I shared last week that we do a different Christmas book tradition. Rather than wrap 25 books under the tree, I do a 10-day countdown and a new book and craft appear in the Christmas tree basket each day!
Many of you wanted to see more of what this looks like. Here are the books and crafts from last year, and then which ones I’m doing this year! (I will do a separate post showing the crafts to pair with this year’s books.)
First up from last year was the book The Little Reindeer.
- Paint a black circle on the wood slice using black paint (can be acrylic or chalk paint, it does not matter). I let my boys do this step!
- Print picture of each child in black and white, and use modge podge to attach it to the ornament
- Use a white paint pen or chalk marker to draw the antlers and snowflakes
- Take a q-tip and dip it in red paint, then dot each child’s nose
- Wait for everything to try, then layer a coat of modge podge over top of everything!
We read the book and they designed their own pair of underwear for Santa. The humor was right up their alley because what child wouldn’t love designing underwear for Santa?!
Add this book to your collection!
Book + craft number 4! Red and LuLu is one of my forever favorite Christmas books The illustrations are BEAUTIFUL, the story is touching, and the nonfiction integration at the end is perfect!
I love using this book to teach geography (we look at maps at where most of the Rockefeller Trees have come from and the journey they take to get there), and comparing texts (the next book I will post about I pair with it!)
Above is the cardinal craft we made with the book tracing our hands (you can see the cardstock in the basket with the book!)
Pick up your copy of Red and Lulu here!
We made ice cream cone Christmas trees after reading this book. Upside down sugar cones, a tube of frosting, and lots of candy; always a hit! No pictures of that activity because I was elbow deep in frosting, of course. But sugar, sugar, and more sugar, with a Christmas theme… you can’t go wrong.
We integrate social studies with a discussion of the Great Depression and the collapse of the economy. We review theme as well. I make copies of the end of the book nonfiction article about Habitat for Humanity and we do a CLOSE read to highlight main idea and supporting details. We also review the difference between theme and main idea! Hit your comparing themes and comparing texts standard by pairing it with Red and Lulu, too!
Get the Carpenter’s Gift here!
Books + craft number 7! Room for a Little One, The First Christmas Night, and Ready, Set, Find Christmas.
Book + craft number 8! Santa’s Sleigh is on its way to Ohio
Here is the link to the Ohio version but there are many other states available!
Book + craft number 9! Dasher. This story, the illustrations, I love it all. Dasher tells the story of how Santa’s reindeer made their way to him from captivity in a circus. Once again, Matt Tavares steals my Christmas heart with this beautiful story.
Get the reindeer craft pack here
Get your copy of Dasher here!
If you teach in a public school system (like I do) I read the kids the Snowman books to pair with this tasty treat! This would be a great thing to do the day before break, especially because you can do a Snowman at night or Snowman all Year so it isn’t “Christmas” themed! 🙂
I am getting this year’s books + crafts all ready to go, and I will share those in a post very soon! For now, here is a list of the 10 books I am using this year if you want to check any of them out and get a head start on purchasing them.
Thank you so much for getting this far! I hope you are able to do some of this activities with your kiddos at home or at school and create some holiday joy while making memories together!
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