Are you little learners working on practicing their beginning sounds? I have a fun Free Printable Santa Beginning Sounds Game they will love to play!

Many of you expressed how much fun your kids had playing our Gobble Gobble Game last month; I’ve made one to continue the fun this month, too, with a Christmas version! This game is fun to review beginning sounds and letters with your learners.

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The Setup

To play the game, all you need to do is download the printable at the bottom of the post. Cut out all of the squares and laminate so you can play the game over and over again. You will also need some kind of container to put the cards in. I used a fun Christmas container that I got at Michaels years ago. but you can use anything you have on hand.

To Play

This game can be played with one student or many. You will put all of the cards into the container and shake them up. Have a student pull out a card, look at the letter, and say the sound it makes. If playing alone, choose another card and repeat. If playing with other students, move to the next person to take a turn.

There are also some cards that say, Ho ho ho! If a student chooses a Ho ho ho! card, they say, Ho ho ho! like Santa and put all of their letters back in the container, and it’s the next players’ turn, or they can start over again if playing alone.

There are both uppercase and lowercase letters. You can choose to use them both or just one set, the game will work the same either way.

Your students will love playing this game so much and get so into saying ho, ho, ho like Santa does. They hope to pull those cards!

You can download the Santa Beginning Sounds Game below by clicking the green download box.

If you’re looking for more beginning sound activities, we share all of our favorites
 in this blog post here.

Do you have any other fun games you like to play to practice beginning sounds?

Thanks for stopping by!

jenette

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Do you use callbacks or attention grabbers in your classroom? Are you looking for fun ways to change them up for the holidays? I’ve gathered a bunch of Holiday Class Call and Responses ideas for you to use in December and a few that can be used in January and February.

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If you haven’t used callbacks in your class before, you simply say the teacher’s phrase,

“Up on the housetop”

and the students stop what they’re doing and respond back with

“click, click click”

I’ve gathered a bunch of fun holiday sayings that you can choose to use throughout the month of December. A few of them are winter-related so they can be used into January and February as well. Some of the ideas have fun hand motions to go along with the sayings too! I’ve put them all together into a free printable so you can easily have it handy.

Another option would be to print it and put it on a clipboard hanging up in your classroom. Attach a clothespin to the callback you’re currently using. You can then put it in your sub-notes when needed so they can easily see what callback you are using and be able to get the attention of your class just the same.

You can download the Holiday Class Call and Responses Free Printable by clicking the green box below.

Do you have any other fun holiday call and responses that you like to use in your classroom? Share with us in the comments below!

See you next time!

Jenette

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There is just something about reindeer that is so cute! I’m sharing with you the details of how to make these Reindeer Paint Stick Ornaments, perfect for students to make for their families this year! They are a quick, easy, and inexpensive gift idea!

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This article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

supplies needed

To make the Reindeer Paint Stick Ornament, you’ll need the supplies listed below.

• A paint stick – one per student
• One and a half sticks of pipe cleaners for the antlers per student
• 1/3 of a pipe cleaner as his collar per student
• One small jingle bell per student
• One small red pom pom ball per student
• 2 googley eyes per student
• Brown acrylic paint
• Paint brushes
• School glue or hot glue gun
• Black Sharpie
• Twine or baker twine
• Picture of the student for the back of the ornament if possible

I like to pick up the pipe cleaners, small jingle bells, pom pom balls and googley eyes at Dollar Tree. It makes for a very inexpensive gift for an entire class. You can grab the paint sticks at your local hardware store too.

Make the reindeer oranament

To make the reindeer ornament, start by having each student paint their paint stick brown. Set aside and let dry. Once the stick is dry. Take the longest pipe cleaner and twist it around the paint stick once where it curves in. You may want to put a bead of hot glue here to help it stay in place. Nnow end out your pipe cleaner like to look like a large U. Take the half of pipe cleaner and cut it in half. Use on of the halves and twist it around the top portion of one of the end of the pipe cleaner. Do the same for the other side. Now you have your antlers. Next, glue on the eyes and the red pom pom for his nose.

Lastly, the students will take their 1/3 piece of pipe cleaner and thread the jingle bell onto it sliding it to the middle of the pipe cleaner. Have them take the pipe cleaner and pull it around the paint stick twisting it in the back to stay closed. Again you may want to use some hot glue to help it stay in place here. Now your students have an adorable reindeer ornament!

Last step is to have them turn over their reindeer , add a picture if possible and have them write their name and year. Such a wonderful keepsake for their family!

If you need a cute way to wrap up the ornament if they will be giving them as a gift, you might want to grab the free template to make these cute reindeer bags. Click here to get the template and instructions now.

Let us know if you have your students make these easy, inexpensive ornaments to give to their families this year!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Are you looking for an easy and inexpensive ornament to have your students make as gifts this year? You’ll love this Snowman Paint Stick Ornament! Such a cute gift idea! As a parent, I am so thankful for my own kids teachers for helping them make these special ornaments or gift each year for our family. They will be cherrished and are excited to see them come back out and onto the tree each year.

Keep reading to get all of the details.

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this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Supplies Needed

You’ll need a few supplies to make the Snowman Paint Stick Ornament.

