Christmas for Early Years. Part 2. Jan Homden. Consilium Education. This resource is sponsored by:

Transcription

1 Christmas for Early Years Part 2 Jan Homden This resource is sponsored by: Consilium Education 1/12/2017

2 Sing Along with songs from: Join in with this great selection of Christmas songs just so suitable for children in Early Years. Catchy tunes with colourful, animated visuals, and the children can follow the words to the song on the screen. Click on the pictures to follow the links The Christmas Tree Song Sing along as you help to decorate the Christmas tree. The Dancing Christmas Tree Song the children will enjoy singing along and following the actions as they dance to this song. The Santa Claus Song We all love you Santa Claus. Santa Claus Song 2 Santa is just a regular guy.. maybe But then he teaches reindeer to fly! Jingle Bells the children will enjoy singing along with this version. Santa's on his Way Just in case the children were worried Santa wouldn t make it no chimney - don t worry, Santa is a magic man! Rudolph and the Snowman - Merry Christmas everyone! 1 P a g e

3 Christmas Songs for Children The Christmas Channel A Christmas Playlist fantastic selection of Christmas carols and songs for children by The Noeltunes. Click on the snowflake to follow the link IDEAS FOR THE TUFF SPOT & SAND AND WATER TRAYS Make instant snow. Click on the container to follow the link to Amazon. Add water to this powder and watch it grow. 100g pot - makes over 7.5 litres. Create tactile, non-toxic, fluffy snow that even feels cold for small world play. Add plastic Arctic creatures and an igloo or two! For ages 4yrs+. Or make Frozen Foam Dough - Click on the picture below to follow the link to Kimberly at Natural Beach Living. You need - 12 oz box of corn starch, 10 oz bottle of shaving cream. Mix it up gently and put it in the freezer for a few hours until it sets. 2 P a g e

4 Make Sugar Cube Dens. Empty several boxes of sugar cubes into the tuff spot and add 3 large pairs of plastic tweezers. Children to use only the tweezers (no hands) to lift the sugar cubes and try to stack them to build dens for the polar bears! Click on the Polar Bears to follow the link to Amazon Spray shaving foam into the tuff spot and leave a tray of items the children could use for mark making or making tracks. To extend the shaving foam play - I loved this idea from: Brisbane Kids click on the picture below to follow the link What could be more fun than two wonderful textures and temperatures than ice and shaving cream? In a container add food colouring to water and give it a stir. Pour the coloured water into an ice tray. Place in the freezer until frozen. Pop out the ice cubes into the shaving cream and let the fun begin as the coloured ice begins to melt. 3 P a g e

5 Make snow slime click on the image to follow the link to Growing a Jeweled Rose Snow Slime Recipe Add to one bowl: 2 cups of white school glue (you could also use silver glitter glue) 1 & 1/2 cups of very warm water Optional: a few drops of peppermint extract to give the snow slime a fresh and clean scent Mix the ingredients together Add to a second bowl: 3/4 teaspoons of borax - click on the box to follow the link to Amazon 1 & 1/3 cups very warm water Mix the ingredients together Combine both bowls and mix well Add iridescent glitter click on the glitter to follow the link to Amazon Try a silver or gold variation! Click on the image to follow the link to Fun-A-Day Make it COLD by storing it in a zip seal bag in the fridge before and after play. The cold feel of the slime makes it unique - nothing like cold snow slime that sparkles as it OOZES! Aprons on.. Lots of great opportunities for language development 4 P a g e

6 IN THE WATER TRAY defrost ice balloons Pour water into balloons and leave in the freezer overnight - (add food colouring to the water for different coloured ice balloons) s How does the ice feel? Write the children s suggestions on icebergs cut from paper/card to display near the writing table. What will happen to the ice if we leave it in the tray? To extend the play add Arctic creatures to the water before freezing and have the children rescue them using various utensils. Click on the picture to follow the link to Jen s blog where she created a frozen ocean. Children used coloured water and coloured salt to aid the defrosting of the ocean. Fill old glue bottles with water and add a drop or two of food colouring Make coloured salt (shake 2 tablespoons of salt and one or two drops of liquid food colouring in a jar or bag). Children experiment with the water and salt to defrost the frozen ocean and then use the spoons and plastic tweezers to rescue the animals. 5 P a g e

