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marianne
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I was wondering what you all are doing specifically with your preschoolers during Advent/Christmas. (and I have an idea to share!)
I got some green bulletin board paper from our teacher supply store, cut out the outline of a tall Christmas tree and taped it up to a door, with a brown piece of paper for the trunk at the bottom. My littles are enjoying making "ornaments" out of plain white paper and construction paper, and crayons and glitter glue. I draw circles that they decorate and cut out. Then we tape the ornaments up to the tree.
It's fun because it's open ended and they can be as creative as they want. Once the tree is up, it's so easy and they can do it on their own and stay occupied! My olders are going to get get sucked in to this one as well, I'm betting!
Any other fun ideas for the preschoolers?
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lapazfarm
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Great idea, Marianne!I have some of our activities up at my blog here:It's beginning to look a lot like...
I can't claim originality for it, though. I got the ideas from Meg at Montessori by Hand.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Dawn
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Marianne, I LOVE this idea, and it will be perfect for my littlest! Thanks! 
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
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SeaStar
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We got out the construction paper and glitter glue to make our annual star cards. Each child decorated their own card ( an angel and a star this year), and each time they do a good deed they can put a star on it. All the stars are little presents for Baby Jesus on his birthday. The good will is now flowing around here, and the cards are starting to fill up!
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montessori_lori
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We do lots of stuff, but here are a few of my favorites:
Like you guys, I like free-form projects that are open-ended with no "right" or "wrong" way. One thing they love is when I give them Christmas patterned paper (think scrapbooking paper) cut into different shapes and sizes; stickers, glue sticks, zigzag scissors, and construction paper. They make all sorts of things - cards, posters, wreaths, bookmarks, etc. I just leave the stuff out all the time and they can make something whenever they want.
One really fun project is Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments. Somehow, when you mix cinnamon and applesauce together, it morphs into this dough that makes great ornaments. I just do it by feel, mixing roughly the same amount of cinnamon and applesauce together. You can find containers of each inexpensively at the dollar store.
Roll it out like play-doh, cut out ornaments, make a hole at the top with a straw or pencil, and let them dry for a few days. They smell great and last forever - I just hung some on our tree that I made 10 years ago when I still taught preschool!
Here's a recipe if you're interested:
Applesauce Cinnamon Ornaments
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Meredith
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Lori, you always have such good ideas, I like everyone's!!
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Meredith
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Waverley
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Thank you all for the great ideas!
Marianne, I'll be making my paper Christmas tree and hanging it on the wall when my littles go down for their nap. I think I'll use that tacky gum stuff to hang up the ornaments so they can move them around without tearing the paper. (We made a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree and they used the tacky gum and our letters moved up and down the tree all day).
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Barbara C.
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Lori,
Could you clarify a few things on the cinnamon-applesauce ornaments? So you can let them air dry instead of baking them?
And in general, what can you use to let something cool/dry like that if you don't have a wire rack? I'm woefully deficient in the kitchen.
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Barbara
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montessori_lori
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Good questions, Barbara! I have never heard of baking them, but I see that the recipe I linked to calls for it. I think it can be done either way. If you do air-drying, it does take a few days for them to dry completely, and you might want to turn them over halfway through.
I usually put them on wax paper to dry - if you put them on a wire rack, they would probably have little lines across the back =)
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marianne
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montessori_lori wrote:
We do lots of stuff, but here are a few of my favorites:
Like you guys, I like free-form projects that are open-ended with no "right" or "wrong" way. One thing they love is when I give them Christmas patterned paper (think scrapbooking paper) cut into different shapes and sizes; stickers, glue sticks, zigzag scissors, and construction paper. They make all sorts of things - cards, posters, wreaths, bookmarks, etc. I just leave the stuff out all the time and they can make something whenever they want.
One really fun project is Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments. Somehow, when you mix cinnamon and applesauce together, it morphs into this dough that makes great ornaments. I just do it by feel, mixing roughly the same amount of cinnamon and applesauce together. You can find containers of each inexpensively at the dollar store.
Roll it out like play-doh, cut out ornaments, make a hole at the top with a straw or pencil, and let them dry for a few days. They smell great and last forever - I just hung some on our tree that I made 10 years ago when I still taught preschool!
Here's a recipe if you're interested:
Applesauce Cinnamon Ornaments
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Looks fun, but isn't that weird that they don't "go rotten"? This looks perfect for my Girl Scout troop, to do at our next meeting.
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montessori_lori
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I think the key to the applesauce ornaments is letting them dry completely. If there's no moisture left, there's no way for them to spoil or rot.
Putting them in a 200 degree oven isn't baking them, it's just speeding up the drying time. So whether you air dry or oven dry, the results are the same.
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SeaStar
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I oven dried mine last year- no rot problems.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Christmas activities