• Paint sticks – one per student
• Popsicle craft sticks – one per student
• Googly eyes – 2 per student
• Buttons, mini pom pom balls, or jewels – 3 per student
• Ribbon
• Glue or hot glue
• White and black acrylic paint
• Paint brushes
• Black Sharpie
• Orange Sharpie
• Twine or baker twine
• Picture of the student for the back of the ornament if possible

Make the Snowman Ornament

To make the ornament, have each student start by using a black sharpie to make a line across the stick where the paint stick curves in. See picture below.

Next, have the students paint the smaller top portion above the line black. They will also paint the popsicle stick black at this time as well. Set aside and let dry. Once the paint is dry, have them paint the bottom portion of the stick white and set aside to let it dry.

Once the paint is dry the students are ready to create their snowman. Have them choose their ribbon and decorations.

To attach everything to the snowman, you can either use glue or hot glue. If you want to have the students do everything on their own, use the glue, it will just need extra time to dry. Or you can use a glue gun and help them attach the items they’ve chose to their paint stick. Glue the painted popsicle stick where the black and white paint meet to make the hat. Add the eyes, and the decorative items they’ve chosen. They can then use the markers to add black dots for the mouth and the nose. Tie the ribbon on as the snowmans scarf.

Once the snowman is complete, make sure to turn over the popsicle stick and attach a small picture of the student if you have one, and have them write their name and the year.

And there you have a super cute and easy ornamnet idea! You may want to check out our other paint stick ornament idea too, you can get the instructions for that one here.

Let us know in the comments below if you make these with your class!

See you next time!

Jenette

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If you’re looking for an Easy Christmas Party Game Idea, we’ve got you covered! This game requires just a few supplies, and takes just a couple of minutes to get ready to play. Keep reading to get all of the details.

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Items that you’ll need to setup the game

• Four boxes that fit inside of each other – Any boxes will do as long as they fit inside of each other. I used 4 Christmas nesting gift boxes that I found at Hobby Lobby. They are super sturdy and I have been using them over and over again for many years now. Well worth the investment.
• Wrapping paper, scissors, and tape.
• A special treat to go inside of the smallest box. You’ll want to have enough for one for everyone playing the game. I like to use candy canes. Christmas socks are another fun idea.

When it comes time to play the game, you will need access to music. Your phone will work great.

Game Setup

First, you’ll take the smallest box and fill it with your special gifts or treats. Next, wrap the box with wrapping paper. You’ll then place the wrapped box and place it into the next smallest box and wrap it. Keep doing this until you have one “gift”.

How To Play The Game

To play the game, have everyone sit in a circle. Choose one person to give the gift to to start the game. When you start the music everyone will pass the wrapped gift around the circle. When the music stops, that person will get to open the gift. They of course will find another wrapped gift. Start the music again and continue the game the same way until the last person open the “gift” and gets to hand out a treat to everyone in the circle.

The kids have such a fun time playing this and are always thinking that they will be the one to finally open the gift. You could always make it harder by wrapping more boxes and more boxes. The game is even fun for adults to play too, just add some fun adult treats inside the final box.

If you’re looking for some more games to play during your Christmas party, you might want to check out our Holidays Sock Exchange. Similar to this game that I shared, but each person passes around a wrapped gift while a book is being read.

We also have a bunch of great bingo games that are always a hit with the kiddos!

Christmas Bingo

Gingerbread Bingo

North Pole Bingo

Christmas Songs Bingo

And we also have Christmas cake walk numbers. Fun prize ideas are cupcakes, candy canes, or books!

Let me know if you try out this quick and easy game with your kiddos!

See you next time!

Jenette

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The holidays are here again! Today I have a beautiful Free Printable Christmas Gift Tag that is perfect for your holiday gifts for teammates, friends, or family.

How to use the Free Printable Christmas Gift Tag

You’ll need white cardstock and scissors, that’s it! You’ll first need to download and print the gift tags that you can find below in the post. Next, you’ll cut out the tag. Depending on your gift, you may want to use a hole punch and use a piece of twine or ribbon to attach the tag to the gift.

This Christmas Gift Tag is similar to the one I shared a while back for the fall. Bake up some special treats and put them into a tin or a box and add the cute tag to finish it off. It doesn’t have to cost a lot but is such a wonderful and beautiful gesture during the holiday season.

The gift tags would work look wonderful on any type of gift. I made two different versions, a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays. Use one or both, whatever fits your needs better.

You can download the gift tag by clicking the green box below.

Do you have any special gifts that you like to give to your teammates during the holidays? Share your ideas with us below.

See you next time!

Jenette

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Fuzzy Christmas socks are always a fun gift for the kids! Today I’m sharing an easy way to wrap them up with these Christmas Socks Gift Tag.

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I like to grab socks on Black Friday, you can usually find them for $1.00 that day. This year, I was able to find them both at Old Navy and at Kohls. I actually ordered them from Kohls for $1.00 apiece and I used an extra 15% off coupon making them $.85 each. I ordered enough (our family donates a bunch to a nursing home each Christmas too) so that I received free shipping and even got some Kohls’s cashback for me. Yay!

