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Before starting the activity we summarized both books. We had read them the previous day so I wanted to ensure that they would see the connection with the activity. Retelling and summarizing books is a very good practice to get into. It lets you know if they comprehend what they are being read. Something that will be very important once they start reading on their own.

We looked at our Christmas tree and made the connection that if they had to pick one shape to describe the tree that it looks like a triangle. We also talked about the shape of the trunk. A was very logical in her assessment that it was a circle. I then guided her to look at it from the front and if she was still seeing a circle and she said it was a “square or a rectangle”.

I used 3 different green papers to cut 3 sizes of triangles (petit-small, moyen-medium, grand-large).

I thought about drawing a large triangle on their paper to have them fill it in with their triangles but I opted not to. I figured I would see what they would come up with, after all it’s the process we’re after.

Once they thought their true was complete they cut out “trunks” for their trees. J thought his tree needed more than one trunk. I actually think that he simply wanted to cut more trunks. After all it’s his creation.

Once they were done with their tree we switched our attention over to “the alphabet tree”. We discussed words that make them think of Christmas. We then used sticker letters to put words on their trees (much like the book).

A told me that they should put an “s” on gift to make it more than one (Thank you WordWorld!)

These were fun and creative. I think they could easily be made by older children to practice vocabulary. I will leave with a final note from Leo Lionni’s “the alphabet tree” peace on earth and goodwill toward al men. Such nurturing words for young minds.

When having kids complete a project or a craft it’s the process of making it that allows them to learn. Often times we think of the outcome as being the most important because we put our own adult rules onto the activity. I have come to realize that rules can be stifling on creativity. As you will see J & A’s salt dough ornaments are “Christmas” themed but the colors aren’t exactly “traditional”. I let J & A pick the colors that they wanted to paint “their” ornaments, and I believe that the end results are beautiful. Each one is very unique. 

I hope that you take the time to read Deborah’s post and next time you have an idea give your children the tools and let them create, let them learn. Support their learning by removing yourself from the equation. I think you’ll be amazed at what you see.

J & A made some salt dough ornaments to hang on their tree. The recipe is available at the end of this entry. They were so excited to try out their new dollar store cookie cutters.

Kneading and rolling is so good for developing hand muscles.

Cookie cutters are so fun to use.

Cut a paperclip down the middle and the result should be three pieces that can serve as an eyelet. Place a hook into the top of the ornament before baking. I baked them for approximately 1 hour.

The children used a combination of acrylic craft paint and tempura paint. Once the paint dried I sprayed a clear coat to protect the paint. Then it was time for J & A to hang their ornaments on their tree.

Nurturing young minds by focusing on “process over outcome”.
Salt Dough

A started putting the popcorn on the fishline by threading through each piece.

I told her she could add beads to the garland which she actually preferred. She found it challenging to use the small threading needle which got a little slippery from the oil used to pop the popcorn. I tried using some larger plastic needles but they would split the pieces of popcorn. I’m sure it would have helped had the needles been a bit larger.

Our adjustment was that she would hand me the popcorn pieces that I would thread, she would then add the plastic pony bead. It was fun and she enjoyed seeing the garland get longer. I think her favorite part was putting it on the tree. It was so cute to watch her decorate their tree. She just oozed confidence when decorating it.

Nurturing young minds one day at a time.

My recent goal has been to have them practice cutting with scissors. The paper garland was a great opportunity. The pieces didn’t all have to be uniform to be useful. The end result is some hand crafted paper garland for the children’s Christmas tree, practice with scissors, and quality PapaM time.

J & A simply had green, red, white construction paper, a variety of scissors (J loves the decorative scissors), and PapaM used a stapler to staple the links. PapaM modelled for the children how the garland would be made.

Of course this activity is simple yet there are so many rewards and benefits for the children to having their dad do an activity with them. Personally I think the garland looks great on their tree with their reused cardboard ornaments.

Nurturing young minds with quality time and new traditions.

These ornaments are super cute and unique. They were quite simple to make and the children required very little help. I started by cutting round and star shaped pieces of cardboard. For the round ornaments ensure that you cut a rectangle above the circle as it acts as the cap to the ornament. I did ask the children to decorate their caps with glitter.

Cereal or empty cracker boxes work great for these ornaments as they aren’t too thick to cut. Other supplies that were made available were: paper, scissors, sequins, pipe cleaners, glitter, and glue.

I first gave them the paper so they could work their hand muscles by cutting it. They used some of the cut pieces on their ornaments. I pulled out my decorative scissors, that they absolutely loved and the scissors also made the paper look a little fancier. I then told the children that they could decorate their ornaments with whatever they wanted as these were theirs.

