We’ve had some fun getting into this month’s special Christmas activity pack. We spent a whole morning exploring some of the crafts and games that were included, and it was fun to see the kids’ creativity come out. The first was a number game where we had Santa’s beard, some cotton balls, some numbered stockings, and an angry elf (who Natalie named “The Evil Boo-ba”). The object of the game was to pull stockings randomly from my hand and place a cottonball on the matching number on Santa’s beard. However, if you drew “The Evil Bee-ba”, you had to take away three of the cottonballs.

Santa and his beard


Numbered stockings

The Evil Boo-ba (dun dun dunnnnnn)

I appreciated that this game was more of a cooperative activity, with both kids trying to meet the goal together. Overall, a successful fun activity that helped reintroduce some larger numbers for Peter (11-16), and gave Natalie a chance to help encourage Peter along.

The next activity was reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas with some fun paper cut-outs. Although we’ve chosen as a family not to do the whole Santa thing ourselves, we still approach it just like any other fairytale with our kids and encourage them to enjoy the stories while acknowledging that it’s make-believe. Natalie stayed in the kitchen while I read this, while Peter took the opportunity to get into trouble in the livingroom while Mommy was otherwise occupied.

Natalie’s design

Next came the fun Santa spoons! They have since put them in their school draws and pull them out occasionally to play with them.

Peter went for the concave design, gluing the eyes to the inside of the spoon. I personally like Santa’s wind-blown beard look.

Natalie went for the concave approach, putting the face on the back of the spoon. Her beard was a little more subtle, and I think her hat turned out more like the Pope’s than Santa, although hard to tell by this picture.

The finished masterpieces

These activities were so fun that they kept the kids’ attention, so we were able to fit in quite a bit this one morning. Next came the snowman. The original design called for shaving cream, but I decided to go in a more edible direction.

I was surprised at how well Peter kept with the design and really followed through with precision. He normally likes to do things his own way (well, really both of them do), but I saw a jump in his abilities this morning with how carefully he was placing the marshmallows. It was encouraging to recognize the change in developement, and I was reminded that my baby is going to be 3 in March. Craziness.

Of course we had to partake of the supplies mid-craft. It was a must.

Natalie’s snowman is the one on the left. I helped with her arms, hat, and nose, but she completed the rest on her own, including the gluing. Peter’s is on the right. I did stifle his creative expression a little by encouraging the placement of the nose to actually be on the face (I regret that now, as an abdomen nose would have been perfectly fine). He was able to glue the arms and buttons on, although the buttons were a little tricky and wanted to stay on his fingers more so than the snowman.

And last came the playdoh trees, as I knew that all bets would be off on continuing any more organized activities after the playdoh was introduced.

Peter’s decorated tree (one and done)

Natalie’s Christmas tree farm (I think she would have continued if she had been given more green playdoh.)

Lots of Christmas fun with Mother Goose Time this month!

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