1) Swirled Ornament Balls Use clear plastic balls (ornament balls) with a gold top & loop, to pull string through. Use different colors of acryllic paint & have the kids squeeze different colors into the ornament ball. When each color is squeezed in the ball, the children turn the ball around & around to spread out the color. 2) Reindeer Pokey (sung to the tune of "The Hokey Pokey") You put your antlers in. You put your antlers out. You put you antlers in and you shake them all about. You do the Reindeer Pokey and you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your hooves in.... You put your red nose in.... You put your fluffy tail in... You put your reindeer body in... 3) Dance Like Snowflakes (sung to the tune of "Frere Jacques") Dance like snowflakes, Dance like snowflakes, In the air. In the air. Whirling, twirling, snowflakes, Whirling, twirling, snowflakes, Here and there. Here and there. 4) Here's a little Candle (sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot") Here's a little candle dressed in white, Wearing a hat of yellow light. When the night is dark, then you will see Just how bright this light can be. Here's a little candle straight and tall, Shining it's light upon us all. When the night is dark, then you will see Just how bright this light can be. Here's a little candle burning bright. Keeping us safe all through the night. When the night is dark, then you will see Just how bright this light can be! 5) Where is Santa? Sung to the tune: Are you sleeping? Where is Santa? Where is Santa? (hands behind back) Here I am! Here I am! (arms out in front making a belly shape!) Merry, Merry Christmas! Merry, Merry, Christmas! (keep arms up through the rest of the song!) Ho! Ho! Ho!, Ho! Ho! Ho! 6) Recipes:  Dipped Marshmallows 1 bag large marshmallows 250 ml (1 cup) milk chocolate chips 10 ml (2 tsp) vegetable oil Assorted sprinkles, colored sugar, coconut, crushed nuts, etc. Put sprinkles into various custard cups or small bowls. You will need lots. Melt chocolate chips and oil together over low heat (about 1 min. in microwave). Have the child dip each marshmallow into the chocolate (so about half of it is covered), then dip & roll in the sprinkles. Place on a cookie sheet to harden. 7) CINNAMON SNAILS 4 slices soft texture whole wheat or white bread 1/4 cup soft cream cheese 3 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/4 cup melted butter Trim crusts from the bread slices. Spread 1 tablespoon cream cheese on each slice of bread. Roll up bread slices with cream cheese on the inside. Cut each roll in thirds. Stir together sugar and cinnamon unti well mixed. Dip each cut roll into melted butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Do not dip the ends of the rolls. Place rolls, seam side down, on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes, or unti light brown & crisp. Serve warm or cool. Makes 12. 8) Christmas Sandwiches Take two slices of white bread & some red and green food coloring, a clean paint brush & some sandwich fillings. Pour a small amount of the food colorings into a small bowl; dilute with a small amount of water. Then take the paintbrush & "paint" a christmas tree onto the bread, you can add colorful ornaments. Paint the other slice of bread as well. Take the bread & toast them slightly in a toaster. Add the meats & cheeses, or peanut butter & jelly. 9) Snow Flake Matching Cards I cut matching pairs of snowflakes then mounted them on cardboard - you can do a concentration game with them or just have the child find the matches 10) Marshmallow sculptures Glue 3 mini marshmallows on a 3" square as a base. Then the children use more mini marshmallows & tooth picks to build a 3-D sculpture. 11) Hide & seek work the child hides 3 plastic snowmen in a bowl of beans/rice, puts on woolen gloves & a blind fold and tries to find the snowmen without looking. 12) Make snow paintings using Ivory soap snow (1 cup Ivory Snow powder and 3/4 cup water). Have the children help mix this up using hand beaters & then paint on black paper with small brushes. 13) Make snowmen out of white toilet paper tubes cut them into sections & then the children can glue 2 or 3 sections together to make a snowmen...add buttons for eyes or whaterever, yard for a scarf, etc... 14) You can make white collages on dark paper our of white lace, ribbon, styrofoam packing peanuts, tissue paper, construction paper...anything white. 16) RECYCLE CHRISTMAS CARDS Cut the cards apart. Take the front of the card & punch holes all around it. Let the children sew or lace around the card. Curling ribbon can be used without a needle. 