Christmas Socks Gift Tag Free Printable

To make the socks fun to give as a gift I wanted to make some cute tags to wrap around the pair of socks. I made two different versions. One is more Christmasy and the other one is wintery.

Supplies needed

Download and print the sock wrap

Scissors

Tape

Instructions

Simply download and cut out the strips. Wrap one of the paper strips around the socks, tape it, and you’re all set! Super easy and cute! They would also make a cute and inexpensive gift idea for neighbors, friends, teachers, babysitters, delivery drivers and so many more!

You can even slide in a candy cane to make it extra special. Such a simple, inexpensive gift that everyone will love.

You can download the Christmas Socks Gift Tag by clicking the green box below.

Another fun way to give your students socks is to have a class sock exchange. You can read all about that here.

I hope you students enjoy their new cozy socks for the holidays!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Christmas Socks Gift Tag appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

It’s that time of year again to start thinking about class holiday parties. I’ve gathered up some of my favorite Reindeer Theme Class Party Ideas. There’s something about those cute reindeer that I just can’t get enough of! I’m sharing some snack ideas, crafts, and a game so keep reading to find out more.

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For my class parties, I always like to have some fun activities but like to keep things simple. Usually, we only have about an hour and a half for the party and hopefully, a parent volunteer or two to help out. I get everything possible done before the day of the party so things run quickly and smoothly.

If you have volunteers, setting up stations for them to come to is extremely helpful and while they are waiting for their turn sitting at their desk, they can be making their reindeer hats and eating their snacks.

To get the party started, everyone made reindeer hats to wear during the party. You can download the reindeer hat template for FREE here.

Snack Ideas

Reindeer Water Bottles

Water bottles are my go-to during class parties. So much easier to avoid any spills etc with juice and other drinks. But just because we’re having water doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

I dressed up the bottles to make them into reindeer by taking off the label and hot gluing googly eyes and red pom pom balls onto the water bottles. Then I wrapped a pipe cleaner around just below the lid and added two extra small pieces to each end to make antlers. You can actually grab a whole craft set from Amazon here that includes the pipe cleaners, eyes, and pom poms.

Reindeer Pudding Cup Snack

For our snack, I made reindeer pudding cups, and then the students got to add extra ingredients during the party. I added the same googly eyes and red pom poms to the chocolate pudding cups.

During the party, each student got 2 small candy canes to add as the antlers and 1 Christmas Oreo to crumble up on top. They were a huge hit with the kids!

Craft Ideas

So our first craft was the reindeer hats but now how about making something fun as a parent gift from the students since you probably have some extra volunteer hands.

Handprint Reindeer Ornament

We’ve made 2 different reindeer ornaments in the past. The first is an adorable handprint render ornament. You can never go wrong with a handprint ornament! For this one, you’ll need brown cardstock, brown paint, larger googly eye,s and a larger red pom pom for the nose.

To make the ornament, start by cutting each of the brown pieces of cardstock in half. Have each student make a brown handprint on the paper. While they are drying, on the leftover part of the brown cardstock, have them write their name and year and cut that part out.

After they dry, have your student cut out around the handprint too. Next, glue the brown paper that they wrote their name and year onto the back of the handprint. This is a great place to add a school photo of them as well on the back. Lasly, laminate the handprint. and then help them hot glue on the eyes and the nose. Use a small hole punch to add a hotel and tie a ribbon or string so it can hang.

Reindeer Ornament

The second option is also a reindeer ornament using a clear plastic ornament. For this one, you’ll need a clear plastic ornament for each student. I find mine at Michael’s and I use the type that can be filled from the top, not the shell ones that can be opened in half. You’ll also need brown crinkle cut paper filler, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and a red pom pom.

Have the students stuff the brown crinkle paper into the plastic ornament and add the top back on. Then help them hot glue on the eyes and nose, Use a pipe cleaner to add the antlers at the end. You can use a Sharpie paint pen on the back of the ornament if you want to have them write their name and year.

Reindeer Gift Bag

And then once the reindeer ornaments are complete, you need a fun way to gift wrap them right? Check out these fun reindeer gift bags that are super easy for the kids to make too!

Games and Activities

Reindeer Food

Another one of our stations is making reindeer food. Such a quick and fun activity for the kids to be able to take home with them to share with their families. You can get the details of the supplies you’ll need for this activity and print out the FREE bag topper here.

And lastly, our game to play to finish out our holiday party, Reindeer Bingo! Always such a hit with the kids. Christmas M&M’s make a fun way to make their cards. Hand out candy canes to the winner of each game to keep it inexpensive and fun. You can grab the reindeer bingo here.

Whew and now it’s time to go home, but what a fantastic reindeer-filled time we had! Do you have any other fun reindeer ideas that you’ve done in the past? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Reindeer Theme Class Party Ideas appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you remember when we were all at home back in May and needed a quick and easy gift for Mother’s Day? Well, I had come up with a fun photo gift that you could use pop a student’s picture in and send it to the mom’s. Then came Father’s Day and we were all still at home and so I made another one for Father’s Day. And here we are in December, so many of us are still at home or back at home and again need a quick and easy parent Christmas gift, so today we have a Free Printable Christmas Photo Gift.