They LOVED the glitter! Who could blame them? It was cute when they would see the other try something then they would try that method on their next ornament but put their own twist. Something I do when my children are playing with something that needs to be opened is let them try it out first. In this activity there were 6 bottle of glitter. I made sure they had the opportunity to open and close the bottles, again so they could strengthen their hands muscles

To prepare the ornaments for hanging you simply tape a paper clip to the back of the ornament so there is an eyelet. Attach a hook and voilà you have yourself a cute homemade ornament! These could be personalized by adding a photo to them and given out as an inexpensive gift. In our case I set up a 4 foot Christmas tree in our learning area that the children could hang their ornaments on. I’m excited to see what their tree will look like by Christmas.

Just another way to nurture a young mind.

This is the simple guessing game (trust me I realize I’m not the inventor of this game). It started by me asking her to guess the word that I was thinking.

“The word I’m thinking about starts with a b and ends with a k…”(knowing that she recently learned how to spell book). That was it one question and it got her hooked. Soon J was very interested in our game. The kiddos took their turns asking questions as well. “I’m thinking of an animal that starts with T and carries his house around” (turtle if you hadn’t guessed yet). It was actually a lot of fun and was easy. It was also a great language develop activity.

We didn’t need need any “thing” to entertain, we simply needed our minds to nurture the young.

After deciding that I was going to build a light box, the first thing I chose was the size. I searched to see what were standard sizes of acrylic pieces in my local hardware store, because I figured that would be the hardest thing for me to find. I did find some clear acrylic pieces that were 18″ x 24″ x 1/8″, though I knew I would need something frosted, (later to learn that white translucent is what I needed).

I took the advice of one of my friends who is a designer and contacted a local plastic shop. When I mentioned I was making a light box, the gentleman knew exactly what I was talking about and also recommended that the translucent white would work better than the frosted acrylic. The piece they custom cut for me was 18″ x 24″ x 3/16″. The price difference was minimal for something sturdier. I also didn’t have to worry about the added cost of trying to frost my clear acrylic to make it suitable for my light box. Total cost for the acrylic piece was $15.

Once I knew the size I was going to make, I also picked out my lights. I opted for 2 – 22 inch fluorescent lights available at my local hardware store (I chose the brightest ones I could find that were reasonably priced). The lights do need to be plugged in, which is suitable in our situation. Total cost for the lights was $30. So there you have it….the 2 things that were actually purchased for the light box were a grand total of $45. I used wood that we had in our garage from recent projects (which were completed by my dad on a visit). As for a saw, I borrowed that from my brother-in-law who seems to have a collection of them, for which I am very grateful.

I assembled the box and used pieces of 1″ x 2″ on the inner top of the box to make a ledge for my piece of acrylic to sit on. I secured my lights to the inside bottom of the box.

Like my daughter A would say “voila!” a light box.

I still have a few aesthetic elements to fix but we couldn't wait to play.

We had so much fun as a family sitting around the light box and drawing out a Christmas city scene with our dry erase markers.

The light appears pink in this photo but I assure you it's solid white.

Stamping some Os into the gel pack.

 

A little game of Xs and Os.

J's road and parking lot for his cars.

At first I was intimidated by the construction process. Though, if J or A had an idea, I would never want them to be to intimidated to try something they hadn’t tried before. I suppose they were my motivation behind this light box in more ways than one.

I knew it would bring them hours of fun learning. Just another example of nurturing young minds.

Links to other light table ideas and activities. StrongStart TeachPreschool rhythm of the home.

This year I wanted to make sure J & A were highly involved with Thanksgiving. The best way I found to make them be a part was to have them make our tablecloth. I think it turned out great and think we may have started a new family tradition.

I painted the children’s hands so they could put them on a piece of butcher paper.

They were then responsible to paint beaks and legs. (Some turkeys ended up without legs but no biggie.)

Then they simply wanted to paint so that wasn’t a problem either, but I do admit that the theme of turkeys had to remain. They created cute turkeys and A pointed out that you could make patterns with their feathers. Before I knew it A was adding suns (rays included) onto the tablecloth.

Our table was complete with our Thanksgiving feast and it was heart warming to see their tablecloth as our backdrop.

Having the children take part in the preparations of a special occasion is another way to nurture young minds.

Play dough is great for developing hand muscles. It’s also a good medium for children to use to express their creativity. By adding a scent to the dough it’s adding a dimension to the sensory experience. I like to give the children limited tools while providing them with a variety of accessories. With Thanksgiving approaching I gave them some feathers. I also gave them pompoms, they absolutely love google eyes, this time I cut up some drinking straw and they really like those as well.

For me it’s always interesting to see what my children will create with the dough and which tool will be the first one they grab. J immediately went for the scissors to cut the “potatoes”. A went for the rolling pin to create her 2 dimensional turkey.

Here are some creations.

J made a connection with a previous lesson on animal tracks. He wanted to know if the animals would leave tracks in the dough.

Another fun way to nurture young minds.

Play Dough Recipe