17) POINSETTIA Cut out 5 leaf shapes using red construct. paper.Glue the leaf shapes in a circle onto green paper.In the center of the flower put some glue & add some uncooked popcorn for the flower center. 18) Glitter snow globes Get some baby food jars. Glue a small plastic snowman or other figure to the inside of the jar with waterproof adhesive. Let it dry. Fill the jar with water. Add glitter. Use plastic shavings as "snow." Fasten the lid. Melt some wax to seal the lid or use hot glue. Vary the globes by changing the figures & colors of glitter. 19) Popcorn ornaments Here's a twist on traditional christmas trims. Instead of stringing popcorn on string for your tree. String it onto medium-gauge wire and bend the wire into shapes such as bells, hearts, or stars. Add a ribbon to the top! 20) Santa Claus Here is the chimney (make fist, enclose thumb) Here is the top (place palm on top of fist) Open the lid (remove top hand) and out Santa will pop. (pop up thumb) 21) Gingerbread Man Stir a bowl of gingerbread (stir as in bowl) Smooth and spicy brown Roll it with a rolling pin up and up and down (Pretend to roll) With a cookie cutter, ( pretend to cut out) make some little men. Put them in the oven ( place in oven) till half past ten! 22) Snowman 1. Put a jar lid in the toe of a sock. 2. Crumple newspaper into three balls. Put the largest one in the sock on top of the lid. Tie string around the sock above the ball. Add the other balls, tying string above each one. 3. Cut off the rest of the sock above the last piece of string. 4. To make a hat brim, trace around a water glass onto paper. Cut out the circle. 5. Set an empty film canister in the center of the circle and trace around it. Cut out the small circle to form a ring. 6. Slide the paper ring over the canister and tape it in place. Glue the hat over the cut end of the sock. 7. Glue on button eyes and buttons on the body. 8. For a scarf, tie a fabric strip around the neck. Place twig arms under it. 9. Glue on a sequin mouth. Glue on a button nose. 23) FIVE LITTLE ELVES Five little eleves jumping on the sleigh, (move hand up and down) One jumped off and ran away (move hand over) Mama called Santa and Santa said (hand to ear) "No more elves jumping on the sleigh." (shake finger) Continue song with four, three, two and one elf. No more elves jumping on the sleigh, They all jumped off and ran away. 24) ACTIVITIES: Have the children make five elf finger puppets to use with the song. Have a hot for mama, Sanda and five elf hats. Let the children act out this song. 25) Simple Christmas Card This is very basic so it can be easily adapted to any age. My children loved it. I pre-cut the shape for the young ones and had the older ones use a template to trace theirs. Materials: Construction paper - yellow and green or red Yarn Glue Tape One Jingle Bell Have the children cut a bell shape out of the yellow construction paper. Thread the yarn (about four inches) through the hole in the bell. With the bell hanging down, tape the yarn to a piece of construction paper folded like a card. (It will need to be toward the bottom of the card.) Glue the bell shape over the yarn, leaving the jingle bell hanging out to be the "dinger." Decorate as the children wish - of course glitter is a favorite. 26) Snow Globes (2) Materials: glass jars plastic knickknacks and flowers water food coloring glitter and sequins spoon What to Do: With Warm water, remove the label from a jar.  Put plastic items, glitter, and sequins into the jar Half fill the jar with water Add a few drops of food coloring to the water. Stir with a spoon.  Fill the jar to the rim with water  Screw on the lid tightly  Shake the jar and turn it upside down. Rest the jar on its lid to see the glittery blizzard. 27) Cinnamon Ornaments Materials: 1 cup ground cinnamon 1 Applesauce Ribbon What to Do: Combine 1 large bottle ground cinnamon (about 1 cup) with applesauce to form a stiff dough, adding additional applesauce if necessary. Roll out dough to 3-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Make hole for ribbon. Carefully place of wire rack to dry. Let air dry several days, Turning occasionally.  Makes 12 ornaments. 28) Fragrant Soap Balls Materials: Ivory Snow Flakes water perfume food coloring What to Do: Use water to moisten Ivory Snow Flakes to the consistency of a very stiff dough. Divide the dough into several bowls. Add a different perfume and food coloring to each bowl for variety. Have children shape large spoonfuls of the soap into balls. Have them make about three balls each. Place the balls on trays (labeled with their modeler's name) to harden for several days. Have each child wrap their three soap balls in colored cellophane paper and tie the package with a pretty ribbon. 