7 Build mini igloos or an ice wall another fun idea from Brisbane Kids Click on the ice cubes to follow the link You will need: ice cubes, food colouring and plastic Artic animals. Fill ice trays with water add food colouring. Freeze and pop out cubes. Leave in the water tray/tuff spot and add plastic animals. How many jingle bells can you bring to the top of the bottle? (Great idea from Laura at Lalymum) Click on the bottle to follow the link Add jingle bells, water and a few snowflake sequins to a couple of clear plastic bottles. Leave 2 magnet wands beside the filled bottles or just leave the bottles, jingle bells and sequins beside the water tray and the children can experiment with filling their own bottles. At the end of the activity leave the bells out to dry. IN THE SANDTRAY - Socks in the Sand Tray Leave festive socks beside the sand tray along with different sized spoons and pegs. Leave a set of bucket scales nearby. Children have to use the spoons to fill their sock with sand, secure the top with a peg and weigh it. Who has the heaviest sock? Who has the lightest sock? 6 P a g e

8 Bucket scales Festive pegs Different sized spoons Sparkles in the sand tray Empty out the sand and instead add bags of salt to the sand tray. Into the salt add festive sequins, sparkles, jewels and leave several sieves and scoops. Children have to scoop and sieve to find their treasure. Festive sparkles Make sandy Christmas Cakes or Mince Pies for Santa! 7 P a g e

9 Add plastic mixing bowls, scoops, whisks, assorted baking tins to the sand tray and leave containers of e.g. buttons, pasta, dried beans/lentils and shells so the children can add ingredients to their cake or use the buttons, shells, etc. for decoration. Make Reindeer Food to sprinkle on the lawn Sprinkle on the lawn at night The moon will make it sparkle bright Santa s reindeer fly and roam This will guide them to your home Click on the Reindeer Food images to follow the links for recipes from Kidspot and That s Country Living 8 P a g e

10 Scatter the ingredients into an empty sand tray. Leave spoons and small zip lock bags or little jars so the children can stir the ingredients and fill their bag or jar. On the writing table leave copies of the poem which the children have to cut out, decorate, then punch a hole in the corner (using a single hole punch), and tie on with ribbon to their festive jar or staple on to their bag. A Present for your children to give to their parents EASY CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES AND/OR EASY CHOCOLATE BARK Make a selection of truffles or chocolate bark/chocolate brittle with your class. Perhaps some parents might like to help with this. Easy recipes from Kids craft room - Jamie Oliver and Homemade gifts made easy. Click on the truffles or chocolate bark below to follow the links. After a night in the fridge pop the truffles or chocolate bark/brittle into clear or festive cellophane bags and tie with twine or ribbon. Children could also make a festive label to thread onto the ribbon. 9 P a g e

11 I loved these novel tag ideas - Click on the tags to follow the link Frosty the Snowman Tags Candy Cane Gift Tags A personal card for the children to make For more ideas have a look at: With love from your special reindeer! Happy Holidays! Mount each child s photograph on either red or green card. The children cut out and glue on their handprints for antlers and glue a circle of red card on to their nose. Inside they write their own message. Or A happy snowman card for the very young to create. Add a hat, pipe- cleaner/match stick arms, a carrot nose and buttons/sequins. When dry mount their snowman on red or green card and they can have a go at writing their name and drawing kisses inside. 10 P a g e

12 Another photo opportunity! The children use their photograph to personalise their elf. Use scraps of material, felt, paper, felt tips, glitter and sequins to decorate the elf outfits. Punch two holes in the hat and thread through wool or ribbon. Click on the elves to follow the link CHRISTMAS MATHS IDEAS Using 2D shapes This Christmas tree paper craft provides a good opportunity to practise using 2D shapes - it's made from triangles, squares, diamonds, circles and stars. Possible activities: Point out the different shapes used (circle, rectangle, diamond, triangle & star). Count the sides of the different shapes. Sort the 4 triangles from largest to smallest. Click on the Xmas tree to follow the link to DLTK 11 P a g e

