Tot School – Christmas Fun

Alex is almost 4, and Max is 27 months.

We’re doing a mix of typical tot school and Christmas activities right now.  We’re reading a little daily devotional book, using our Countdown Chains, and every day there’s something little (a book, a craft, stickers) in a gift bag under the tree.

The kids SO look forward to checking out the gift bag under the tree each morning.  They know that Mommy is the one putting things in there, but it doesn’t ruin the fun.  One day, there was a paint with water book that my mom found on clearance last year.  

  

Another day, it was magic capsules that grow in water.  After the capsules had grown, we used the sponges to stamp & paint on construction paper.  (Thanks, Jess H, for leaving a comment on my blog with that idea!)

 

Their favorite Christmas story so far is Room For A Little One.  It’s a sweet story with pretty watercolor illustrations that shares the birth of Jesus in a different way.  It’s not 100% realistic, as animals don’t talk, but it is a beautiful story.  Alex walks around the house now saying, “There’s always room for a little on here!”

One of the activities in our Christmas Countdown devotion book was to trace Christmas cookie cutters, color them, and hang them on the tree.  I knew my boys would NOT want to color, as it’s just not their thing.  Alex has been asking to paint lately, so I got out the finger paints.  We were out of paper plates, so I stuck the (non-toxic) finger paint on the boys’ lunch plates.

Below are the pictures of Max’s first time fingerpainting…I didn’t even think about that fact until he SCREAMED.  Apparently, while the bright colors LOOK pretty tasty, finger paint doesn’t taste very good.  Whoops!  Nothing a nice, big sippy cup of apple juice couldn’t fix! ;)

 

After the little taste-testing incident, Max refused to touch his fingers to the paint.  I grabbed some q-tips to use as disposable paint brushes.  He painted just a bit, but decided it was more fun to match the cookie cutters to the shapes that Mommy had traced on his paper.

Alex had a good time, though!  He had so much fun smearing paint that you can’t even see the original colors anymore…it’s just a blend of Christmas-y colors.

We mainly used resources from Over The Big Moon this week.  Alex enjoyed the size-sequencing of baby Jesus in the manger.  This week, I cut a sheet of construction paper in half and taped the two strips together.  I asked Alex to sequence the pictures from smallest to largest, then glue it to his paper.  He did a GREAT job!

Max was determined to do the “Which One Is Different” page.  I helped him make the first few circles; after that, he scribbled on the correct pictures. 

 

When he finished that page, he moved on to pre-writing.  Sort-of.  Really, he just wanted to scribble on the page.  He tried, though.  He SO badly wants to do what Alex does!

Alex, on the other hand, does a pretty good job with both of these activities!

We played this Christmas shape game from Living Life Intentionally.  Each player gets a tree and six shapes.  You take turns rolling the die, then placing that shape on your tree.  The first to fill their tree wins the game.

Max thought he was playing, but really, he was just randomly placing shapes on the tree as he desired. He’d roll the die on occasion just for fun.

Alex stamped the J and j, and Max just stamped on a piece of paper.

Max definitely has his own ideas for what he wants to do during Tot School these days.  I’d love to do things that are more to his level of learning, but he wants so badly to do what Alex is doing!  Oh well ~ he’s still learning, just in his own way! :)

(The J is for Jesus page is also from Living Life Intentionally.)

 

We hope that you & your kiddos are having fun rogether as you anticipate the coming of Christmas!

You can learn more about RRSP, Preschool Corner, or Tot School by clicking on the links below.  You’ll also see what other moms are doing with their tots and preschoolers!