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.

This First Thanksgiving Day

What you need:

1 tortilla

peanut butter for glue

several pretzels

candy corn

Directions:

1. fold the tortilla in 1/2 and twist to form a Teepee shape.  Attach with Peanut butter and prop on a plate

2. dip several pretzels in PB and place in the top

3. break some pretzels and arrange around the bottom

4. add candy corn for decorations

The pretzels and candy corn could also be put together to resemble an outdoor fire!

I think this might be a good story to talk about how homes are different.  It doesn't matter if you live in an apartment, a mobile home, a freestanding house, cabin or tent.  Wherever you live is your home and it may be different from other homes you see or visit.  

The First Thanksgiving

What you need:

1 large graham cracker

2 rectangle cookies or crackers

2 vanilla wafers or round crackers

for food I used: marshmallows, celery, raisins, cheerios, pretzel

candy corn for a centerpiece

peanut butter for glue

Directions:

1. build the table by putting Peanut butter on the rectangle crackers

2. a tiny bit of PB helps the "plates" remain stable on the table as well

3. add the centerpiece.  A pumpkin candy or bugle filled with skittles would be cute.

4. build food to represent what you like to eat for Thanksgiving.  I used: marshmallows for mashed potatoes, celery for green beans, pretzel pieces for rolls, raisins for dressing, and cheerio pieces for turkey.  Just use your imagination!

Fun book to begin the conversation about what Thanksgiving is all about.  You can talk about sharing, favorite foods, eating with friends and family.  It also allows you to talk about different customs that families have.  You may discover a new tradition that you want to include each year from now on. 

Run, Turkey, Run!

            

What you need:

1 rice cake

pretzels, candy corn, cheerios, raisins

peanut butter for glue

Directions:

1. use the rice cake for the body of the turkey and add peanut butter around the edges and middle

2. add feathers by alternating the pretzels and candy corn

3. break pretzels and make the feet

4. I used a small rice cake for the head but you could use a circular cracker or cookie

5. add cheerios and a raisin for face parts

This is a silly book about a farmer chasing the turkey before Thanksgiving Day.  Children root for the turkey to get away and enjoy the repetition of the "Run, turkey, run!" dialog.  You could take this outside and play hide and seek with your child pretending to be the turkey and you pretending to be the farmer and then switch roles.  

10 Fat Turkeys

What you need:
1 apple or pear
several toothpicks
turkey parts!  cheerios, raisins, marshmallows, pretzels, whatever you have on hand
peanut butter for glue

Directions:
1. slice off a small section of the apple or pear so it can stand alone
2. thread the toothpicks with marshmallows, cheerios or raisins
3. break pretzel sticks and arrange them for feet
4. add a head and face parts for the turkey

This is a popular Preschool book.  Children learn to count backwards from 10-1.  This is fiction so you can talk about how silly it is that the turkeys are wearing clothes, talking and doing things that people would do.  It goes well with the silly turkey you just made.

Stellaluna

 

You will need:
2 oreo type cookies or round shaped cookies
small pieces of one marshmallow
candy corn or small triangle shaped cookie or cracker
2 stick pretzels (optional)

Directions:
1. break on of the round cookies in half to use for wings
2. cut or break the candy corn to use just the tips for a mouth
3. use the small pieces of marshmallow for eyes
4. break the stick pretzels and arrange for feet

Stellaluna is such a sweet story it makes me almost like bats.  It's all about learning to adapt to your surroundings and teaching your friends about your customs.  This is a good book for children just beginning school.  They may realize that not every family is the same. It can be fun or strange to try new and different food you haven't had before.

