I wanted so much to have a simple plan in place for the month of December. A plan that would not require a lot of money, one that would not cause me stress, and one that would be fun for us all. I couldn’t find a plan that included all the things I wanted to do, and utilized the books and resources I already had on-hand, so I decided to create my own. And I think it worked out better that way.
First, I gathered up all the Christmas books (and there were only 12 of them). We keep these in a bin with the Christmas decorations, so they’re still “new” to the children. I took them straight from storage and made a list of each one. Then I made a list of simple activities that could go along with each book. I took each day in December leading up to Christmas, and assigned a book and/or project to each of those 25 days.
I wrapped each book and attached a numbered circle (find the printable numbers here) to the appropriate book or an envelope.
The envelopes contain a piece of paper with an activity on it. The activities are simple, like “Make candy cane playdough,” “Make chocolate star cookies,” “Make Christmas cookies,” etc.
So, each day there is a book to open and/or a craft to do (some days we open a book and do a craft or activity, other days we just enjoy the book).
The first project (on Day 1) was to make some Candy Cane Playdough. I wanted to make this at the beginning of the month so they could enjoy it all month long.
I loved that it contains peppermint essential oil, which filled the room with such a wonderful minty aroma. And I love anything containing glitter.
My three-year-old was in a strange mood when we made the playdough, and he wasn’t sure about the glitter at first. He said, “Why did you have to add that stuff to it? It’s not supposed to be in there!” But he finally decided it was pretty neat and sparkly. And then he wanted to add quite a bit more.
We twisted them into beautiful candy canes.
This playdough kept the four younger children busy for quite some time. When I came by later, this is what they had made:
I love playdough and glitter! I don’t want to grow up. Or maybe it’s okay to grow up and still play with playdough and glitter.
What a great idea! I love the playdough! 🙂 Your children are so creative (and you are too!!)
Blessings to you!
Thanks, Tabitha!
♥Joy
I love Advent and all the preparations~
great ideas you have~
We're just reading an advent book each night…
Keeping it simple seems to be the best way…reading a book each night is great!
That's a great idea! I have been wanting to make some play dough and this would be fun!
Thanks!
Deanna
It's a great recipe–I'm so glad I found it!
What a great idea! And yes,its ok to still be playing with playdough!;)
Christina
Thanks, Christina! 🙂