| Recreating the joy of the festive season by | | | | 2. Candy Cane Hunt - Outdoor Activity |
| bringing Christmas into your classroom is a brilliant | | | | This activity is great fun and develops team |
| way of engaging your preschool students and | | | | building and problem solving skills using an outdoor |
| encouraging them to learn. | | | | treasure hunt. Rug your little students up and |
| The vivid sights and sounds of Christmas, the | | | | brave the cold! |
| anticipation of presents, the magic of Santa - the | | | | Materials: 6 identical treasure maps of the outdoor |
| festive season provides a wonderful opportunity | | | | play area, clue sheets, candy cane, a whistle. |
| for teachers to engage students and encourage | | | | 1. Divide students in to groups of four or five 'Elf |
| them to learn using fun and easy to organize | | | | Teams' |
| activities. | | | | 2. Provide each team with a treasure map. |
| Imagining the holiday from a preschooler's | | | | 3. Hand out clue sheets and instruct students to |
| perspective, and exploring the sensory experience | | | | find the hidden Christmas treats. |
| of Christmas through the eyes of a child, is a | | | | 3. Christmas Music and Art |
| wonderful way to foster the development of | | | | Enhance your students' art, design and creativity |
| new skills and experiences. | | | | skills using a range of fun craft activities. |
| Research certainly indicates the central importance | | | | Materials: CD Player, Christmas CD, art supplies, |
| of play in learning. Many educational studies have | | | | cookie decoration kit |
| highlighted the importance of learning through | | | | 1. Play Christmas CD's to the class while they |
| experience and emphasize that students must be | | | | make and decorate Christmas cards for loved |
| active in the construction of their own learning, | | | | ones, create Christmas ornaments or decorate |
| rather than passive recipients of information. | | | | gingerbread cookies. |
| There a literally thousands of Christmas activities | | | | 2. Encourage students to sing along to jingles as |
| all of which promote literacy, numeracy, problem | | | | they create their artwork. |
| solving, teamwork and creativity. | | | | 4. Creating Christmas Stories |
| Counting, classifying, categorizing, drawing and | | | | Read a wide range of classic Christmas stories to |
| painting, storytelling, narrative and recounting, | | | | your class to inspire their imaginations. Watch |
| problem solving, relationship building - the | | | | Christmas DVD's and share favorite Christmas |
| possibilities are endless. Here are five wonderful | | | | experiences in order to develop narrative skills, |
| Christmas activities which can be used to | | | | recounting skills and collaborative learning. |
| encourage your students to learn through play. | | | | Materials: DVD's, stories, DVD's, colored pens. |
| 1. Glittery Xmas Wish List | | | | 1. Divide students into groups of four and ask |
| This activity develops classifying, identifying and | | | | students to create a Christmas story. |
| organizing skills using a Christmas wish list to | | | | 2. Each group storyboards the tale on large pieces |
| develop and enhance these skills. | | | | of cardboard. |
| Materials: Colored paper, glue, glitter, scissors, toy | | | | 3. Have students present their storyboards and |
| catalogues and magazines. | | | | share their Christmas tale to the class. |
| 1. Supply students with large sheets of colored | | | | 5. Christmas Clues |
| paper. | | | | 1. Make a list of people, places or objects related |
| 2. Ask students to trace glue around the border | | | | to Christmas. Examples - snowman, reindeer, elf, |
| and use glitter to decorate the border. | | | | star. |
| 3. Color in the heading 'My Wish List' | | | | 2. Students ask up to 15 questions about the item |
| 4. Tell students to hunt through the toy catalogs | | | | and answer 'Yes' or 'No' depending on the |
| and select and cut out toys that they like. | | | | relevance. For example: Snowman - 'Does he |
| 5. Students can glue images in order of size, | | | | melt?', 'Does he love the snow? |
| value, shape or color. | | | | |