13 Preschool Activities for a Snowman Made Out of Circles: Various Kids' Crafts Click on the circles to follow the link and watch the video Or make this Polar Bear Finger Puppet from: I heart crafty things You will need: white card, googly eyes, small black pom-poms, washable black marker, glue sticks & scissors 1. Cut out a 2 1/2-inch circle, a 4-inch circle and two polar bear ears out of the white card. 2. Cut out 2 finger holes at the bottom of the 4 circle. Glue the 2 1/2-inch circle onto the 4-inch circle to make the polar bear head and body. Then glue the ears onto the back of the head. 3. Finish your polar bear finger puppet by gluing on the googly eyes & small black pom-pom. Draw on a mouth using the black marker. Click on the polar bear to follow the link Paper Plate Santa Claus Another good opportunity to revise 2D shapes (triangle, circle, semi-circle, rectangle and square) as the children create this Santa Claus from: I heart crafty things. Click on Santa Claus to follow the link. You will need: paper plate flesh tone acrylic paint paint brush 12-inch (30cm) by 12-inch red cardstock paper 12 P a g e

14 white cardstock paper (cut out two 2-inch (5cm) circles ( 1 pompom & 1 moustache) and a 3/4-inch (8 10cm) strip (hat trim) black cardstock paper (cut out 2 1-inch (3cm) squares (boots) 2 large googly eyes red pompom scissors Elmer s Early Learners Glue Pen Elmer s Early Learners Glue Stick or Reindeer at the window! Use circles rectangles and squares. Click on the 1 st reindeer to follow the link Download for free 2D Shape Resources Click on the images to follow the link. A set of printable snowman images featuring various 2D shape outlines made with carrots on the snowmen s tummies. Different shaped penguins for sorting games. 2D shaped Christmas present 13 P a g e

15 Using 3D shapes From resources A simple PowerPoint to familiarise learners with the names of 3d shapes using Christmas images. Click on the 3D shapes to follow the link and log in to download From resources Penguin Themed 3D Shape Nets Click on the penguins to follow the link and log in or join to download Socks and Shapes With the class revise the properties of 3D shapes. Model the activity for the children - select a shape and put it into the sock (don t let the children see the shape). Show the sock to the class while you describe the shape. 1 st clue, 2 nd clue etc. The children have to listen carefully to the clues and try to work out which shape is inside the sock. After a few goes with you leading the activity, this could become a group activity (maybe with your TA). The children take turns to hide and describe a shape. For younger children - What is in Santa s sack? Group Circle Time Activity from KidsSoup.com Wrap different kinds of objects of varying sizes and shapes (candle-teddy-book-ball-cracker etc.) in tissue paper and put in a pillow case or sack. Let children take turns to lift out a wrapped object and encourage them to guess the object. 14 P a g e

16 Cone Christmas Hats from red construction paper and cotton wool. Click on the hat to follow the link to First Palette. Or click on the Santa for a variation on the theme from Enchanted Learning. A Pop-up Santa Puppet suitable for Foundation 2/Year 1 Click on the chimney to download the free printable and instructions from Activity Village. May need to enlarge to A3 size. Here's one we made earlier! We've got two versions, one in colour and one in black and white ready to be coloured in. Make a cuboid shape chimney for Santa to pop out of! Make Gingerbread Men Play Dough Click on the recipe to follow the link and download the free PDF Children measure out their ingredients and follow the recipe to make the play dough. Great smells will permeate your classroom. Roll the play dough into spheres and cylinders to make gingerbread men. Display around easy to make Gingerbread Houses You Will Need: (Child s own creation so lovely to see) Graham Crackers/White Icing (shop bought)/an assortment of candies, sprinkles and decorations/a rinsed milk or juice carton/a piece of cardboard to form the base Use icing to secure the carton to the cardboard base and leave to dry. Children will enjoy spreading the icing on to the back of each cracker and pressing the crackers to the sides of the carton. When the carton is covered with crackers this will make a perfect façade to stick the candy and sprinkles to. Click on the house to follow the link. 15 P a g e