29) Spicy Applesauce Ornaments Materials: 1 C Ground cinnamon 1 C Applesauce 1 T Ground nutmeg 1 T Ground allspice 1 T Ground cloves What to Do: Roll out the dough to a 3-inch thickness (dust the tabletop and rolling pin with cinnamon to prevent sticking). Let the children use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the dough. Place the shapes on waxed paper. If you plan to hang, poke a hole in the top of each shape. Allow the shapes to air-dry for several days (or bake them on a cookie sheet for several hours at 250 degrees). Turn the shapes often to prevent curling. To complete the spicy ornaments, tie on loops of ribbon or yarn for hangers. 30) Snuggle Sock Materials: tube sock fabric paint rice What to Do: Fill a tube sock (white) with rice with a cute face fabric painted on the end and tied on the other end. With it came this cute poem:            A Gift For You! This is called a "snuggle sock". We made it just for you. It's good for all your aches and pains, Cause it makes you feel brand new. Just pop it in the microwave, And turn it up to one, And then before you know it, Your "Snuggle Sock" is done. Now take it to the Living Room, And lay down on the couch, And press your toasty "Snuggle Sock", On the nagging little "ouch". 31) Pretzel Wreath Materials: Little Pretzels Glue Ribbon What to Do: Glue pretzels together so they form a circle -like a wreath. Glue a second layer on top of that making sure the pretzels on this layer meet in the center of a pretzel on the bottom layer. Hang with a ribbon. 32) Christmas Card Holder Materials: Gallon Milk Jug Brown Paper - can use paper grocery bags Glue Crayons Large Red Pom Pom - optional What to Do: Take the gallon milk jug and cut off the top section, just below the handle. Cover with brown paper. Trace the childs hand on another piece of brown paper, cut them out, and glue on as antlers. Draw eyes and mouth, and attach the big red pom pom for the nose. 33) Christmas Trees Materials: Green Construction Paper Glue Red Paint Misc. Collage Materials What to Do: Cut out Christmas tree shapes. Decorate the Christmas tree: you can dip a finger in in red paint and make fingerprint ornaments, you can use various collage materials, such as glitter, buttons, fabric scraps, to decorate as desired. You can also make wreaths. 34) Pasta Christmas Wreaths Materials: Small Paper Plates A Variety of Different Shaped Pasta Craft Glue Silver or Gold Spray Paint Tinsel Bow What to Do: Cut center out of the paper plate. Glue pasta noodles around the outer ring. Try to completely cover the paper plate. Let glue dry and then spray paint the desired color. Embelish with a bow of tinsel. 35) Egg Carton Tree Materials: Two Egg Cartons Large Piece of Paper Glue Paint Misc Craft Items - such as fabric scraps, beads, ect. What to Do: Cup the egg cartons so you have one row of 6 cups, one row of 5 cups, and so on to 1 cup. Paint the outside of the egg cup green. When the paint is dry, glue them on a large sheet of paper as follows: Glue the 6 cup row on the bottom of the paper, just above that glue the 5 cup row, and so on until you have used all the cups. It should look like a triangle when you are done. Decorate with misc. craft items. 36) Styrofoam Ball Ornament Materials: Styrofoam Ball - about 2 and a half inches Glue Paper Clips Paint Misc Craft Items - glitter, jewels, ribbons, ect. What to Do: Put some glue on one end of a paper clip and push it into the ball, this will be the hanger. Paint and decorate as desired. 37) Triangle Reindeer Materials: Popsicle Sticks wiggle eyes Glue Red Pom Pom What to Do: Put 3 popsicle sticks together to make a triangle. With the point facing down, the top stick should be placed lower to make antlers, glue together. Glue red pom pom on the point for a nose, and glue the eyes on the sticks about half way up from the point. 38) Glue Ornaments Materials: Glue Glitter Paper Wax Paper Tape What to Do: Draw a Christmas shape -such as a bell- onto the paper; tape the paper onto the table. Lay wax paper over the design, and tape it to the table. Trace design with glue, you will want it to be kind of thick. Sprinkle glitter over glue. Allow to dry over night and then peel off of wax paper. 39) Pipe Cleaner Ornaments Materials: Pipe Cleaners Tri-cornered beads Ribbon - optional What to Do: Thread the beads onto a pipe cleaner so they nest together. You can bend to shape a candy cane, a wreath, a star, ect. You can also punch holes in ribbon and weave it onto the pipe cleaner,between each bead. 40) Christmas Necklace Materials: Cling Wrap Christmas Candy - about the size of a quarter Curling Ribbon What to Do: Cut 2-3 feet of cling wrap and lay flat on table. Starting on one end, place candy in the center of the cling wrap. Do this the whole leghth of the cling wrap, leaving 2-3 inches between each candy. Fold the cling wrap over a few times -the long way- to seal the candy. Tie a piece of curling ribbon around the cling wrap in between each piece if candy. Tie the ends together to make a necklace. 