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You may have some great photos of the kids throughout the school year if you’ve been face to face, and if not, you could always take a cute screenshot of them during a Zoom meeting. In the file, you’ll just simply add a photo in for reach student and you’re ready to send it! Pop it in the mail and the students will have something special to give to mom on Christmas!

To add the picture, you must have PowerPoint to open and add the picture. I added in options for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, Christmas 2020 Quarantine, Christmas 2020, and just 2020. It’s also in both color and black and white in case you want your students to be able to color it before they give it to their mom.

Click the green box below to download the Christmas Photo Gift. AGAIN, you MUST have PowerPoint in order to use this.

 I hope this helps your students have something special for their parents, caregivers, and loved ones on Christmas!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Christmas Photo Gift Free Printable appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

I don’t know if you know, but I’m kind of obsessed with reindeer! I mean they are so adorable! I can’t believe I haven’t shared a reindeer read-aloud yet! So today we are reading, The Littlest Reindeer by Brandi Dougherty.

In the book, Dot is the littlest reindeer. More than anything, she wanted to help fly Santa’s sleigh. She practices but she is disappointed that she is just too little to fly. Her friend Oliver suggests they do things that she can do and realizes it’s a lot! In the end, Dot does end up helping Santa in a special way.

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So to go along with our reindeer rad-aloud today, for our snack, we are making our own little reindeer!

Snack idea

Ingredients – each student needs

1 Nilla Wafer

1 butterscotch chip

4 pretzel sticks

2 candy eyes

To Assemble

Have the students start with the Nilla Wafer. Place 2 of the pretzel sticks on top of his head as his antlers. Break the remaining 2 pretzel sticks into pieces to create the rest of the antlers. Add on the candy eyes and the butterscotch chip as her nose. If you read Ruldomph or another book, you could use a red M&M instead for the nose. In the book, Dot has a cute little butterscotch chose though. Isn’t she cute?!

Free Printable

While your students are enjoying their reindeer snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. They get to reflect back on thee book on how they think Dot felt when she was struggling to fly. They will then draw a picture of something that Dot was good at. And last, they’ll draw a picture of something good that happened at the end of the story. A great lesson in growth mindset!

Click the green box below to download the free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store.

If you’re looking for some more super fun reindeer activities, we have a bunch! You’re students will have so much fun making these adorable free reindeer hats! Click here to check them out.

Or make some reindeer food to spring outside on Christmas eve to help guide Santa. Click here to check it out and get the free reindeer food bag topper.

And my most favorite, our Reindeer bingo! So much fun for your winter party or Fun Friday afternoon activity! Click here to check it out now.

And here’s all of our other fun reindeer activities we have. I told you I love these little guys!

Do you have any other great reindeer read-aloud that we should add to our list?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea Reindeer appeared first on Primary Playground.

Writing a letter to Santa is always a favorite! Today I’m sharing a fun Free Printable Letter To Santa template that will make it a breeze for your kiddos to write their letter to Santa this year.

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This template can be used both in the classroom or at home. It would be a fun addition to your writing center this month. You can add some fun markers for them to use or give them a candy cane pen to use as we did. It just makes it a little bit more special while writing their all-important letter to Santa.

Last year during a Parent’s Night Out our PTSA hosted, we even used these letters as part of our Polar Express theme and it was a huge hit.

The letter is in a simple format to help the kiddos write their letter to Santa. There is a spot for their name, age, and boxes to mark for how their behavior has been this year. It then gives a spot for the student to write in what they would like for Christmas. Next, there is a spot for them to write about something they’re going to do. It could be something like being helpful to others to leaving out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

If you are using this as part of your writing center in the classroom, having envelopes and a special mailbox for them to put it in makes it that much more magical! I found out mailbox at TJMax a couple of years ago but have seen a few others out there too since then. HobbyLobby would be another great option to try. Amazon has a bunch of cute ones, but they are quite pricey.

Click the green box below to download the Free Printable Letter To Santa.

I hope your students have a magical time writing their letters to Santa!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Letter To Santa appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

For today’s literacy snack, we are following Santa along on his tasty trip around the world! We will be learning all about Christmas Cookies Around The World. We are reading A World of Cookies For Santa by M.E. Furman.

This book takes you across the globe to see all the treats that await Santa on Christmas Eve. In the book, he visits places from Australia to Japan to the Philippines and so many more. Each place he visits has a fantastic paragraph explaining how they celebrate Christmas in their country and what special treat is left for Santa.

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This is a wonderful read-aloud addition to your Holidays Around the World unit. In the back of the book, the author shares cookie recipes for 9 different cookies that are mentioned in the book. So for our snack today, we are having Christmas cookies!

Literacy Snack Idea

I let my daughter choose 3 of the recipes from the book for us to make so we could do a taste test from around the world. We made the Christmas Island Coconut Macrooons, the Philippine Islands Puto Seko, and the Puerto Rico Mantecaditos. All of the recipes are simple to follow and all of the cookies we tried were delicious!

