Library Corner - Religious Christmas Books

Christmas is officially over today as we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.  We've really enjoyed being able to spend the extra time focusing on Jesus' birth, especially reading all these great religious Christmas stories!
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell - I love this book. The illustrations are beautiful, the text is simple, and the message of peace and love is perfect. This is a great book to help introduce little ones to the message of Jesus.

Little Star by Anthony DeStefano - I was sent this book by the author and asked to review it.  At first I was worried that it would be a little too advanced for M's age, but she was completely captivated by the story.  It tells the story of a little star who gives his whole self to shine for the baby Jesus, even after all the other stars decided that Jesus was not important enough to shine for.  I knew this was a winner for our family when M said "That was a good book!"  I'm so happy we are able to add this to our Christmas book collection!

B is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet by Isabel Wilner - A nice little alphabet book with each letter referring to a different part of the Christmas Story. The illustrations are great as well. I think this is the perfect addition to our library and have already added it to our Amazon wish list!

Small Camel Follows the Star by Rachel Brown - This was the perfect book to read on Epiphany.  I love that the smallest camel was given the most important job of carrying the gifts for Jesus, just as Jesus, who gave us the greatest gift of all, was born as a child of the poor.

We also enjoyed these books:

Library Corner - Christmas Books

I know Christmas is over, but I still wanted to share some our favorite Christmas books from over the past few weeks!

Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O'Connor - By far M's favorite.  She just loves Fancy Nancy!

Christmas is Coming by Anne Bowen - M could really relate to this adorable story told from the point of view of a little girl telling her baby brother about Christmas. 

Snowbear's Christmas Countdown by Theresa Smythe - I REALLY enjoyed the illustrations in this book.

Counting to Christmas by Nancy Tafuri - A cute little story about the various activities a little girl does to get ready for Christmas

I Spy A Christmas Tree by Jean Marzollo - M loves I Spy activities, so this wa a really fun book for her. The items were not impossible to find but still difficult enough to be a challenge.

Mother Hubbard's Christmas by John o'Brien - This was a funny little twist on the classic nursery rhyme

Secular Christmas Week in a Glance - M is 33 months, R is 13 months

We had a really great week as far as school goes.  My husband is a teacher and is home for winter break, so I was really able to get a lot done with M while he was watching R.  We also had a week off from my moms group so we had plenty of extra time on our hands!

Preschool Skills
M worked on these Alphabet Trees - she had to stamp each of the letters using dot markers based on the color key.

M matched these candycanes based on patterns and colors.

M graphed reindeer using this unit.  The spinner I made wasn't working very well, so we had a sort of complicated set up.  I had M roll a dice, then move the spinner that number of spaces.  Whatever color the spinner landed on was marked on the reindeer graph.

M sorted ornaments onto this Christmas tree sorting mat based on color and pattern.

M worked on this Christmas tree color by number (and the candy cane size sort from the same site, I just didn't get a picture).

Art
Both kids made handprint Christmas trees.

M used some paint with water books with her cousins on Christmas (our way of keeping them busy so us adults could play Monopoly!)

I also had M and her cousins make Christmas trees using triangles of green construction paper and foam stickers.  Then we cut slits in a toilet paper roll and put the paper in to use as a tree trunk.  I don't have a picture of her working on it, but here is my adorable nephew showing his off!

Life
M started using her first scrapbook.

We set up our Christmas Tree and the kids put their own ornaments on. (Every year they choose their own - M's was a Cinderella one and R had a little yarn lion).

M helped me make eggs one morning by helping me whisk.

Early in the week we were invited to a friends house for a playdate and she had the kids make chocolate spoons.  She basically melted chocolate chips and we dipped plastic spoons in them.  After placing them on wax paper, the kids sprinkled w/ crushed peppermint, nuts, sprinkles, and marshmallows.  It was such a fantastic idea that later in the week we decided to copy her and M made chocolate coffee spoons as gifts for family.

M practiced using her new tricycle from Santa.  She did ok, but I have a feeling she'll need alot more practice in order to have the coordination down to ride it!

What a busy week!  One of the great things about being Catholic is that we still have plenty of Christmas left!  The next two weeks we will be working on Religious Christmas activities, so if you are still celebrating Christmas like us, or are just saving ideas for next year, stay tuned!

We'll be linking up to Preschool Corner as well as Tot School.  Visit their websites to find some more great learning activities!

First Scrapbook

M has really started taking an interest in the mail lately, and is always looking for something that she could steal and keep for herself.  My husband thought it would be a great idea for M to have a "scrapbook" of her own - a little place where she could keep things that she likes or thinks are pretty, or just have some sort of special meaning to her.  And so I bought a little picture album, and that's exactly what we're doing!

First Scrapbook

Materials: Photo album with pages that peel/stick.  Items to put inside.

How to:  Any time your child finds an item they would like to keep, have them peel the pages back and place it inside their scrapbook.  Ours started off with some pretty postcards that were included in a mailing from our zoo, and a 2011 calender that was in a Disney DVD package.  I can putting items from magazines, ticket stubs, pictures, artwork, anything that your child would like to keep!

Baby & Toddler Christmas Tree Craft

This was such an easy and quick craft to make!  In fact we made it in the 10 minutes immediately before dinner to get my kid's minds off of screaming and whining for food.  And let me tell you, it might seem like a really bad idea to cover a child's entire hand with paint, but the awesomeness in this craft is that you control that hand!  Paint it up, stamp it down on the paper and immediately clean it off with your stash of baby wipes, and you're done!

Theme: Art/Music

Materials: Green paint, brush or sponge, paper, foam stickers to decorate, brown marker

How to:  Wash and dry your children's hands.  Brush or sponge green paint on one hand and stamp it on the page.  Stamp two more in the next row, and three in the next.  Wash your child's hands immediately and let the paint  dry on the paper.  Turn it around, color in a tree stump, and let your child go crazy decorating it with stickers!

Source: Chronicles of an Infant Bibliophile

Gingerbread Week in a Glance - M is 33 Months Old, R is 12 Months Old

We had a lot of fun with the gingerbread theme this week.  I had so much more in mind to do than what actually got done, but I suppose that's normal for this time of year!

We had a great time with some art projects for our Gingerbread Family Night.

We worked on several preschool skills type projects, including:

Run from the Fox Tracing Activities, Alphabet Matching, Create-A-Pattern, Size Sequencing, and Beginning Sound Cards from the Gingerbread Baby Lapbook at Homeschool Creations and the Gingerbread Counting Printable from Along the Way.

M had a great time playing with some Christmas themed apps on the iPad, especially this one where she could decorate her own Christmas tree.

R had some more fun using the tops from the squeezable baby food pouches.  This time he enjoyed putting them into all the little holes in a large egg flat.

Both kids had a great time playing in the snow from a very unusual-for-New-Mexico winter storm.

That's all for this week!  Next week we'll be working on Secular Christmas Activities.

We'll be linking up to Preschool Corner as well as Tot School.  Visit their websites to find some more great learning activities!