Christmas Traditions at Home and at SCHOOL!

Starting a new Christmas tradition?

Don't forget about this gem I shared last Christmas!

We flipped our Christmas tree skirt over and started annual handprints! We date the handprints and label with the first initial of the name. Over the years, we will make our way around the reverse side of the tree skirt and have a really special keepsake.

In the classroom, you can do something similar! Not with a tree skirt, of course. (If you do celebrate holidays in your classroom, you COULD use a tree skirt and do thumbprints to save space, maybe!) A teacher I used to work with actually had kids put their handprints in the hallway outside her classroom on the wall each year. They were labeled with student first names. It didn't take up much room, despite there being many many years worth of classes' handprints outside her doorway. Kids loved coming back for Open House to find their handprints. This is a fun tradition that can easily be done in many buildings with administrative approval!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Traditions for Families AND students!

Can we talk about Christmas traditions that work in the classroom and at home?

The 12 Days of Christmas!

Which is what we call it in our house. At school, it might be the 12 Days of Winter Break! Either way, as soon as we hit that 12 day count down, 12 wrapped gifts appear with the numbers 1-12 on them. We open them in reverse order, counting down to Christmas or winter break. And each gift is a special book to add to our collection.

It's time to get kids EXCITED about books!

Reading IS fun!

If you prioritize it, and make it magical, they will buy in!

My daughter is me. She is a reader through and through. My son likes books, but not quite as obsessed. But when he opens those daily books under the tree? He will read that book over and over and over again. (In our house, Mr. Elf delivers them.) If all it takes is wrapping books up in brown paper to get a kid to engage with them, I will do that! Any day!

Elf on the Shelf Thoughts?

We have an Elf on the Shelf in our house. He is Mr. Elf. He comes after Thanksgiving to visit until Christmas Eve. When he arrives, he has some kind of family gift, like matching pajamas that we can all wear for a holiday photo op. (Yes, the kids are more likely to wear the matching jammies if they come from Mr. Elf, not Mommy.)

On December 12, Mr. Elf also delivers the twelve days of Christmas gifts. 12 presents under the tree. (Spoiler alert: they are all books. Always. Every year.)

The 12 days of Christmas serve a few purposes. We get new books! We get excited about these new books and read them A LOT!

Also, the kids get practice opening gifts. They are still little and need some practice before actual Christmas or we might be unwrapping gifts for days. So, we practice and learn some techniques.

To summarize, Mr. Elf is just a fun visitor from the North Pole. Bringing some early gifts and hiding around the house. He is not watching for Santa - he is just a friend from the North Pole who needs to go back on Christmas Eve to help Santa.

In my classroom, I had an elf one year. Again, the elf delivered some new books to the room and caused some chaos. It was fun to find him each day and naming him was a little graphing lesson. He did not become part of my classroom management system - he was just for fun. *I should add that 100% of my students that year celebrated Christmas and believed in Santa. Also, we researched holidays around the world, so we were exposed to all kinds of winter celebrations, not just Christmas.

I think the elf on the shelf is fun! It absolutely should not become a management tool you whip out to scare kids into being good around the crazy holidays. So, when you are thinking about using an elf in your classroom or home, be really mindful about HOW you are introducing it and HOW you are using it.

A Christmas Tradition for Your Kids!

Yep! That's my Christmas tree skirt!

I saw this on Instagram (I don't remember who!) and thought I would give it a go!

My kids are 3 and 1, so we are starting a bit late, but better late than never.

Each child chose a paint color. We put their handprint on the underside of the Christmas tree skirt, along with their first initial and the year. We will add to it every Christmas season as they grow older and be able to see those sweet little handprints get bigger. 

It took me less than 5 minutes to get the handprints, and it will last a lifetime.

And how is your Christmas wrapping going?

I am a type A person with zero skill when it comes to wrapping gifts.

Well, maybe I could be better at it but I really don't make an effort. The challenge is that I want to wrap gifts the second they get delivered and then put them in a box ready to go to relatives and kiddos. So, although my husband would certainly wrap the presents like a store clerk, I cannot wait, and I wrap them like a fool.

It doesn't help that the gift above is a crockpot and I had major issues getting the paper to fit around it. And then I ran out of paper. And then...I gave up.

Hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

By the way, the gift above is a crockpot from Target, through the Hearth and Home line. It is so pretty, black and cream colored. And it is a "dip pot" as I call it - we have a smaller one for mostly dips but not as pretty as this. I totally recommend it!