Christmas vacation

AREA SETUP

(Open thematic poster-Christmas vacation) Print, laminate, and display all kinds of posters.

Decorations-Christmas vacation
(Open educa-decorate-Christmas vacation) Print, cut out, and laminate. Use the items to decorate the walls of your daycare and set the mood for the theme.

Group identification-Sparklers
(Open group identification-Sparklers) Print and laminate the various items and use them to identify children's spots and belongings or to decorate your daycare.

SPECIAL TOOL

This special tool was created in response to a special request received. (Open poster-Chirstmas vacation is important) Print and laminate. Display the poster within your daycare or near your daycare entrance.

CIRCLE TIME

Story and memory game-Christmas vacation
(Open story and memory game-Christmas vacation) Print, cut out, and laminate the cards. Arrange them face down on a table or on the floor. Children take turns picking three cards and inventing a story in relation to the illustrations.

PICTURE GAME

(Open picture game-Christmas vacation) Use the pictures to decorate your daycare or to spark a conversation with your group. Print, laminate, and store the pictures in a Ziploc bag or in your thematic bin.

ACTIVITY SHEETS

(Open activity book) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker. Children can complete their activity book throughout the theme.

(Open activity sheets-Christmas vacation) Print and follow instructions.

Educa-nuudles-Christmas vacation

(Open educa-nuudles-Christmas vacation) Print for each child. Have children color the sheet. Once they are done, they may use Magic Nuudles to turn the coloring pages into three dimensional works of art. Variation: If you do not have Magic Nuudles, ask children to fill the spaces designed for Magic Nuudles with bingo markers or stickers. To order Magic Nuudle

Stationery-Christmas vacation
(Open stationery-Christmas vacation) Print. Use the stationery to communicate with parents, in your writing corner, or to identify your thematic bins.

VARIOUS WORKSHOPS-Christmas vacation

To end the year, have fun with these wonderful workshop ideas. Let children explore them as they wish and try to avoid enforcing too many rules.

Construction/building blocks:

• Blocks of all kinds: Legos, wooden blocks (natural or coloured), Bristle blocks, Duplo, Mobilo, etc.
• Cardboard boxes filled with newspaper make great oversized blocks.
• Figurines.
• Various means of transportation: cars, trucks, planes, boats, trains, etc.
• A garage and a mat designed for toy cars along with traffic signs and cardboard cylinders to represent tunnels.
• Farm animals, zoo animals, reptiles, pets, etc.
• Natural construction elements such as branches, rocks, bark, etc.

Arts & crafts:

• Easel and large pieces of paper for painting.
• Different sizes of paintbrushes, brushes, sponges, rollers, and old toothbrushes.
• Water paint.
• Finger paint with glossy paper.
• Chalk and a chalkboard.
• Scrapbooking paper punches.
• Glue sticks, white glue, glitter glue, liquid glue.
• Adhesive paper.
• Feathers, pompoms, pipe cleaners, yarn, ribbon, confetti.
• Construction paper in various colors.
• Colourful cardboard or construction paper.
• Cellophane paper, tissue paper, wrapping paper.
• Paper plates, cardboard tubes, cone-shaped glasses.
• Popsicle sticks, toothpicks.
• Recycled material.
• Catalogues and flyers.
• Stencils.
• A tablecloth to cover the table.

Drawing:

• Coloring pages related to routines, workshops, friends, or the name of your daycare.
• Markers, wooden pencils, and waxed crayons.
• Oil pastels, coloured chalk.
• Pencils and erasers.
• Rulers and stencils.
• Stamps and stamp pads.

Role play:

• Anything you can find that can be used for dress-up play.
• Adult or children's clothing (parents can provide you with items they no longer need), handbags, shoes, belts, scarves, hats, old jewellery...
• Electronics (toy versions or real ones with the electrical cords removed), dishes, table and chairs, plastic food items, empty food containers.
• Dolls, doll clothing, cradle, high chair.
• Puppets and a small theatre.

