Dozens of Simple Activities for Kids to Do During the Holidays

Bekki — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 13:29:00 +0000

Inside: 5 Steps to Homeschool through the Holidays plus dozens of learning activities wrapped in turkeys and trees.The day after Halloween is like the trash compactor scene from Star Wars.

The Christmas fairies have completed their magical decoration party.

Every square inch of retail space is covered with tinsel and eggnog. Commercials promise Christmas joy and the Holiday toy of the year lures your child every time they watch a show.

The Holidays beg us to slow down, sip cocoa, and find a new gadget to make gift wrapping less stressful.

Photo by Luis Llerna

But we are homeschoolers.

We just found our rhythm. The kids are finally settled into this learning at home “thing”. We just breathed a sigh of relief. Homeschooling does not appear to be a fatal disease. We will survive the process of teaching our kids math!

Thanksgiving? Christmas?

While I love you in spirit and truth, you threaten my homeschooling mojo.

Family, friends, food, music, cocoa, decorations, carols, hymns, caroling, celebrating, remembering, rejoicing, and chaos. I love the holidays and everything and every One they represent.

Myth: You can fully embrace the holidays without losing your stride with school.

Be inspired: The holidays are meant to capture our attention.

· We are supposed to slow down.
· We are supposed to pause.
· We are supposed to bow our hearts and knees.

If we didn’t have Thanksgiving to celebrate, many of us would not see our extended family. While that may seem like a blessing in disguise, it is not.If we didn’t have Christmas, we would have more to worry about than the lack of presents under the tree.

The Central Focus of the Holidays Should be God and Family.

Are you old enough to remember John Denver’s Song Grandma’s Featherbed?

After supper we’d sit around the fire, the old folks’d spit and chew

Pa would talk about the farm and the war

And granny’d sing a ballad or two

And I’d sit and listen and watch the fire till the cobwebs filled my head

Nest thing I’d know I’d wake up in the morning

In the middle of the old feather bed.

John Denver Songs warm my soul. His lyrics help us ‘feel’ the warmth of family.

I stumbled upon an artist who illustrated his lyrics and wrapped them into wonderful Children’s books. Can you say delight?

Imagine Life without Thanksgiving or Christmas. This is me making a huge pouty face:(.

Without Thanksgiving and Christmas, you might miss time with family. Your kids would miss the hum of adults chatting about the farm and the joy of playing with cousins. They would even miss out on hearing granny sing.

My boys talk about their Grandma’s voice. She loved to sing, even though she was tone deaf. If the high notes of an opera singer could shatter glass, grandma’s singing could shatter ear-drums. The boys loved it.

Her joy was contagious and the memory of her voice warms our hearts like hot soup on a cold winter’s day, years after her entering eternity.

Our lives press in on us- especially during the holiday.

School lessons, chore lists, dance recitals, work deadlines, taxes, bills, menu planning, potty-training, play dates at the park, finding time to shower without little ones scratching through the bathroom door.

Give yourself permission to slow down.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the highlights of the year for our family.

Hands down, it’s our favorite time of year.

The aromas, laughter, musice, pie, games, crackling fire, turkey, pie, family, friends, worship, and pie. There’s nothing like a season of focusing on thankfulness, mouthwatering food, a short to-do list and great company.

Everyone prioritizes the Holidays.

Just for Fun: Download Thanksgiving Jokes- Cootie Catcher {Printable}

So how do you incorporate learning into Holidays?

Be empowered.

Weave the holidays into your school planner. For every activity you add, take a “regular” activity away. It’s all about balance my friend.

Trying to do traditional learning during the holidays is like trying to eat melting ice cream while using a treadmill.

Impossible, but makes a hysterical YouTube video to post on Facebook. {1:22-minute mark}

Heads up: You have about 18 Holiday Seasons to pass on your traditions and beliefs to your children.

Avoid the “school Trap”- Plan ahead. Be purposeful.

If you are not careful you will be trying to corral your kids to the kitchen table to complete a math worksheet and take a spelling test before having to load them into the car to do the Thanksgiving Dash or cramming lessons right up to the moment you begin singing “Silent Night”.

Is that what you, what I, what we want our kids to remember?

Related: Holiday Learning Planner {printable} at the bottom of this page.

5 Steps to Homeschool Through the Holidays

Create a holiday learning Notebook
Download your Holiday Learning Planner below.
Plan a few activities into your calendar immediately. (remember to remove or push back other activities to make room!)
Print a few activities and begin.
Set a calendar reminder for October next year so you can begin your holiday planning early!

Don’t throw the curriculum out with your skinny jeans.

Dozens of Simple Activities for Kids to Do During the Holidays Thanksgiving/Fall

Fine motor development: lacing, hole punching

7 Thanksgiving Science Experiments

90 Thanksgiving Jokes for Kids

77 Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

Table setting placements

Coloring Pages

Arts and Crafts

Disguise a Turkey

Handprint crafts

Costumes for dress up

Thanksgiving Apron Craft

Fall Sight words

Make Pilgrim hat

Make Native American Headdress

21 Math Activities for Kindergarten

Reading and writing

Thanksgiving movies

Thanksgiving Math

History of Thanksgiving

Science Experiments

Menu planning for beginners

History of Thanksgiving

Kitchen Skills: Knife Skills, meal prep, cooking, serving.

Seating place cards

Books about Thanksgiving

Go for a Walk

Life Skills

Manners Role Playing,

The Magic Greeting every child should learn before visiting family

Thank you cards made by little hands

Manners

Kitchen Skills: Knife Skills, meal prep, cooking, serving.

Thank-you cards

Skits

Teach kids how to entertain younger kids

Budgeting

Meal planning- how to organize a holiday meal

Letter to self- Create a Time capsule of Writing

Christmas and Winter

Winter Keepsake booklets

Snow day Activity

Roll a Snowman

Don’t forget handprints!

Letters to self- Create a time capsule of writing

Books about Christmas

Celebrating around the world

Christmas movies

Christmas Math

Thank you cards Kids can Make

Advent and Jesse Tree Activities Holiday books

History of Christmas

Kitchen Skills: Knife Skills, meal prep, cooking, serving.

Letters to self- Create a time capsule of writing

The Holidays are wonderful.

We should pause, we should set traditional school materials aside as much as we can allow.

Teaching our kids to prioritize family, friends, traditions, and rest is our responsibility.

Teaching them life balance is our duty.

If we simply add more and more and more to our already busy lives we will find ourselves crying out to R2-D2 to turn off the trash compactor so we do not get crushed, or even trying to eat ice cream on a treadmill.

“O come let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord.”

Download your FREE “Holiday Learning Planner” {Printable}

Preview of the Heart of Homeschooling God’s Way Master Class.

We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets.

Enroll in the sneak peek class here.

A Better Way to Homeschool

Dozens of Simple Activities for Kids to Do During the Holidays

5 Steps to Homeschool Through the Holidays

Dozens of Simple Activities for Kids to Do During the Holidays Thanksgiving/Fall

Life Skills

Christmas and Winter

The Holidays are wonderful.