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4 Ideas for Dress Up and Pretend Play at Christmas

The holidays bring all kinds of great opportunities for kids and creativity - crafts, decorations, and pretend play!

Here are a few ideas from momstown to help inspire imaginative play in your house this season.

 

decorate kids tree

 

1.  If you have a playroom or basement, why not set up a small tree just for kids to decorate? A perfect place for those homemade or older (not so precious) decorations!

 

elf workshop

 

2. Set up Santa's workshop - pull out the toy tools, make some elf hats and 'fix' the toys you have or build some new (pretend) ones!  Pretend to be Santa and use a sleigh or a plasmacar got into the action as a makeshift sled for toys!

 

elf workshop

elf workshop

 

3. Wrap up some items and put them under the tree! It's also great scissor and fine motor practice.

 

mary and joseph playdate

 

4.  These momstown kids really got into the pretend play with Mary and Joseph on the donkey!

 

sleigh plasmacar

 

 

mailbox pretend play

 

A toy mailbox (big or small) is a great way to have kids play Santa and mail letters!

Posted by Teacher Mom on 11/29/2011 - 13:14
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Make your own paper chain advent calendar

Advent calendars are such a fun way for kids to countdown to Christmas and build their excitement! No reason that a little learning can't come along for the ride. momstown's got a great way for kids of all ages to participate in the countdown, with our paper-chain advent calendar!

 

advent chain

What you need:

  • Construction paper (red and green)
  • Glue or stapler
  • Scissors

advent chainThe idea behind this is that for every day leading up to Christmas, you add to the paper chain. (OR you can make it ahead and have the kids rip off a chain each day for the countdown) If you alternate red and green you can practice patterning skills!

 

Cut strips of paper out long enough to be able to loop over and either glue or staple to make a link. Write (or have your child write) the number 1 on the first link.

 

Each day, add another link to the chain with the corresponding date number.advent chain

 

 

 

It will grow longer and longer as you go from December 1 to 25!

 

Alternatively, you can make and hang the whole chain with 25 numbers, and remove one each day so that the chain gets shorter as you count down.


Find a festive spot to hang your chain - you can have a few chains (one for each child) and hang them over a door, strung along a window - or wherever helps decorate the house for the holidays!

 

Here's a cute rhyme to go along with the chain:

 

How many days till christmas?

It seems a long, long spell,

But with this little chain

There's an easy way to tell

Each morning from the bottom,

one link take away,

and when there's only one link left,

It will be...................CHRISTMAS DAY!


 

momstown's got a few other advent ideas for you:

Turn baby socks into an advent calendar

Wrap up books for advent storytime

Posted by Teacher Mom on 11/24/2011 - 19:49
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Make your own five little bats puppets

Here's a great Halloween activity including a craft and fingerplay! momstown Burlington mamas made these to take home and share with their kids!

 

five little bats

What you need:

  • Black felt
  • Glue gun
  • Googly eyes
  • Scissors

Cut black felt into strips long enough to form circles around little fingers - they should fit yours, too! Cut out bat wings from felt and glue on back. Glue on googly eyes.

 

Five Little Bats fingerplay

 
Five little bats came flying in the door,
One flew away and that left only four.
Four little bats hiding in a tree,
One flew away and that left three.
Three little bats looking down at you,
One flew away and that left two.
Two little bats hiding from the sun,
One flew away and that left just one.
One little bat hanging all alone,
He flew away and then there were none.

 

Use the bat finger puppets to 'act out' the story. Then have your child try it - you can sing the fingerplay song together!

Inspiration from Frugal Family Fun Blog

Posted by Teacher Mom on 10/20/2011 - 21:03
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4 Teachable Moments this Halloween

halloween pumpkinHalloween is a fun celebration - lots of treats and tricks and costumes for young and old!

momstown has also discovered a few ways to find teachable moments this Halloween - here are our top 4:

 

 

1. Kids helping Kids

national unicef dayRemember those orange Unicef boxes? Well, they've gone virtual and moved online to carry on the tradition of kids helping kids, with the "Make October Count" campaign. Instead of asking for money while trick-or-treating, kids can create their own fundraising pages online and raise money towards education for kids around the world. Participating in a fundraising activity helps kids learn about the bigger world out there, and how they can make a difference for others. National Unicef Day is Oct 31 - their website has some great ways to introduce charitable giving to children.

