Posted by Cindy on December 22, 2010
There’s a delicate balance to be made between getting a preschooler geared up for Christmas and keeping him geared down at the same time! We chose to do a craft or activity everyday so we could talk about different aspects of Christmas and prepare his little heart for the celebration of Jesus’ birthday. However, the activities were mixed in with “regular” school to keep the excitement factor under wraps. Why? I’ve been there and done that with two preschoolers in the past and too much excitement leads to crazy little people who can’t control themselves! lol
A construction paper count down chain
Play dough Christmas trees with jewel ornaments
Jingle bell bracelet
Christmas foam sticker graphing
Glittery pine cone ornaments
Measuring Christmas ribbons
Patterns with linking cubes
A relay with bows held by tongs
Christmas ornaments added to the tree from the roll of a die
A torn paper wreath
Water dropper ornaments - place waxed paper over a tree template and drop red colored water on the tree as ornaments
Simple construction paper gifts (that happened to turn into birthday thank you notes)
Christmas card collages
Hole-punch star decorations
Handprint, shoeprint reindeer
Pattern block pictures
The pattern block templates came from PreKinders.com.
Several Christmas printables
These printables came from 1+1+1=1.
Eli was a shepherd in a simple Christmas drama at church, too!
Posted by Cindy on December 22, 2009
This past weekend, our family took a Christmas train ride at the Bluegrass Railroad Museum. An old-fashioned steam engine pulled four antique passenger cars for an hour’s drive through the countryside. The cars were decked out with lights and streamers, the conductor punched letters into our tickets Polar Express style, and merry music played in the background – all of which made the trip very festive! Top that off with a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus and a conductor who led us in Christmas songs and hymns, and it was downright fun!
All Aboard!
Santa arrived in style....
much to the excitement of Eli!
Everyone got to visit personally with the big guy in red.
Mrs. Claus led us in songs.
The conductor led us in songs and talked to us about the REAL meaning of Christmas!
Our family wishes yours a blessed time celebrating the real meaning of Christmas as you remember and praise Him for the birth of Jesus who saves us from all our sins!
Posted by Cindy on December 21, 2008
Great December Reading
Oh, and have you met God? Apparently Eli has! Every time he gets his busy little fingers on a Santa ornament he says, “God.” (Very reverently, I might add.) His innocent little eyes looking up at us with complete seriousness that he is holding God right in his chubby little hands. 
Posted by Cindy on December 18, 2008
This has been such a relaxing and awesome study! Using Easy Fun School’s free unit titled The Names of Jesus, we’ve spent a little time each day focusing on one of His names from the Bible and creating a scrapbook-style keepsake for each name.
I chose not to include most of the other suggestions from the unit since we were already doing other things each day. It has given my children the chance to really focus on the meaning of each of Jesus’ names and plenty of time to create a daily scrapbook page.
Take a look at a few of their pages. What a great memory maker for them!
Posted by Cindy on December 15, 2008
Here’s one of my favorite and super-easy Christmas sweets.
Pretzel and Nut Bark
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup thin pretzels broken into small chunks
2/4 cup salted nuts of any kind (I use mixed nuts)
1/3 cup white chocolate chips or almond bark
2 Tablespoons (more or less) of Christmas colored sprinkles (any style)
Line 13×9″ pan with foil so that the foil hangs over the edges. In a large bowl, microwave the semisweet chocolate chips 1-2 minutes. (Stir the chips after one minute, microwave in 30 second increments until chips are melted.) Stir in pretzels and nuts. Spread in pan.
In a smaller bowl, microwave the white chocolate chips or almond bark for 1 minute or until melted. Place melted chocolate in a plastic ziptop baggie. Snip the corner and squeeze the chocolate over the bark in the pan. Lightly cover with sprinkles. Chill for about 1 hour (until firm).
Lift the bark out by the foil, then peel the foil away. Break the bark into pieces. Keep chilled until ready to eat.