So this snack idea is up to you. Choose one of the recipes from the book to try with your class or try 3 as we did. If you’re not up for baking, they have many different types of Christmas cookies from other countries at Trader Joe’s and World Market that I’ve seen in the past.

Free Printable

I make a free printable for your kiddos to work on while they are enjoying the special Christmas cookies. They will get to draw and write about what their favorite sweet treat is to leave out for Santa at their house.

Click the green box below to download the free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store.

I hope you find this book to be a fun new addition to your holidays around the world unit. This book has quickly become one of our favorites!

Our Holidays Around the World bingo would be a fun addition to this book too. Perfect for a Friday Fun idea! You can find it here.

And we also have a few more literacy snack ideas we’ve shared in the past that are perfect to go along with your unit as well.

You can find more out about Hanukkah here.

And you can find more out about Santa Lucia here.

Do you have some other favorite books you like to use to celebrate the different holidays around the world? Let us know below!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Christmas Cookies Around The World appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Truth be told, I’m kind of obsessed with reindeer at Christmas time. I mean aren’t they just ADORABLE?! So I love to do many fun activities centered around them. Today I’m sharing a super cute Free Printable Reindeer Hat.

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There are so many fun ways you could use this hat! Here are some ideas:

• After your students have made their hats, read aloud to your class, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer while sipping some yummy hot chocolate.

• Watch the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer movie and have the kids color and cut out the hats while watching.

• Use the reindeer hats as one of your holiday party activities, We’ve made them from construction paper and google eyes, etc before, but these are soooo much easier and faster for the little ones to make.

• Have your students make the reindeer hats and spend an hour playing reindeer games!

• Have your students make the reindeer hat and then make reindeer food to go along with for them to sprinkle at home on Christmas eve.

Free Printable Reindeer Hat

To make the reindeer hat, simply print the 2 pages of the hat out for each student. You can use card stock to make it more sturdy or just plain paper will work just fine too. Have the students color the hat and cut out the 2 pieces.

Have an adult help them staple it together to form the hat. You could also have them attach it to a sentence strip or as another option if you need to make the hat larger for some kiddos, print out a few extra of the back strap pages and use them to extend the hats.

Click the green box below to download the Free Printable Reindeer Hat.

Here are some of our other favorite reindeer activities!

These reindeer counting mats are such a fun addition to your math centers during your reindeer week. Your students will practice counting by adding red pom pom balls, or Rudolph noses onto the paper and can then practice writing the number.

Or this reindeer craft with writing prompts is such a fun craft for the kids to make and looks ADORABLE hanging in the hallway!

Or maybe your class is working on their 2D shapes right now. We have a reindeer as part of our 2D shape crafts set. You can find out more about those here.

Do you have any other fun reindeer activities you like to do with your students? I hope they enjoy these fun hats to make the day special!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Reindeer Hat appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you teach about different holiday traditions around the world? I love giving a glimpse of how other people celebrate the holidays in different countries. Today we have a Literacy Snack Lucia Day Read Aloud, we’re reading Lucia Morning in Sweden, by Ewa Rydaker.

The book tells the story of Santa Lucia through the eyes of three children in modern-day Sweden. It describes their giddy activities, brought to life in colorful, full-page illustrations, and also provides sheet music, recipes, and sewing patterns for the costumes traditionally worn by children on this day, when many Swedish people celebrate the legacy of Lucia and the coming of the light with coffee, saffron buns, ginger snaps, and wonderful singing. One of the most beloved and celebrated traditions of the Swedish people, Lucia Day also signifies that the Christmas holiday is getting close.

The book follows the family throughout their day celebrating Lucia Day. Their special treats that are enjoyed this day are ginger snaps and Lucia buns so for our snack this week, we’ll be enjoying ginger snaps.

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Snack Idea Ingredients

You’ll need 1-2 bags/ containers of ginger snap cookies. My favorite place to buy them from is Trader Joes, they’re so yummy!

While the students are enjoying their snacks, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to draw and write about something they learned about Lucia Day.

You can download the Literacy Snack Lucia Day Read Aloud free printable from my teacherspayteachers store below.

If you’re looking for another fun way to incorporate holidays around the world in the classroom, one of our favorite activities is our Holidays Around the World Bingo.

And we have some more fun literacy snacks to go along with the holidays around the world theme. You can find a Hanukkah book snack and read aloud here.

And another fun one about cookies around the world for the holidays. You can check that one out here.

What are your favorite ways to teach about how people celebrate holidays around the world?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Lucia Day Read Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Making reindeer food is one of our favorite activities to do during our holiday party. It’s a quick and easy project for the students that they get to take home with them and share with their family.

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Items needed

2 large containers of oatmeal

4 bottles of colored sugar sprinkles

a box of snack size baggies

a large bowl

a scoop or spoon for the oats – a 1/2 cup measuring spoon is the perfect amount in a snack bag

free printable reindeer food bag topper (at the bottom of the post)

stapler

To Assemble

I pour the oatmeal into a large bowl. Each student will scoop 1/2 cup of the oats into their snack bag. Next, they get to shake some sprinkles into their baggie. We always use sprinkles and never glitter for this since they will be spreading this on the lawn. You don’t want the birds to end up eating the glitter. After they have a good about of sprinkles in their bag, have them seal it up. They can then shake the bag to help mix in the sprinkles. Help them add the free printable reindeer food bag topper by stapling it on. Now they’re done and have a fun activity to take home and share with their family on Christmas Eve.

