov22

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Star! by P. Crumble and Louis Shea

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IMG_2545There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Star! by P. Crumble and Louis Shea, paperback picture book, published by Scholastic Australia in 2012.

Yet again, P. Crumble and Louis Shea has made us laugh with a wonderful twist on the tale of the Old Lady who swallowed some things that really couldn’t be good for her. In this wonderful Christmas themed story the Old Lady is up to her old trick of swallowing larger and larger items, including an elf and a whole tree!

Hilarious illustrations complement the funny text, and make this an excellent book for sharing. My kids like to spot things in the pictures, like the little mice that are hoarding lollies and having a ride on the reindeer. My favourite illustration was of the bookshelf when she swallows the elf, the names on the spines of the books are parodies of real books. The kids didn’t appreciate this as much as me, and preferred the scene with all the Christmas lights.

This edition has a very cool lenticular cover. When you tilt the book, the Old Lady goes from the bottom of the tree, up the tree into a position of eating the star. My preschooler loves to do this over and over.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Star! is a fun Christmas read for children in preschool and primary school.

Oct29

The Great Reindeer Rebellion by Lisa Trumbauer and Jannie Ho

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IMG_2445The Great Reindeer Rebellion by Lisa Trumbauer and illustrated by Jannie Ho, hardback picture book, first published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. in 2009, this edition published by Koala Books in 2010.

The reindeer have demands, so they decide to go on strike. They will not pull Santa’s sleigh until their conditions change. There’s only days until Christmas, and Santa needs someone to pull his sleigh, so he advertises for a sleigh team. He tries out cats and dogs, kangaroos and flamingos, will he find the right helpers in time to deliver all the presents?

This is probably our favourite Christmas book. It gets read all year round, with more frequent readings leading up to Christmas. My kids think it is hilarious. The illustrations are just as funny as the rhyming text, and I really enjoy reading this with my kids. I love the sleigh team trials, and the reasons that each animal isn’t up to par.

The Great Reindeer Rebellion is a fantastic Christmas book for preschool and primary school aged children. Be prepared to read this one again and again!

Jan8

Christmas Trees

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IMG_4030These Christmas tree shapes were in the Christmas bags from Riot Art & Craft, along with a container of Christmas card embellishments. The trees were a thin foam, and there were three each to decorate.

Foam tree shapes.

Foam tree shapes.

Embellishment pack.

Embellishment pack.

 

 

 

 

Some of the embellishments had paper backing that could be removed to reveal a sticky side to stick straight onto the tree or card. These bits of paper were very hard to remove, and in some cases, we actually pulled the sticky backing right off the embellishment along with the paper. After that we just used craft glue to stick the embellishments onto the trees.

Adding glitter glue.

Adding glitter glue.

Glitter glue in gold and silver added a final touch of sparkle to these great Christmas trees.

 

 

 

 

 

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A’s trees.

L's trees.

L’s trees.

 

 

 

 

 

Once they were dry we used blu-tack to stick them on our front door.

Jan8

Foam Santa

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While A was painting her Christmas wreath I decided to use a foam cone and foam ball to make a Santa Claus figure.

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I wanted to use the cone for the body, so I painted it red. I later added a black belt with silver buckle about midway up the cone. For the head, I used the foam ball, first painting it white. His hat was made from a red felt triangle, and the fluffy edge and pom pom on top are both made from cotton balls, as is the beard. Once all that was dry, I started to add facial features, but I didn’t get any further than placing two blue dots for eyes. I found I really liked the way it looked without a nose or mouth.

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Attaching the head to the body was a bit of a challenge, I tried using a long pin inserted into the apex of the cone, and the bottom of the ball, but it wasn’t strong enough. I fiddled with this for ages, using glue and pins, but still the head fell off. I really didn’t want a spontaneously decapitating Santa, so I used plenty of craft glue and attached a pop-stick as a support rod from the body to the head at the back. I had it lined up so the head was in a good position, and I left it to dry, which took ages, but it worked.

With the head finally attached, I cut two red pipe cleaners in half, and used one piece for each limb. I just stuck the sharp point of the pipe cleaner straight into the foam, and then bent them to give my Santa knees and elbows. I thought my Santa was perfect, but Big L said it looked like something out of Tim Burton’s The Night Before Christmas, anyway, I still like it! And the kids liked him too. He sat up on top of our TV throughout the Christmas period, watching to make sure we were all being good 🙂

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