Kid Crafts - Christmas!

Our first order of business with Christmas crafts was to make things to put on the tree.  We made a garland by stringing Cheerios and fruit rings on some yarn.  Zaxxon was more interested in eating than working, so at regular intervals I told him he had to string a dozen pieces before he could snack anymore, and I did the bulk of it--but that's okay because it was a fun activity to do together (I just wonder whether the garland will survive, untasted, until Christmas.)

We also worked on a paper chain garland.  I had him thread each piece of paper through the previous link, I applied glue, and then I told him to make the two edges of the paper kiss each other (this is how my mom taught him to help fold towels.)  He did, complete with kissing noises.  :)  He lost patience with this one pretty quick, so we'll come back to it a few different days in order to make the chain long enough to reach around the tree.

We did more cereal garlands to even out the look of the tree.  Once again I had to put limits on how much he could eat before he had to help me again, but we both had fun.  I'm thinking I might let him fill his cereal bowl from the garlands after Christmas is over.  Maybe.  It depends on how icky I think the cereal looks by then.  As long as it doesn't get wet, gnawed on, or dusty, it'll probably be okay.

Snowy sensory bin!!!

This is the first sensory bin I've made since Easter.  Wow, 8 months ago.  I strongly disliked the Easter one--the grass wasn't as fun to play with as I'd hoped, and it all stuck together, coming out in one giant clump which then shed all over the floor.  And the other objects would immediately sink below the grass, making removing it necessary to find the rest of the items.  Not good.  I guess I've just been too lazy/preoccupied to put together another one until now.

This is fake snow we got from Denver's Holiday Food and Gift Festival.  You put a teaspoon of the powder into a container, add approx. 2 ounces of water, and watch it grow.  Unlike most sensory bins, I gave this one to him empty and we filled it together, one little cupful at a time.

I think I'll try to hide some winter/Christmas knicknacks in there after a few days, to change it up a little.  I'll be playing with him a lot with this one--I love running my fingers through this stuff.  The only difficult thing about this bin is that the snow can make a huge mess fast.

I've told him I'm going to be extremely strict about the "it must stay in the bin" rule.  He tested me after about 20 minutes of playing with it, and away it went.  And he screamed for a bit.  I'm hoping he'll learn not to press this boundary much, because the bin is just too much fun.

We made the chain garland longer on Friday, so it stretches around the tree.  That's it for our crafts this week.  I'm hoping to do more of our usual sort of crafts, though still Christmas themed, over the next two weeks.




I'm sure Tot School has tons of holiday themed crafts this week!