Click the green box to download the free printable reindeer food bag toppers.

If you’re looking for some more fun ideas you could use during a holiday party, you might like How To Make Hot Chocolate In the Classroom.

Or learn how to host a holiday sock exchange in your classroom.

Do you have any other fun activities you do with your class this time of year?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Reindeer Food Bag Topper appeared first on Primary Playground.

It’s important for us to help teach our students to be thankful for our men and women serving in the military and our first responders who help so many people each and every day. These people make huge sacrifices for each and every one of us on a daily basis.

We talk in class about how many of these people are away from their families during the holiday season, whether they’re overseas, or helping with the wildfires or hurricane recoveries.

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I’m sharing these free printable holiday letters for our military and first responders. I made them two different ways, so the students can say thank you for…… or just lines so they can write in whatever they choose. I made them both with just lines and also with writing lines as well.

Hopefully, the letters bring a smile to the recipient’s faces during this holiday season and let them know they are appreciated and we are all thinking of them!

You can download the Free Printable Holiday Letters for Our Military and First Responders by clicking the green box below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Holiday Letters for Our Military and First Responders appeared first on Primary Playground.

Have you seen the new Grinch movie yet? It’s so cute! We had our Scholastic Book Fair a couple of weeks ago and I saw this new Grinch book and knew it would be a huge hit with the kids right now! So for this week’s Literacy Snack Grinch Read Aloud idea, we’re reading, I’m The Grinch by Dennis Shealy.

This is not the normal story of How The Grinch Stole Christmas but a short, colorful book for the kids to learn all about what makes the Grinch so grinchy during Christmas. You can absolutely read the traditional book to go along with this weeks snack and free printable as well if you prefer.

For our snack this week to go along with the book, I made a sweet Grinch snack mix for the students to snack on.

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Snack Idea Ingredients

• 5 cups Rice Chex or Corn Chex cereal
• 1 package (11 oz) white vanilla baking chips
• 3 tablespoons green decorating sugar
• 3 tablespoons red and green sprinkles

Assemble

1. Line a large rimmed cookie sheet with waxed paper. Add cereal to the large bowl.
2. In small microwavable bowl, microwave the chips uncovered on medium 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Repeat until the chocolate is melted. Add in the green decorating sugar and stir completely.
3. Pour on top of cereal in bowl; stir well to coat evenly. Transfer to cookie sheet, spreading mixture apart. Immediately sprinkle with the red and green sprinkles.
4. Let stand about 20 minutes or until set. Carefully break apart into bite-size pieces.

While the students are enjoying they’re grinch snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. It’s a word search that they get to find of all of the Grinch words.

You can download the Literacy Snack Grinch Read Aloud free printable from my teacherspayteachers store below.

Do you have any fun Grinch activities you do in your classroom this time of year?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Grinch Read Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

Our class had such a FUN time with our holiday class holiday sock exchange last year! Kids still come up to me months later and tell me that they wore their holiday socks they got just the other day. It’s one of the most memorable activities that we’ve ever done at one of our class holiday parties.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Supplies you’ll need

You will need one pair of holiday socks for each student.

wrapping paper and wrapping supplies

a book to read – I chose Santa’s Underwear

I chose to purchase all of the socks on my own but I’ve made a free printable note to send home requesting that each student send in a pair of wrapped holiday socks for the exchange. You can download the free printable at the bottom of this post. If you choose to do it this way, just make sure that you have enough backup pairs for any students that didn’t bring in a pair so everyone can participate.

To Play

I like to play this game to get our party starts so that the kids can wear their new holiday socks during the whole party.

You may have played a game similar to this before, but I changed it up a bit so anyone can play it easily. Normally you read a story and pass the wrapped socks back and forth when the words right and left are read. Instead, I chose a book that I wanted to read to the class, Santa’s Underwear. You can’t go wrong with a book like this, underwear is a magical word in any class as you know. So I read the book to the class, and every time that I said the word, underwear, they had to pass the wrapped gift.

Since I was the one who bought the socks and wrapped them all up, the students didn’t know what it was that they were passing around. I heard a few whispers that they were passing around wrapped underwear since they feel similar. Exactly what I was hoping for! When the story is finished, the students can open the gift they have in their hands. Everyone put on their socks and wore them for the rest of our party.

If you’d like to send home a flyer to have the students send in wrapped socks for the party, you can download the free printable below.

I hope your students love this holiday tradition as much as mine do!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Class Holiday Sock Exchange appeared first on Primary Playground.

We’re down to our last few days before break and I’ll think we’re all looking forward to it! This week’s Literacy Snack Catch An Elf is an extra fun one. We’re reading, How to Catch an Elf by Adam Wallace.