Manipulation:

• Memory game using educatall.com picture games.
• Puzzles.
• Modeling dough for sculpting and for use with cookie cutters.
• Different sizes, colours, and shapes of beads for necklaces.
• Lacing shapes.
• Objects which may be used to practice lacing, tying, and zipping.
• Toys which involve assembly or matching.
• Lotto games, memory games, and other board games adapted to the ages of the children in your group.
• Card games, magnetic numbers and letters.
• Magnets of all kinds and a cookie sheet.

Pre-reading:

• Fairy tales, storybooks, picture books.
• Book and CD sets, children can listen to the stories with headphones.
• Album with pictures of the children in your group.
• Books with the letters of the alphabet.
• Magazines containing plenty of pictures.
• Felt board with characters which may be used to create stories.
• Comfortable armchairs, cushions, a small table.
• Posters for decorating the walls.
• A small "hideout" corner for extra privacy.
• A small floor or table lamp.

Pre-writing:

• Dotted letters for tracing.
• Games in which children must search for differences.
• Hunt and seek games.
• Activity sheets which involve tracing and letters.
• Games with educatall.com word flashcards.
• An old typewriter which may be used to type real letters.
• Magnetic numbers and letters.
• A whiteboard and dry erase markers.

Sensory bins:

• Sand and/or water table. You can replace the sand or water with: oats, lentils, uncooked pasta, sunflower seeds, cotton balls, leaves, peas, cereal, etc. The possibilities vary according to the ages of the children in your group. You be the judge of what is safe for them!
• Spray bottles.
• Funnels, empty containers which may be used for pouring.
• Small objects or figurines which may be hidden in the bins.
• Kitchen utensils for stirring.
• Straws, sponges.
• Measuring cups, colander.
• Objects that float and others that sink.

Science/nature:

• Posters of animals and natural phenomena.
• A map, an atlas, a globe.
• Plants, soil, vivarium, aquarium, gardening tools.
• Magnifying glasses and rubber gloves.
• Objects found in nature (logs, branches, leaves, rocks...)
• Scale.
• Funnels and eyedroppers.
• Containers of all kinds for mixing.

Music:

• Posters of musical instruments.
• A tape recorder and a microphone for singing and recording.
• Music from different countries, different musical styles.
• Musical instruments (toy versions or real ones).
• Rhythm sticks, triangles, drums, cymbals, xylophones, bells, etc.

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Use the cards to spark a conversation with your group or in your reading and writing area. They may also be used to identify your thematic bins. (Open word flashcards-Christmas vacation) (Open giant word flashcards-Christmas vacation) Print. Movie, blanket, baking, storm, sled, skates, roaring fire, hot chocolate, cinema, pyjamas, soup, crafts

ROUTINES AND TRANSITIONS

Game-This is my spot-Christmas vacation
(Open game-This is my spot-Christmas vacation) Print two copies of each illustration. Use adhesive paper to stick one copy of each illustration on the table. Place the second copy in a bag. Children take turns picking an illustration to determine where they must sit at the table. You may also use the illustrations to determine children's naptime spots or their place in the task train.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

Cushion-filled cabins
Use blankets to build cabins with your group. Children will spend a lot of time in these cozy hideouts. If you wish, let children sleep in the cabins at naptime. Gather all the cushions you have and set them inside the cabins. Little ones will love climbing and jumping on them.

Suitcase race
Fill two suitcases with the same number of clothing items. Divide your group into two teams and give each one a suitcase. The first player from each team must run to his/her team's suitcase, grab a clothing item, and hand it to the next player in line. The second child in line must put the clothing item handed to him/her by his/her teammate on before running to the suitcase to grab another clothing item for the third player in line and so on. The first team to empty its suitcase wins.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Even if the weather's getting cold and snowy, take your group outside and have fun together. Here are a few suggestions:

• Build snow forts and create paths in the snow leading up to them.
• Fill empty milk cartons with water and add a few drops of food coloring to each one. Set them in the freezer (or outside if it's really cold). Remove the cartons and use the colourful ice blocks to build igloos.
• Make snow angels in freshly fallen snow.
• Take a few sleds to your local playground and have fun sliding down a big hill.
• Put snow on your parachute and work together to send it flying through the air.