I Spy a Pumpkin, I Spy a Skeleton

 

For the pumpkin you will need:
1 clementine or orange
a small celery stalk
2 blueberries and a pretzel stick
For the ghost you will need:
1 graham cracker
10 marshmallows
2 small chocolate chips

Directions for the pumpkin:
1. peel the orange and poke the celery stalk in the top for a stem
2. add the pumpkin features with a bit of cream cheese or peanut butter

Directions for the ghost:
1. arrange the marshmallows on the graham cracker in a ghost shape or large triangle
2. add the chocolate chips for eyes at the top
3. microwave for 12-15 seconds
This is a version of s'mores I used to call Ghost Toast because we made it on bread and used a toaster oven.  The fun part of this snack is watching it in the microwave because the marshmallows puff up and it really looks like a ghost!

I Spy books of any kind are a great readiness activity for reading.  Using your eyes to find items in a picture is a good visual discrimination exercise.  These books come in all sorts of themes and I used them frequently to teach vocabulary to English Language Learners.  The pictures are of real objects!

3 Monster Books

 

You will need:
as many tortillas, rice cakes or round crackers as monsters you want to make
pretzels or noodles for hair
round cookies, olives or marshmallows
candy corn

Directions:
1. use your imagination and create a fun monster or a scary one
2. use whatever you have on hand (pieces of fruit or candy if you allow it)

These monster books are good for teaching colors, rhyming and counting.  They are very short and easy for kids to remember and repeat.  I like these monsters because they are not scary. They are silly!  It's fun to make a monster you can eat!

Cock-a-Doodle-Hooooooo!

You will need:
1 tortilla or rice cake
1 slice of cheese
2 apple slices
2 black olives, marshmallow pieces
2 candy corn

Directions:
1. cut the cheese in a triangle shape
2. add apple slices for the eyes, then olive slices with marshmallows inside the holes
3. add the candy corn for the nose

This is such a cute story about an owl who tries to fit in with a group of hens.  He learns how to strut, peck and scratch but cannot cock-a-doodle-doo.  Just when he is feeling discouraged, he spies a rat and earns the hens respect by catching it.  It's great for teaching kids that everyone has something they can be good at and we don't always have to fit in or do what everyone else is doing to be liked or respected.

Sunshine On My Shoulders

You will need:
    one rice cake
    peanut butter
    12 or so pretzel sticks
 Directions:
    1. spread peanut butter on the rice cake
    2. add the pretzel sticks to make the rays of the sun

I just love this book/song!  It helps that I can play it on my guitar.  The illustrations are just precious. Another sunshine song is "You are my sunshine..."  Kids really don't care if you can sing or not. They just love the attention they get while you are reading or singing for them.

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

You will need:

1 rice cake or tortilla

1 Ritz cracker

1 vanilla wafer

2 raisins

shredded cheese 

peanut butter or cream cheese

Directions:

1. add peanut butter to rice cake

2. break vanilla wafer in 2 pieces and add ears

3. add Ritz cracker and shredded cheese for nose and mouth

4. add raisins for eyes

Every child loves the 5 little monkeys.  It doesn't matter if they are jumping on the bed or sitting in a tree.  You could make 5 monkeys by choosing crackers that are smaller.  I just chose to make one big monkey.  These monkey stories are great for learning to count and subtract.  The repetition is great and children quickly pick up on it.

The Napping House

You will need:
1 slice of bread
1 slice of cheese
rectangle or square shaped crackers
1 raisin or m&m

Directions:
1. fold or cut the slice of cheese into 2 triangles
2. put the "roof" on your house
3. add the door and chimney
4. add a doorknob

This is a good story for teaching sequencing large to small.  Everything added to the bed gets smaller and smaller as you read the story.  I love the way the author uses so many words for napping.  Children often don't want to nap, but this story makes it sound like so much fun!

I'm as Quick as a Cricket

You will need:
1 rice cake
blueberries
pretzels or veggie sticks
something for a nose (I used a chocolate cookie wafer)
a bit of peanut butter

Directions:
1. attach the pretzels or veggie sticks with peanut butter for the lion's mane
2. add blueberries for the eyes
3. add a nose

My daughter loved this book and would ask me to read it over and over.  Soon she could "read" it herself.  She would pretend to be each of the animals in the story.  I chose the lion because she loved being loud the most!