It’s a fun book that tells how kids try to catch the little elf on Christmas when Santa comes to visit. It’s very silly and the kids just love it. In the book, it gives many examples of how the children try to catch him so I thought it would be fitting for us to make our snack into an elf trap.  It’s a fantastic way to incorporate some stem into the lesson as well.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Snack Idea Ingredients

For each student, you’ll need

1 large marshmallow

1 graham cracker

A small candy cane

1 pretzel stick

Assemble

To put it together, you simply put the pretzel stick into the marshmallow and lean the graham cracker onto the pretzel stick. The candy cane is the special treat to get the Elf to come, they can’t resist them!

This is just the simple idea that I came up with. You can give the kids an extra few pieces of each ingredient and let them have free reign of coming up with their own traps for the elf.

While the students are having fun with their snack traps, I created a free printable to go along with it. They’ll be able to draw a picture of how they’d catch an elf and write a sentence or two about it.

You can download the Literacy Snack Catch An Elf free printable here.

I hope your students have a lot of fun building a snack trap for the elf!

Another fun Literacy Snack you might like for Christmas is this one to go along with the Grinch or this one to go along with the Polar Express.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Catch An Elf appeared first on Primary Playground.

We love making Making Christmas Tree Cones In The Classroom! I prefer them over gingerbread houses since there’s less prep work involved. Keep reading to get all the my tips and tricks to make it simple and fun!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

for your shopping convenience, there are amazon affiliate links provided in this blog post.

Supplies needed for a class of 30

3 Pillsbury Funfetti Happy Birthday! Vibrant Green Vanilla Frosting – I find them in the regular baking section at Target.

3 sugar cone packages – 12 to a box – this gives you a couple extra in case you have a broken one or two

2 packages of Diamond Daily disposable mini cups with lids. 2oz 50 count

1 bottle of gold Wilton star sprinkles  – I found mine at Michael’s

1 package of Pull ‘n Peel Twizzlers

1-2 bottles of sprinkles

1 bag of mini M&M baking bits

small paper plates

napkins

plastic knives

Optional: 16oz cups with lids to transport cones home.

I prepare everything before the party so the party set up is super quick and simple. You’ll need to fill a mini cup for each student with all the items they’ll need to decorate their Christmas tree.

In each of my mini cups,  I put in the following items

2 pieces of peeled Twizzler rope

1 star

25 mini M&M baking bits

A few good shakes of sprinkles

In a separate mini cup, I fill it 3/4 full of the green frosting.

Having everything put together already makes setting up the party a breeze. I have parents help pass everything out and we’re ready!

It is one of the quietest times in the classroom. The kids are concentrating so hard on making their trees and are so proud of them.

I give them the option to either eat their trees when they are finished, or they can take them home. If you are having the trees go home with them, you can just send them home with them on the plate, preferably handing them to the pickup adult so they don’t drop them. Another great option is to grab some 16oz plastic cups with lids. Place the tree on the lid, and then place the cup over the tree and snap it down. It makes transporting them home a lot easier.

When they’re done decorating their trees, we finish up with some Christmas bingo! It’s always a hit!

I hope your students love Making Christmas Tree Cones In The Classroom. I’d love to see your students trees if you decide to make them! Share them with us on my Facebook page.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Making Christmas Tree Cones In The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

For this week’s Literacy Snack we’re reading one of our Christmas favorites, The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg. This is a fun Literacy Snack Idea North Pole Train read-aloud for Christmas.

“A young boy, lying awake one Christmas Eve, is welcomed aboard a magical trip to the North Pole . . . Through dark forests, over tall mountains, and across a desert of ice, the Polar Express makes its way to the city atop the world, where the boy will make his Christmas wish. “

The students are always excited about this one as am I. For our snack this week, we’re making a train just like the Polar Express.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

ingredients needed

for each student, you’ll need

1 graham cracker plus another small piece for the stack

4 mini Oreos – mini Nilla Wafers work well too

4 mini marshmallows

6 Christmas M&M’s candies

assemble

To make the train, the students will break one graham cracker in half. One of those halves will be the middle of the train. Take the other half and break it in half again. They will go on each side of the middle cracker. Place the last small piece on one of the end crackers as the stack. Use the mini Oreos as the wheels. They can use the marshmallows to make smoke and put the candies in the back of the train.

While they are working on their trains, I play the Polar Express soundtrack. Everyone always sings along to the hot chocolate song. So cute!

I also created a printable to go along with the book for them to work on while they are enjoying their snack and listening to the music. The students will number the pictures in the correct order as they happened in the book and color the pictures. It’s a great sequencing activity.

Click the green box below to download the Literacy Snack Idea North Pole Train free printable.

If you’re looking for more activities to go with the Polar Express book or movie, you might like our North Pole counting mats. Your students will get to practice their numbers and counting by collecting the correct number of jingle bells.

Maybe you need a literacy center too, your student can practice their  CVC words with this CVC word train sort.

And don’t forget the hot chocolate! See how we make it in the crockpot here.

You could really turn this into a full fun day of Polar Express activities, everyone wears pajamas, so many possibilities! I hope your students enjoy making the trains!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea North Pole Train appeared first on Primary Playground.

These are super fun and festive ornaments the students can make. The kids have learned to spell their names by now and just makes it that much more special for them to make these for their trees at home.