17 Download for free 3D Shape Resources Click on the images to follow the link. 3D Shape Christmas Presents A set 7 Christmas presents in the common 3D shapes 3D Shape Christmas Tree Baubles A set of different-coloured cut-out Christmas tree baubles 3D Shape Parcels Different shaped parcels for sorting games. Great for use in a Post Office role-play situation (could be an extension of Santa s Workshop). The parcels can be sorted by shape and also by the colour of the stamp. Sorting Snowballs for the very young. Here is a fun activity that will build your children s knowledge about size. When you add tongs or tweezers to the activity children will also be developing their fine motor skills. 16 P a g e

18 You will need 3 plastic jars labelled small, medium and large. Cotton wool balls or pom-poms: small, medium and large. Plastic tweezers and tongs. Click on the snowballs to follow the link to learning and teaching preschoolers Christmas Counting in Pre/K Using buttons children choose a hat for the snowman s head and add the corresponding number of buttons. Using beads children cut out a tree from playdough. Choose a number card and decorate their tree with the corresponding number of beads. Click on the Santas to choose from a selection of Xmas themed number cards & download for free Estimation Snowball for Early Years Early morning activity: How many snowballs are in the jar? Each morning add a different number of cotton wool balls to a clear plastic jar and secure the lid. Leave post-its and pencils on the table. The children have to write their answer on the post-it along with their name. Gather up the post-its and during circle time count the number of snowballs, check the post-its and the child/children who have guessed correctly or have the closest number to it gets a big clap! Click on the jar to follow the link to Exploring Kindergarten 17 P a g e

19 A Christmas Poem by Ken Nesbitt Dear Santa, this Christmas my list is quite small. In fact, I need practically nothing at all. My list is so short and so easy to read because there's just one thing I actually need. A reindeer for Christmas is all I require; a reindeer, of course, who's an excellent flier. I really don't care if it's Dasher or Dancer. I'm okay with Cupid or Comet or Prancer. Please don't think I'm greedy; I only want one. You won't even miss him, and I'll have such fun. I promise I'll feed him and treat him just right, and take him out flying around every night. You see, I'm not selfish. So, for my surprise this Christmas, please bring me a reindeer that flies. But if my request is a bit much for you, I guess that an ipod will just have to do. A time for giving. Practice a few Christmas songs and poems with your class and take your children to visit your local care home or if you are based in UK contact your local Age UK. Help bring a smile and develop friendships in your local community. Click on the image to read about a primary school that hopes to build on the friendships that have been forged. In Seattle for nearly 25 years, Providence Mount St Vincent nursing home has been operating a daycare center in their facility. To read more click on the image. 18 P a g e

20 If you are living in Ireland/N. Ireland Shoebox Appeal 2017 Your class/year group/school may wish to become involved. To find out more click on the image for Ireland & logo for N. Ireland. We give your Christmas Shoebox gift right into the hands of some of the world s most vulnerable children many of whom will receive no other gift this Christmas. For some it s the first gift they ve ever received. As a school you may wish to raise money to support a local or international charitable organisation Here are a few of the many 100s that need support - Click on a logo to follow the link. For 50 Clever Fundraising Ideas for Schools and Clubs Click on the logo 20 Easy Ways to Fundraise Click on the logo Fantastic School Fundraising Ideas Click on the logo 19 P a g e

21 Wishing everyone a very Happy Holiday. With all best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. Jan This resource has been sponsored by TIC Recruitment. Click on the logo for a direct link to their website. Jan Homden, Consilium Education An early years teaching specialist and designer, Jan has taught in international schools around the world. She has also worked with a leading architectural practice in Istanbul and is now responsible for design and research at Consilium Education. 20 P a g e