A House for Hermit Crab

You will need:
1 rice cake
2 blueberries
veggie sticks or pretzels (5 or 6)
peanut butter or cream cheese
banana, grapes or fruit of your choice

Directions:
1. make the crab body by spreading peanut butter on the rice cake
2. add the veggie sticks or pretzels for antennae and legs
3. add blueberries for eyes
4. make the ocean floor with fruit of your choice

This is just a fun story to start a conversation about growing and perhaps moving to a new home.
Children love watching hermit crabs.  I used them in my classroom for years.  We would let "Hermie" out and watch him explore, give him a bath and try feeding him different foods.  A few times we would find that he had moved into a larger house during the night!

Itsy Bitsy Spider

    


You will need:
2 Ritz crackers
8 pretzel sticks
2 raisins
peanut butter for glue

Directions:
1. put peanut butter on one Ritz cracker
2. add the 8 pretzel sticks for legs
3. top with the other Ritz cracker
4. add the raisin eyes

There are many versions of this book/song as well as the fingerplay.  It's a great activity for counting and learning about spiders or just singing and playing together.

Go Away Big Green Monster

You will need:
Rice cake
veggie sticks or cheetos
1 green grape
raisins or licorice bits
vanilla wafers, 2 blueberries or raisins
Directions:
1. add vanilla wafers to rice cake for eyes
2. add grape for nose
3. add raisins for mouth
4. add veggie sticks for hair

This is so fun for kids to make the monster as you read the story.  They can eat the parts of the monster's face as you read: "Go away...."  during the story.  I forgot the ears!  I would have used licorice bits or squiggly cheetos.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

You will need:
a lunch sack or bottle sack
4 or 5 cotton balls
glue or a glue stick
Teddy Graham bears, gummy bears or small toy bear

Directions:
1. cut the bag so it is about 5 inches long
2. fold over the edges
3. add cottonballs to look like snow with glue

This is a great activity to practice counting with the bears or to practice positional words with young children.  Ask them to put the bear over, next to, inside, outside, behind and in front of the "cave".

Chicka Chicka 1,2,3

You will need:
a few stalks of celery
a few blueberries for coconuts
Fruit Loop gummy numbers

Directions:
1. arrange the celery to look like a tree
2. add the blueberries to look like coconuts
3. arrange the Fruit Loop gummy numbers around the tree

This is a great book that follows the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom format except it uses the numbers 1-100.
Children quickly pick up the rhythm/rhyme of the story and especially the line: "Will there be a place for me?"
It is a great story for learning to count to 20 and also to count by 10's to 100. If you don't want to use the gummy numbers, you can always cut out numbers from grocery story fliers or the newspaper and arrange them as you read the story.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

You will need:
2 or three stalks of celery
a few blueberries
Fruit loop gummy ABC's

Directions:
1. arrange the celery stalks to look like a tree
2. add blueberries to be the coconuts
3. add the gummy ABC's

This is a great activity/snack to go along with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  Children quickly pick up on the rhythm/rhyme of the story.  It's also a great way to practice learning letter names.  If you don't want to use gummy letters, you can always cut out letters from a magazine or newspaper and arrange them around the coconut tree as you read the story.  Children will want to hear this story over and over.

Pete the Cat

You will need:
1 tortilla
6 pretzels
cream cheese or peanut butter
blueberries (about 1/2 pint)
2 peach slices
1 banana

Directions:
1. cut tortilla into a football shape and save 2 triangle ends for the ears
2. spread cream cheese or peanut butter on the tortilla
3. add the peach slices with blueberries for eyes
4. cut pupils and a mouth from a banana slice
5. add pretzels for whiskers
6. fill in all extra space with blueberries
7. Eat!
Pete the Cat stories are great for teaching lessons about handling problems and deciding what is worth worrying about.  "It's all good!" and "Goodness, NO!" are phrases children pick up on quickly and they will chime in as you read the stories.  If you have colored buttons to use as you read this story, it can become a math/color identification lesson as well.