I love using the scrabble tiles for this. I always have a big stash of them for projects like this. Every time I go to Goodwill, I make sure to look for a Scrabble game and have quite the stash built up now. You can even buy bulk scrabble tiles on Etsy now. Another option would be to use foam letters too!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Supplies

Paint sticks – I buy mine at Home Depot, they come in packs of 10 for just $.99.

Paint colors of your choice

Paint brushes

Scrabble tiles or foam letters

Glue

School pictures

Ribbon

Hot glue

Twine

Instructions

First, the students will each paint a paint stick the color of your choice. Make sure they do both sides and around the edges, letting them dry a bit in between.

Next, the students will get to pick out the letters of their name while the sticks are drying.

When the sticks are dry, the students can glue on their names and their school picture and then let dry again.

After they’re completely dry. You can tie on a piece of ribbon in a bow on each paint stick. Use a small piece of twine and hot glue it to the stick so it can hang on the tree. Don’t forget to have the students write the year on the back with a Sharpie too!

The students are always so proud of their work and are excited to hang it on the tree at home. If you’re looking for other ornament ideas, you can check our our Wood Slice Snowman ornament.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Paint Stick Christmas Ornament appeared first on Primary Playground.

Can you believe it’s already that time to start thinking about parent gifts? I found these cute wood slices at Hobby Lobby and just knew I wanted to use them for our gifts this year. They’re really simple to make and take less than 10 minutes. Keep reading to find out how to make this adorable Wood Slice Snowman Ornament

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Supplies you’ll need

Wood slices – I found mine at Hobby Lobby in the wood section, they come in a bag.

Craft paint – light blue, white, black, and orange

Paintbrushes

Twine or ribbon

Hot glue gun

Sandpaper – you may or may not need this depending on how rough or smooth your wood slices are

First, make sure that your wood slices are smooth enough. If not, sand them a bit so they’re not so rough. The painting will go on much smoother and easier for the kids.

Using the white paint, have the students paint a half-circle.

Next, fill in the rest of the wood slice with the light blue.

Let it dry for just a minute or two at this point depending on how much paint the students used. When it’s dry enough, have the students use orange paint to make a triangle nose on the snowman.

For the eyes and the mouth, they will use the opposite end of the paintbrush. Have them dip it in the black paint and dab on the eyes and mouth.

Lastly, they add the white snow using the same method as the eyes and mouth with the white paint.

To hang them, cut 3 inches of twine or ribbon and hot glue it to the back of the wood slice and they’re done! All of them will look different and that’s the best part!

I knew I also wanted to have a fingerprint ornament, so we made those too. You’ll follow basically all the same steps, using the same color paints.

Paint the wood slice blue. Let it dry a bit. Have the student use their pinky to make the snowman and add in the extra little details like the other ornament.

If you’re interested in another ornament that your kids can make for the holidays, you’ll want to check out these paint stick ornaments. Your student’s parents will LOVE them!

They are all so cute, it’s hard to choose which is my favorite!  If you make them I’d love for you to share them on my Facebook page, Primary Playground.

Jenette

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The post Wood Slice Snowman Ornament appeared first on Primary Playground.

This article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

I love making hot chocolate in the classroom! I’ve been making it this way for years now and I promise it is super simple. No more hot water, opening packets, mixing, etc, and tastes sooo much better! This will make a full crockpot and should serve approx 30 students.

This article works well with these resources from Primary Playground.

Let’s get to the yummy part!

ingredients

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of cocoa powder

2 cups of water

10 cups of milk

whipped cream and mini marshmallows

small Styrofoam cups

You can find a printable version of the recipe further down in the post. 

Instructions

You’ll need to do the “hard” part at home the night or the morning before. You’ll mix the sugar, cocoa powder, and water in a saucepan and bring to a slight boil. Let it cool and put it in a container to bring to school with you. When you’re ready to put it together in the classroom, pour your chocolate mixture in the crockpot and add in 10 cups of milk. Turn your crockpot on low. It’ll take about 2 hours on low for it to be hot. You may want to turn it off about 20 minutes before you start serving so it’s not quite as hot for the students. You’ll have a couple of cups of milk leftover, and if you’re getting low on the hot chocolate as your serving, you can add some of the leftover milk. It will still be plenty chocolaty.

After you make it this way, you’ll never want to go back. I even use the same recipe for Christmas at home too. Let me know if you try it!

If you’d like a printable version of the recipe click the green box below. It is a half sheet of paper, share the other with another teacher or a parent that comes to help!

One of our favorite activities to have hot chocolate with is when we’re working on our hot chocolate craft and writing prompts. They get to enjoy their hot chocolate while making their craft and writing about it. They look adorable all hanging up on the bulletin board!

And our Cooking Class How To Make Hot Chocolate is another favorite of the kids. Cooking class is a fun way to incorporate many different learning standards. In this pack, the students are learning writing, sequencing, retelling, life skills, and much more. It’s a great hands-on activity to get the students excited to learn.

I hope your students enjoy their hot chocolate as much as mine do!

Jenette

The post Making Hot Chocolate In The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.