St. Patrick's Day Alphabet

For fruit option you will need:                  For vegetable option you will need:
a can of fruit cocktail or                               celery, blueberries
5 blueberries                                                 orange, yellow and red sweet peppers
pineapple, grapes, peaches or oranges         popcorn
strawberries, or cherries
popcorn

Directions:
An adult should do the chopping/slicing
1. make the cloud with popcorn
2. add each row of fruit or vegetables
3. Eat with your fingers or use a dip of your choice

This is a good activity to work on colors.  It's also good for getting your children to sample new foods because they are tiny portions.  Fresh fruit is a better option but I was stuck indoors during a snow storm and used what I could find in the cupboard.  Any book will go with this snack and there should be a wide variety to choose from at stores you frequent.

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Millions of Snowflakes

You will need:
paper and scissors to make the paper snowflake
tortilla, scissors and shredded cheese to make the edible snowflake

Directions for paper snowflake:
1. fold the paper 3 or 4 times
2. mark it with a crayon or marker where you want to make cuts
3. cut or "snip" the paper following the lines
4. after saying: "Hocus, pocus, abracadabra" unfold the paper to reveal the snowflake
5. decorate by coloring or dotting with glue and then glitter

Directions for edible snowflake:
1. fold the tortilla and mark it with a washable marker or butter knife
2. cut the tortilla with scissors
3. open after saying: "Hocus, pocus, abracadabra"
4. sprinkle on shredded cheese or cinnamon and sugar and microwave for 15 seconds
5. eat!

Tortillas are easy to cut with scissors, especially for beginners!  The paper snowflakes can be made from coffee filters which are also easy to cut.  It can be a good time to talk about shapes.  Curved lines are much harder to cut than straight ones, so if your child is a beginner, start with straight lines. There was never much snow where I grew up, so paper and edible snowflakes were my way of compensating for that.  I hope there is snow where you live so you can read the book and then play in the snow or catch real snowflakes on your tongue.

Trees! Trees! Trees!

You will need:
1/2 apple, several pretzels, a cheese slice

Directions:
1.slice the apple into thin pieces
2.cut the cheese slice into 2 triangles
3.arrange the apple slices in the shape of a triangle
4.add the pretzel tree trunk
5.add the cheese star

This is a healthy tree to eat.  You can add decorations of your choosing like raisins, butterscotch chips or grapes.  You can start a conversation about how trees can be decorated differently and how people put different items on the top of their tree instead of a star.

You will need:
2 stalks of celery, pretzel sticks, a cheese slice and pomegranate seeds

Directions
1.cut the celery stalks into different lengths
2.add pretzel sticks for the trunk
3.add the cheese star by putting triangles together
4.decorate with pomegranate seeds

Just another fun tree to eat!  It can be decorated with whatever small fruit items you have.  Pomegranate seeds can be hard to eat and they can also leave stains on fingers and clothing.

You will need:
an old magazine, glue or tape, scissors, bow

Directions:
1.tear pages of the magazine out and cut into strips of various sizes
2.arrange the strips from big to small or small to big
3.add the bow at the top

This is a fun cutting activity if you let your child use scissors.  It is the parent or teacher's job to limit the number of strips and make sure they are graduated in size.  You can make it as easy or hard as you want.  8-10 strips is perfect for a 4 or 5 year old.  This is a good visual discrimination activity as well as practice for sequencing big to little.

You will need:
several old Christmas cards, glue or tape, bow, scissors

Directions:
1.cut the Christmas cards into strips of various lengths
2.arrange the strips biggest to smallest and attach with glue or tape
3.add a bow at the top

This is the same activity as above except easier for those learning how to cut.  Card stock is easier to hold, cut and manipulate than newspaper or magazine paper.  It is a great activity to practice sequencing big to little or for counting.
This could be done by a 2-3 year old with help and supervision from a parent or teacher.

You will need:
an old Christmas card or magazine page, hole puncher, crayons, glue, a bow

Directions:
1.Parent or teacher should fold the paper in 1/2 and cut in the shape of a tree
2.while paper is still folded, use the hole puncher to punch out holes randomly
3.glue down the opened tree
4.use crayons and color in all the holes to look like ornaments
5.add a trunk and glue a bow on top

Kids love punching the holes! They can also cut out the tree if you can draw lines for them to follow.  A solid color for the tree looks great too. FYI... They will want to make many of these! I think it is because of the hole punching.

The Gingerbread Man

You will need:
Gingerbread dough or store bought gingerbread man cookies
items to use for decorations like m&m's, raising, chocolate chips, licorice
frosting, cream cheese or peanut butter

Directions:
1. Make the cookies if you haven't bought some.  The dough that comes in a roll is so easy!
2. Decorate the cookies anyway you wish.

This is such a fun book and kids like to hear it over and over.  It's a great way to talk about body parts if your child needs to learn those words.  It's also a good time to talk about clothing and colors if you need to learn those concepts.  It's fun to make cookies that look like family members or favorite super heroes or even occupations.  But the best part is eating the cookie at the end of the story.  Snip, snap, snout....this tale's told out!

The Polar Express

You will need:
graham crackers
1 banana
popcorn
raisins, celery, chocolate chips
peanut butter

Directions:
1. use peanut butter to attach graham crackers together and to make the train track (celery) sticky
2. add chocolate chips to banana slices and attach to train with more PB
3. add raisins to look like coal
4. add popcorn to look like smoke and use more if you want lots of snow

Great movie but the book speaks for itself and is so good to cuddle up with over several nights during the Holidays.  You can imagine all sorts of scenarios and places to go after you make the train or while you are eating it.

Winter Wonderland

 






You will need:
a graham cracker
2 small candy canes
Starburst candy
frosting

Directions:
1. unwrap the candy canes and put on the graham cracker with a little frosting
2. add the Starburst "gifts" with frosting as well
3. The ribbon was added on the gifts by putting frosting in a baggie and poking a small hole in the corner.  It may be hard for your child to do.

I love books that are also songs.  This is a song you hear every year at Holiday time.  I grew up where there was little snow, so making a sled and imagining riding on one is fun for me.  The frosting may be hard for your child to do but it is excellent fine motor practice.  You can put whatever you want on the sled.  It could be a snowman, or your child could add a duplo toy or lego creation.  This snack is not very healthy, but very fun!

I Spy Santa Claus

You will need:

Gingerbread cookie dough or  round sugar cookies

frosting

red hot candies, sprinkles, chocolate chips or the candy of your choice

Directions:

1. Bake or buy the cookies in the Holiday shapes you like

2. Add the decorations using your imagination

3. The hanger is a piece of string licorice

4. The frosting was applied by putting it in a sandwich baggie and poking a small hole in the corner to squeeze it out in small amounts.

I love I Spy books and this one has a Christmas theme.  It opens up the door for you to talk about your special holiday traditions and customs.  I like that many of the toys are hand made or vintage and there is not a spec of technology.  I think it encourages kids to think about making gifts.  I love the page with the cookies because after you "spy" all the items, your child will have lots of ideas for decorating the cookies.