41) Days Till Christmas Bell Materials: Paper Bowl Paint Construction Paper Glue Pipe Cleaner Misc. Craft Supplies - optional What to Do: Bowl upside down and paint, allow it to dry. Cut stripd of paper to make a paper chain for however many days there are left until Christmas; reserve on strip to attach chain to the bowl. Place dried bowl upside down on the table and poke a small hole in the center bottom. Bring two ends of a pipecleaner together; stick ends down through the hole in the bowl until half of the pipecleaner is through. To keep the pipe cleaner in place, twist it on each side of the bottom of the bowl, and put some glue on it. Add the paper chain to the top of the bell, and tear off on chain link each day until Christmas. You can also use misc. supplies to decorate the bell. 42) Jigsaw Ornament Materials: Popsicle Sticks Glue Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces Child's Picture Light Weight Cardboard Ribbon What to Do: Glue popsicle sticks together to form a triangle. Glue the puzzle pieces onto the triangle to make a frame. Glue the picture behind the frame, and then glue the cardboard behind the picture. Add a ribbon for hanging. 43) Plaster Ornaments Materials: Faster Plaster Christmas Candy Molds Paint or Markers What to Do: Use the Faster Plaster and Christmas candy molds to make ornaments. Decorate them with paint or markers. Attach a hanger, pin backs, or magnets to the plaster mold. 44) Christmas Placemats Materials: Paper Used Christmas Cards Glue Crayons, Markers, or Paint Clear Contact Paper What to Do: Cut the pictures from cards. Draw a picture on a piece of paper and this was the back. Then glue on the card pictures. Cover both sides with contact paper. 45) Glitter Bells Materials: Cereal Box, ect Glue Glitter Ribon or Yarn Misc Craft Items - such as fabric scraps, beads, ect. What to Do: Cut bell shapes out of light weight cardboard. Put the glitter in a plastic sandwich bag. Paint the bell shape with glue, put it in the bag with the glitter and shake until it is coated. Make as many as you want. Let the bells dry. Poke a hole in the top and tie bells together, letting each one hang down about 5-6 inches. You can also decorate with misc. craft items. 46) Christmas Tree Materials: Green Tagboard - the bigger the better Paint Shaped Sponges What to Do: Cut out a big green tree out of giant tagboard and sponge paint ornaments on it. 47) Handprint Christmas Tree Materials: Green, Red, and Yellow Construction Paper Crayons, Pencils, or Markers Glue What to Do: Cut ten handprints on green paper, a yellow star, and ten red hearts small enough to fit on the hand print. Start gluing one handprint at the top of the page and with the fingers pointing down. This is the top of your tree. Use the rest of the handprints fanning out to make a Christmas tree. In the star write I love....then in each heart let the kids pickspecial people...mommy, daddy, friends, grands, pets, dolls, etc. Glue star on the top and a heart on each hand. 48) Child's Hand Prints Wreath Materials: any size muslim green and red tempra paint What to Do: Cut muslim square to desired size. Trace circle in pencil for size of wreath  Paint green paint onto child's hand and randomly place around wreath continue until you have a nice full wreath, but not so much as to cover the hand imprints 49) POINSETTIA Materials: Red construction paper green paper popcorn What to Do: Cut out 5 leaf shapes using red construct. paper.Glue the leaf shapes in a circle onto green paper. In the center of the flower put some glue & add some uncooked  popcorn for the flower center. 50) Gift Can Materials: White Construction Paper Soup Cans What to Do: Begin by having each child paint or fingerpaint a design on white construction paper. For each child, provide a clean soup can from which the label has been removed.  When the artwork is dry, trim it to fit a can. Have each child wrap his artwork around a can and glue it in place. Give each child a copy of the note below. After reading the note aloud to the children have each child sign his/her copy and tuck it into their can. Grandparents and other older friends are certain to be most pleased. NOTE: This little can, made of tin, Was washed and saved to use again. I added paint, I added glue, And made a present just for you. It's for your pencils or your pens. You can show it to your friends. It's not empty, for you can see, It's filled with love to you from me.