We have almost three full weeks of school in December before winter break, then we get that well deserved vacation. The winter holiday season is always special to me, it fills me with a child-like sense of anticipation and excitement. It is doubly special since my birthday falls during the holidays. I hope you find these activities enjoyable for gifts and decorations during the holiday season.
Potpourri Balls
Herb and Spice
Ornaments
“Me” Ornaments
Cinnamon Shapes
Baker’s Clay Ornaments
Rubber Stamp
Greeting Cards
Sticker Cards
ORNAMENTS
Potpourri Balls:
Get some potpourri mix, nylon net fabric and pretty ribbon, red net
with gold metallic ribbon is pretty. Cut the nylon net into
8 inch squares, and cut the ribbon into 12 inch lengths, more for wider
ribbon. Using a small heavy plastic bowl, such as those used for
pudding and Jell-O in the school cafeteria, help students place the square
of net over the bowl, press down to form a hollow. Depending on your
kids abilities, show them how to use hands or large serving spoons (even
tongs if you wish) to place potpourri in the net. If you want to
stretch the potpourri a little at a low cost, use cedar chips from the
pet department of your friendly discount store and soak them in tempera
paint diluted with water. (About half paint or less.) Take the net
by the corners and wrap tightly with a rubber band to form a nice ball
of potpourri covered by net. Then tie a pretty bow with the ornamental
ribbon.
Herb and Spice
Ornaments:
Prepare by pre-cutting holiday shapes such as stars from cardboard
and punching a hole for hanging. Help students spread white glue
thickly on one side of the ornament and sprinkle with spices. Some
good spices to get are those with lots of shape, smell and texture like
cinnamon sticks broken into pieces, whole cloves, chunks of nutmeg, star
anise, and allspice. Also sprinkle on the powdered herbs for the
wonderful fragrance such as ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. Some stores
sell mulling spices for making spiced cider or wine, and these mixes make
a pretty assortment to use if you can get it. This is a wonderful activity
for totally blind students, it is very multi-sensory, and the product can
be appreciated without sight.
“Me” Ornaments:
Gather some scraps of ribbon, wrapping paper, jingle bells, tinsel,
bead strings, etc. from your Christmas stash. Get some clear plastic
container ornaments from The Container Store, or craft or hobby store.
Write home requesting photos of your students, or spring for photos you
make with your own camera. Make double prints, you can keep one copy for
yourself, and later you will be glad you made them, because there are always
some kids you will never have pictures of unless you make them yourself.
(A budget saving tip: join Sam’s wholesale club, most will let school district
employees become members, the film and developing savings alone will
pay for the cost of the membership.) Let students pick from a pile of the
holiday items and place them in the ball ornament. When students
are not present to help, place the photos in the ornament, trimming to
fit if necessary. Add more wrapping paper if needed to keep the photo
from shifting. Glue the ball ornament closed with super glue or a
hot glue gun. Attach a bow and loop for hanging. Use a paint
pen to write a holiday greeting and the date on the ornament. Regardless
of what holiday the families of your students celebrate this time of year,
they will treasure this memento of their child. Use colors appropriate
for the family holiday, such as red and green for Christmas, blue and white
or silver for those celebrating Hanukah, and multiple colors for Kwanzaa.
If you don't know what may or may not offend a family, make an ornament
using silver and white for winter.
Cinnamon Shapes:
If you think you can keep this dough (mostly) out of little mouths,
try it, if not, try the no-bake recipe that follows.
1 cup ground cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup white glue
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Mix ingredients together, add more
water or more cinnamon if necessary to make a pliable dough. Roll
out dough and cut with cookie cutters. Place shapes on a foil lined
cookie sheet poke a hole for hanging after children have finished with
the shapes. Bake. Turn ornaments every 10 minutes. It
will take 30 minutes or more for them to dry thoroughly. Remove from
oven and allow to cool. After baking children can decorate them more
with dried spices like cloves, whole allspice, star anise, chips of cinnamon
bark glued on with white glue. Tie a red ribbon through the hole
for hanging.
For kids who may eat some, here is a more edible recipe in that all
ingredients are food, but still, discourage your students from eating it,
the strong spices will surely make them sick in large quantities.
3/4 cup ground cinnamon
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup applesauce
water as necessary
Mix ingredients together to form a stiff dough. Add water if necessary
to make the dough workable. Roll out and cut with cookie cutters.
Poke a hole with a pencil not too close to the edge for hanging.
Place on a wire rack, screen or cookie sheet to air dry. Turn ornaments
every day. It will take several days to dry completely. Tie
a ribbon through the hole for hanging. On either of these cinnamon
ornaments, you can add whole allspice, star anise or cinnamon sticks and
glue them to the ornament.
Baker’s Clay
Ornaments:
These are beautiful ornaments that look good enough to eat, they bake
up a nice golden brown color like fresh bread.
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 3/4 cup warm water
Stir ingredients together. Kneed well for 10 minutes. Bake
at 300 degrees until completely hard and a little brown, time will vary
depending on size and thickness. For young children, or those with
motor impairments, help them cut shapes with cookie cutters. Kids
with good use of their hands can roll out snake shapes, make them into
wreaths, make balls and flatten them a bit for a snowman, etc. Fabric
paint makes a nice looking fake frosting. Spray or paint the ornaments
with varnish or some other sealant to make them last a long time.
You can poke a hole and tie a thin ribbon in it for hanging, or attach
a pin or tie tack back to make the decoration wearable.
GREETING CARDS
Rubber Stamp
Greeting Cards:
Purchase some rubber stamps with large images on them, or buy the high
density foam stamps used for printing on fabric or furniture or walls.
You can also make similar stamps yourself by using Fun Foam, a high density
foam sold in the felt section of hobby and craft stores. You can
cut fun foam into seasonal shapes with scissors or the Ellison letter press.
Mount fun foam shapes onto wood blocks or several layers of cardboard glued
together to make a thick block. Stamp with rubber stamp pad, or spread
a thin layer of paint onto a tray and dip the stamp into it and then onto
paper. If you are using black ink, stamp on white paper, let students
scribble red, green or other appropriate color with a crayon or water color
marker. Then cut out with scissors and mount on a contrasting colored
paper card.
Sticker Cards:
Cut a seasonal shape such as a Christmas tree or gift box from gold
foil (or other solid, bright color) wrapping paper and glue to a construction
paper or card stock card.. Let students add seasonal stickers for
decoration.
Bye for now! Be sure and make and eat lots of treats, for more ideas
see my web site. Happy Holidays (Holly Days) !
Holly