The Nutcracker Music Appreciation Printable

We were lucky to attend an abbreviated child-friendly version of The Nutcracker today for next to nothing and the kids absolutely loved it!  I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do a bit of music appreciation this week so I compiled a little learning/discussion pack to help.  Click the link below to download!

The Nutcracker Music Appreciation

I LOVE our SQUILT books from Homegrown Learners, and we plan to use the Christmas Carols pack this month as well.  I tried to keep it similar to that format since I know that it works well for my children.  I also plan on printing out the SQUILT notebooking page for each of the various dances.

Thanks for reading!

Edited to add: I just discovered that SQUILT actually has a Nutcracker Unit!  It's $6, but I really think her packs are worth it!

Wisemen Adventures - Day 1 & 2

This year we are participating in Wisemen Adventures. The idea is to move your Wisemen figures around the house "Elf on the Shelf" style while they follow the star, until they find baby Jesus on Epiphany.  Ours started their search the day after Christmas.

Day 1

The Wisemen decided to search the gingerbread houses to see if the Christ Child was sleeping inside. No luck, but the naughty camel found himself a little treat and started eating the snowman's walking stick!

Day 2

The Wisemen were distracted from their search by our Christmas goodies!  I hope they had a good snack because they have a long journey ahead of them!

Stay tuned for more Wisemen Adventures. Thanks for reading!

Reminder: Epiphany Countdown and Christmas Thank You Notes Printables

Don't forget that I have a couple of printable resources on this blog that are perfect for this time of year!

Simple Epiphany Countdown to countdown the time from Christmas to Epiphany.

Simple Christmas Thank You Notes perfect for young children to send thank you notes for their Christmas presents.

Thanks for reading!

12 Days of Christmas Resources

One of my absolute favorite things about being Catholic (besides the Body and Blood of Christ!) is that we get to celebrate Christmas for an extra 12 days after the rest of the world has already started packing it up into boxes for the attic.  Well technically, there are 11 days of the Christmas season this year if you are counting to Epiphany.  18 if you celebrate until the Baptism of the Lord!  Here are some fun resources to help you celebrate:

My favorite go-to resource for Christmas liturgical year info is the Catholic Culture countdown.  It has a great review of WHY we celebrate Christmas for as long as we do, and usually a neat activity and recipe for each day of Christmas.

12 Days of Christmas for Busy Families by Two 0's + More is a great post outlining simple ideas for celebrating each day as well.

Family at the Foot of the Cross has a great post that not only explains the real meaning behind the 12 Days of Christmas Song, but also lists ideas for each day of Christmas as you scroll down.

And of course, Shower of Roses always has amazing resources.  Scroll to the bottom of this post for December feast days, and the beginning of this post for January feast days in the Christmas season.

Have a very merry Christmas season!  Thanks for reading!

Magnetic Jesse Tree Using the Read Aloud Book of Bible Stories

A few weeks ago I ran across this great looking Magnetic Jesse Tree on Pinterest. (Isn't Pinterest the best?!)

I loved the idea, because it was accessible to us in the kitchen, where it would be easiest to do our Advent devotions in the morning.

I wanted our Jesse Tree this year to have ornaments corresponding to The Read Aloud Book of Bible Stories. I found this book at a homeschool conference this year and fell in love with it. If ever there was a living bible for kids, this is it!

My version

Here is the PDF chart showing which ornaments I am using on which day, along with links to the source of each free printable ornament. 

Tutorial:

Background chalkboard Christmas tree

Ornaments -
~Materials needed: clear glass beads (found in floral section at Walmart or dollar store), Modge Podge, small circular magnets (I found mine at Walmart), and small printed pictures for ornaments.

~How to: Cut your ornaments to fit the glass beads.  Paint Modge Podge on the flat side of the glass bead and place the paper ornament on.  Then cover with more Modge Podge and stick the magnet on.  That's it!

Hope that helps if you are interested making this for yourself.  Thanks for reading!

Magnetic Advent Devotions

We have been using or beautiful Advent Board for the past few years, and although I love it, I wanted a little change of pace this year. Not to mention, having the board set up out of the way on the entryway table makes it WAY too easy to ignore.