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Color by number-Christmas vacation
(Open color by number-Christmas vacation) Print for each child. Children must color the picture using the color code.

Educ-trace-Christmas vacation
(Open educ-trace-Christmas vacation) Print for each child. Children must trace the lines using a crayon of the corresponding color.

Educ-same and different-Christmas vacation
(Open educ-same and different-Christmas vacation) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must circle the illustration that is different in each row.

Hunt and seek-Christmas vacation
(Open hunt and seek-Christmas vacation) Print and laminate. Children pick a card and search for the items in the scene.

What's missing?
Fill a suitcase with several different items associated with a Christmas vacation. Open the suitcase and encourage children to study its contents for a few minutes. Remove one or several item(s) and invite children to identify what is missing.

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

Blankets and a movie
Wrap children in blankets and let them watch a movie while eating a special snack (dry cereal for example).

Vacation memories
Ask parents to share pictures from past Christmas vacations (or use pictures found in magazines). Cut them out and stick them on scrapbooking paper. Use the pages to create a special souvenir album.

Planning my Christmas vacation
Provide several different travel brochures and magazines. Let children cut out pictures that represent places they would like to travel to with their family and activities they would like to enjoy while on vacation.

EARLY SCIENCE

Take your group outside during a snowstorm and encourage them to observe snowflakes. Fill spray bottles with water and add a few drops of food coloring to each one. Let children use the spray bottles to "paint" the snow. Freeze a mixture of water and food coloring in a variety of containers. Let them manipulate the ice blocks with their bare hands.

CULINARY ACTIVITIES

Bake with your group. From very simple to more complicated recipes, children will have lots of fun and learn many different concepts too. Let them participate in simple tasks.

Hot chocolate taste test
Prepare your very best hot chocolate recipe with your group. Use different types of chocolate (white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate). Invite children to sit in a snow fort to sip on the various types of hot chocolate. Add spices or flavours for extra fun.

Living room picnic
Organize a picnic lunch children can enjoy on your living room floor. Simply invite them to sit on a blanket or tablecloth.

Outdoor winter picnic
Set your parachute on the snow and invite children to sit on it. It represents a great surface for a wintertime picnic since the snow will slide right off of it. Serve a special picnic lunch.

ARTS & CRAFTS

Puppets-Christmas vacation
(Open puppets-Christmas vacation) Print the puppet models on heavy cardboard. Have children cut them out and decorate them with various materials. Stick a Popsicle stick behind each one.

Mandalas-Christmas vacation
(Open mandalas-Christmas vacation) Print for each child. Encourage children to color the mandalas as they wish.

Forget about organized crafts. Simply provide construction paper, paper, scissors, glue, and arts & crafts materials children can use to express their creativity. Offer recycled items too. Children will love to use them for three-dimensional projects. If you wish, you can also provide utensils, lids, old candles, silicone cake pans, etc. Let children draw on your windows or glass doors. They will appreciate exploring their vertical surface.

COLORING PAGES

Complete the drawing-Christmas vacation
(Open complete the drawing-Christmas vacation) Print for each child. Invite children to complete the picture by drawing the missing items.

Coloring pages theme-Christmas vacation
(Open coloring pages theme-Christmas vacation) Print for each child.

SONGS & RHYMES

(Open songs & rhymes-Christmas vacation)

By: Patricia Morrison Sung to: Take me out to the ball game

Christmas vacation

Take me on a vacation
Take me home for Christmas
Just make me some cocoa and cuddle up
I don't care which movie we watch
Let me snuggle up real close with you
We'll sit by the fire and read a book
For one, two, three days or more
It's Christmas vacation

Have fun

The Educatall team