October is Almost Over!

That means it is only 5 or so weeks until our household launches into the fun of our annual Countdown to Christmas.

Instead of getting a chocolate treat every day, we do some kind of activity. Some of these are Christmas related and some are just a little bit of pre-meditated fun.

I can get quite frantic around the Christmas period as I seem to insist on hand making a whole lot of stuff for every man and his dog, so this tradition started from a need to ensure that I take time out for my kids each day during the silly season. It is now quite a fixture and we really enjoy it. 

In the past, I have blogged some of the activities but I have found that trying to take photos to impress people on the interweb actually creates a ridiculous amount of stress and friction whilst performing the activity. 

At the end of the day, while it is fun to share what we have done with all of you, it is more important that we get our family bonding (which is not a public thing). So, this year, instead of keeping an eye out for an expose of our exploits, why not try it yourself. I have compiled a list of many of the activities that we have used to get you kick started:

Seasonal Awareness 
* Charitable Donation   
* Learn about Christmas in Another Country   
* Go to local Carols By Candle Light 

  

 
Family Fun 
* Dress up and Have Photos with Santa   
* Family Movie Night   
* Go and See the Christmas Lights   
* Play Board Game   
* Read a Christmas Story   
* Make a Christmas Video   
* Have a Toy Christmas Picnic   
* Try a Christmas Themed Science Experiment

Decorating  
* Put Up the Tree   
* Decorate the Hall Table/Mantle   
* Buy Your New Christmas Ornament and put on the Tree   These ornaments will leave home when the children do.
* Make Paper Chains and other Decorations

       
Food 
* Choose a Recipe and make a Christmas Treat   
* Decorate Biscuits   
* Decorate the Gingerbread House
* Make Reindeer Food    

Physical   
* Dance to some Christmas Music   
* Decorate the Bikes with tinsel and bells and go cycling   
* Go to the Playground   
* Have a Bubble Blowing Extravaganza       
   

Craft   
* Colour in Christmas Cones  I have also seen packs of these at my local craft superstore this year.
* Christmas Craft Kit, e.g. door hangers, photo frames etc  There are loads of things to choose from at your local craft and variety stores
* Glitter Animals    
* Christmas Snow Globe    
* Clothes Peg Santas   
* Cardboard Gingerbread Decorations  We actually did a variation on this theme where we threaded kraft gingerbread man cutouts. 
* Make Cards and Gifts for Teachers  I like to keep this simple as it can get time consuming if you have lots of teachers. One year we gave jars of M&Ms. Last year it was home made bookmarks.  
* Make Cards for Friends  That could be as simple as writing in store bought cards, or you can go the whole hog with glitter and markers 
* Christmas T-Shirts  Buy some cheap Tees and decorate them using whatever medium you are happy with (fabric paint, applique, iron on transfers etc) 
* Hand Print Christmas Tree Canvas   
* Make Toilet Roll Christmas characters  Just Google this one - there are lots of ideas out there
* Salt dough fingerprint trees  (there are two links here)   
* Learn how to make Danish paper hearts   

Christmas Countdown 2013 - 19 Sleeps to Go!

Make Gifts and Cards for Teachers

Well, it was mainly a card making exercise as I have been having problems figuring out what to give approx 10 teachers that isn't just junk for them to surreptitiously dispose of. Having said that, I think we are about 75% of the way there now. 

First off the rank today was the fairly boring job of designing the cards. I got the kids to choose some graphics and frames from the same sources as mentioned in this post. They then chose the colours for the frames. At that point they went stir crazy waiting for me to print and cut or trim the various bits and pieces. Due to some very poor organisation on my part, when I was finally ready for them to resume doing their bit, I was unable to locate the very important double-sided foam dots for layering the images. If the activity was to be finished today, we were now required to go to the local crafting superstore.

Before leaving on our expedition, the kids completed one other task - making the artwork for some of our gift packaging (thanks, Aunty Jane, for the clever idea).

While out at the shops, I decided to pick up some "Merry Christmas" stickers to add to the cards as well as procuring the all important foam dots. Once home, it was a hive of industry as the children engaged in some elementary paper tole. I was impressed at how accurate their placement was given their diminutive size.

Applying the "Merry Christmas" stickers was not quite as impressive, but that was one of those things that I tried to let go of (not 100% successfully I might add). I should have realised that if some wonkily (yes, that is a word in my world, I think) placed stickers were bothering me, letting the kids write in the cards was just asking for trouble. My inner-control-freak had a really hard time letting go of the wrongly placed words, even though I know that is what makes a handmade card from a child worthwhile. I ended up hurting my son's feelings and I am not feeling the best about today's efforts.

I am glad that today's activity is over. I think the kids are too. These Countdown Activities are supposed to be fun and this one turned bad in the end. I hope the teachers like their gifts anyway, because even though my mood spoiled the fun, the children still made them with affection. 

Finally, there is no Christmas Song today. After a long and inspiring life, one of this generation's "greats" achieved his final freedom today. 

RIP Nelson Mandela - thank you for all that you have given humanity.

Christmas Countdown 2013 - 20 Sleeps to Go!

Colour in Christmas Cones

Months ago I found these really cool colour-in Christmas cone printables doing the rounds on Pinterest. They appeared to be the ideal activity for a girl who has just spent 7.5 hours at preschool, so they were slated for today. Only problem was that when I went to download the files, I discovered that not only were they not free (just cheap at US$4.49) but I would also need to set up an account with all my contact details etc in order to purchase them. Really! I am not willing to give all my details for a digital download purchase of $4.49. 

So, what to do? Go and consult with my friend Google, that's what. And that is where I found these cool AND free cone decoration printables. The only drawback is that they come pre-coloured, so rather than a "colouring" activity, it became an "embellishing" one. Did the kids care about the change of plan? Absolutely not!

In a fit of uncharacteristic organisation, I actually prepared (almost) everything that was required for the blinging session before I left to collect DD from preschool. 

Fortunately I had the forethought to do a full set of cones for each child. I suspect there may have been blood spilt had they been required to agree on who got which designs. The industry was amazingly focused and there was a lot of glitter everywhere (there still is). DS demonstrated amazing precision dotting his Christmas Tree cone with my not-as-cheap-as-poster-paint Liquid Pearls. He then demonstrated some very "interesting" creativity when he stuck mini googly eyes on top of said Liquid Pearl spots (while I tried to not run off screaming words like "sacrilege").

We had to leave the artworks to dry before we curved them into their cone shapes. That was a pre-bedtime reprisal. If you are going to try these cones yourself, go straight for the double sided tape to secure the sides - I ended up just sticking my fingers together with glue.  

So, now me and my industrious little elves need to find a home for today's creations while you experience the Elves Lament....