Since we have gotten in the routine of doing our morning Religion time during and after breakfast in the morning, I wanted our new Advent devotions to be accessible to us in the kitchen. 

At the top is our Advent Fun calendar. Every day I will write something fun for us to do that day, such as baking cookies or setting up the Christmas tree.  It also has a numbered countdown to Christmas.  Source.

In the middle is our Jesse Tree. We are using homemade ornaments that correspond to the Read Aloud Book of Bible Stories. 

At the bottom is a magnetic Advent Wreath. Every Sunday we will "light" a new candle.

Here are detailed instructions for the Jesse Tree.

Thanks for reading!

Epiphany Countdown

I made this quick little Epiphany Countdown this morning for my kids using clipart and Microsoft Publisher.  I love it because it is portable - perfect for our trip to Grandma's this week!  I will add the link below for anyone who would like to print it for themselves.  It is plain black and white and I just printed it on colored paper.  Enjoy!

Epiphany Countdown

Updated 11/12/2014 -
Epiphany Countdown 2014

I've also made a smaller, consumable coloring page version.
Epiphany Countdown Coloring Page 2014

Service Advent Chain

I put together a little Advent chain project for my daughter's American Heritage Girls meeting.  We have been learning about the first part of the AHG oath: I Promise to Love God.  We read about and discussed Jesus' telling of the greatest commandment - to love God above all else and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  We pledged to work throughout Advent at loving God and loving our neighbors through acts of service.  I had printed out 25 ideas on mailing labels for each girl.  They simply stuck the labels on each strip of paper and created an Advent chain with those strips.  I'm so excited for this fun little chain and am looking forward to doing something similar each year!

Our 25 Acts of Service

• Do someone else's chore for them.
• Read or tell a story to a younger sibling or pet.
• Ask mom if she needs any help in the kitchen today, either with making a meal or cleaning up.
• Tell each family member how much you love them.
• Pray for each person in your family.
• Hug someone in your family.
• Draw a picture or write a note that you can send to your grandparents to let them know how much you love them.
• Pick out a toy that you no longer play with that can be donated to a family in need.
• Ask your mom if you can purchase an extra can or two of food this week at the grocery store to donate to charity.
• Make an effort to smile at people all day.
• Do extra chores this week to earn money that can be dropped in a Salvation Army Bucket or in the collection basket on Sunday.
• Secretly perform a kind act for someone today.
• Obey your parents, teachers, and others in charge of you today.
• Be patient today and do what you can to please your parents and family without complaining.
• Say a Hail Mary for someone who is sick.
• Offer to say Grace at mealtime.
• Say a prayer for all the world's hungry people.
• Find a quiet place and sit for a few minutes, letting God love you.
• Do not lose your temper when angry or frustrated today.  Think of something else you can do to radiate God's love and forgiveness instead.
• Talk to your parents and check if there is a service project your family can do this season such as buying a gift for a giving tree, sending a care package to a soldier, etc.
• Draw a picture of the Nativity today and think about how much God loves you.
• Take care of God's creation by cleaning up a piece of litter or putting out some food or water for your friendly back yard animals.
• Ask Mama Mary to prepare your heart for Jesus' coming.
• Be nice to someone who is hard to get along with.
• Jesus is born!  Think of God's love for you, and offer him all the prayers you have seen and kind deeds you have done this Advent.

I tried to stick to ideas that wouldn't involve a ton of parental involvement just in case the parents were a bit overwhelmed with their own holiday preparations.  Also there does not have to be any particular order other than the Jesus is born one being on Christmas day.

Thanks for reading!

Advent Countdown

This is what we are using again this year for our Advent Countdown.

The left panel has Mary and Joseph traveling closer to Bethlehem each day.  The middle panel is our Jesse Tree using ornaments that I created several years ago.  We also put up an Advent candle on each Sunday since a wreath is out of the question with a rambunctious toddler in the house!  The right panel is our secular panel where I write something fun for us to do each day leading up to Christmas.  Thanks for reading!