 

2. Green your Halloween

green halloween blog hopPopular blogger A Little Bit of Momsense is hosting an online 'blog carnival' to help families find ways to make Halloween more eco-friendly. Click here to find ideas from families just like yours - such as costume swapping, better candy options, and reusable treat bag ideas! momstown has a few ideas too - like making your own treat bags, using egg cartons for Halloween crafts, and making bats from coffee filters!

 

 

3. Literacy Links

abc literacy halloweenABC Life Literacy has some great ideas on how to incorporate literacy into Halloween fun! Tell ghost stories, sort candy, bake together, do some spooky research, or make your own Halloween-themed online book with your child. Read the full article to find out how you can bring a literacy focus to Halloween this year.

 

 

4. Candy-free Options

halloween pencilsAllergy-aware and candy-free options abound for Halloween treats. momstown Finds has 23 ideas ranging from Halloween pencils, to temporary tattoos, to healthier 'treat' ideas! Read the full article here. 

 

 

 

Got a teachable moment to share? Let us know! We love comments  - thanks for stopping by.

 

Posted by Teacher Mom on 10/19/2011 - 18:57
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5 ways to add Literacy and Learning into Hallowe'en fun

ABC Life Literacy Canada brings to momstown some great ideas about how to incorporate literacy into Hallowe'en fun!

Hallowe'en isn’t just about dressing up and eating candy – it also provides fun opportunities to learn! Embracing the literacy activities already happening in your life makes it so much easier to ensure your family is getting 15 minutes of learning experiences a day. ABC Life Literacy Canada reminds families to practice literacy skills at Hallowe'en with some fun literacy tips, tricks and treats:

abc literacy halloween



1.    Tell ghost stories on Hallowe'en night. Make up your own stories or read a classic scary book together.


2.    Organize Halloween candy in different ways. Organize by shape, size, candy name, or even candy type, and then trade! This activity helps to reinforce basic math along with association and matching skills.


3.    Bake a pumpkin pie. Following recipes is a great way to improve both reading and math skills. Children can read the instructions out loud to help measure the ingredients when making a treat for the family.


4.    Research the history of Halloween, and share spooky statistics!


5.    Embrace the Power of Reading. Together, you and your child can create your own Halloween-themed e-book with Energizer’s Power of Reading program. Access the one-of-kind story builder and watch your story unfold.

Literacy benefits the entire family and is constantly happening in our daily lives. From writing a grocery list to surfing the Internet to reading the newspaper, learning happens in many ways all year round. Enjoy it this Hallowe'en!

Posted by Teacher Mom on 10/13/2011 - 19:12
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Use acorns for a fall patterning activity

Sometimes using new materials is all it takes to engage a child in a familiar activity! Patterning practice starts in preschool and builds throughout the early years as an important math concept. 

momstown kids brought home some acorns this week, and we turned it into a great patterning practice game!

 

acorn patterning

 

Because the sides and tops of acorns look different, you can use them to build patterns in a number of different ways!

 

How do I teach patterning with my child?  The most simple form of a pattern is A-B-A-B-A-B... Start there. Build a pattern yourself, and say the pattern 'rule' out loud as you build it, for example "acorn top, acorn bottom, acorn top, acorn bottom, acorn top..." then ask 'what comes next?' to see if your child can continue the pattern.

 

Some children will catch on quickly, others will take some time and practice. Don't worry - just let them experiment with their own patterns and sorting, and eventually it will 'click' for them.

 

leaves patterning

Once you've mastered the A-B-A-B pattern, you can move onto A-B-B, A-B-C and other more complex patterns. Using colours and shapes is also a great way to visually show children how patterns work.

 

You don't have to invest in special blocks or manipulatives - bring in some fall leaves in different colours and create a pattern with them!

 

Posted by Teacher Mom on 10/12/2011 - 20:55
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