Are you looking for a fun activity to do with your class to celebrate the holidays? This year, why not have a holiday book exchange? I’ve created a Class Holiday Book Exchange Letter for you to send home with your students to make it extra easy this year!

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Class Holiday Book Exchange

We all know that reading is important, so what better way to kick off winter break than with a new book to read?! During your holiday party is a great time to exchange books!

Send home our Class Holiday Book Exchange Letter, and make sure to fill in the date that you’d like to have the books returned.

You’ll want to have a handful of backup books wrapped up in case you have a few students who cannot or forget to bring in a book.

On the last day of school before break or during your holiday party, each student grabs the book he/she brought. Have the class sit in a circle around the carpet. You’ll want to choose a book to read ahead of time. My favorite to book to read for this activity is How Santa Got His Job. Every time that I say the word “Santa” the students will pass their book to the person next to them and so on throughout the book. When the book has been finished, everyone gets to open the book that they currently have. New books for all!

You can download the FREE Holiday Book Exchange Letter by clicking the green box below.

Tips for the holiday book exchange

• If a student ends up with the book that they brought. If this happens, ask the class if anyone wants to trade. You can also do this if a boy or girl gets a Barbie book or a Spiderman book or something of that nature and wants to trade. Simple to trade!
• If a student doesn’t bring in a book. Not a problem. Just be prepared and have a few extra books on hand that are wrapped that you can give to them. I always pick up extra books at the thrift store when I find them!

If you’re looking for some other fun holiday party game ideas, our holiday sock exchange is a similar activity but each student brings in a pair of fun socks instead. You can get the details and letter to send home for that activity here.

And we also have another fun circle time holiday game that involves candy canes. You can get the details of that game here.

Do you have any other fun game ideas that you play during your holiday party?

I hope you enjoy this special holiday season with your students!

See you next time!

Jenette

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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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Have you followed along with our joke-of-the-day printables that we’ve released each month this school year? Today I have the December Joke of the Day 2nd Edition ready for you!

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December Joke of the Day 2nd Edition

Each weekday on Facebook I share a silly joke of the day.

Since this is the second edition, there are all new jokes this month! You’ll find some silly animal jokes and a bunch of Christmas jokes this month. Each month, I also turn them into a printable so you can easily print them out and have the page handy all month to share with your class or family at home.

These jokes are a simple, fun way to connect with your students and make them laugh. This month we have fun jokes that are sure to make your little ones giggle and maybe get some eye rolls.

Share the jokes with your class during your morning meeting, getting ready to go to lunch, or when you are packing up for the day before you go home.

I made the joke of the day printable available to print in both color and black and white.

You can download the December Joke of the Day 2nd Edition printable by clicking the green box below.

In case you missed the first edition of the December Joke of the Day printable, you can find that here.

I hope your kiddos will enjoy this new set of jokes just as much as the first!

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

The post Easy Christmas Party Game Idea 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 the holiday season again, and today I have a fun Literacy Snack Christmas Tree Read Aloud for Christmas! Today we will be reading Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry.

“Christmas is here and Mr. Willowby’s tree has arrived. There’s just one big problem: The tree is too tall for his parlor! He cuts off the top so it will fit, and soon the top of that tree is passed along, again and again, to bring holiday cheer to all the animals in the forest.”

For our snack today, we’ll be making our very own Christmas trees!

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Supplies You’ll Need

Each student will need

-1/2 of a small green apple sliced fairly thinly.

-6 or so blueberries

-1 pretzel stick

-1 small piece sandwich cheese to cut a star from

You will also need a small approx 1-inch star cookie cutter to have each use to cut out their cheese star.

To Assemble

To make the snack Christmas tree, have the students start with the apple pieces. They can lay them slightly on top of each other in order to form the shape of a tree. Next, add the blueberries as ornaments and the pretzel stick as the tree trunk. Lastly, have each student take a turn with the star cookie cutter to make their cheese start and add it to the top of their tree. A healthy and yummy Christmas tree snack!

If you’re looking for another fun Christmas tree snack idea, you could have your students make these Christmas tree cones! They are so much fun! You can get all of the details of how to make them here.

Free Printable

I made a free printable to go along with the book for the students to work on while they are enjoying their snacks. They will get to decorate a Chrismtmas tree of their own!

You can download the Literacy Snack Christmas Tree Read Aloud free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking the green box below.

Do you have any other fun books about Christmas trees that you like to share with your class? Tell us below!

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

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It’s that time of the month again so today I’m sharing the December Joke Of The Day Free Printable with you. You’ll be sure to get some giggles and maybe a few eye rolls!

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Each day I share one of these jokes on my Facebook page. This month is filled with silly snowy jokes and some fun Christmas jokes too! If you have any other favorites, be sure to share them below in the comments!

I’ve made it in both color and black and white for you. Share a joke with your students each day during your morning meeting, when you get from lunch or are leaving for the day.

Click the green box below to download the December Joke Of The Day Free Printable.

In case you’re missed any of the other months of jokes that I’ve shared, you can find them here.

August Joke Of The Day

September Joke Of The Day

October joke Of The Day

November Joke Of The Day

Make sure to come back next month to grab the Januaryjokes!! See you next time!

Jenette

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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.

I wanted to share a fun little paper bag reindeer craft we put together last year right before winter break. I had some extra red glitter foam ornament circles left over and thought they would make cute Rudolph noses so here we are!

They work great as a craft, or if you’re having a winter party, they make a great way to carry home any fun items they may receive or make. The paper bag reindeer craft could also be used to wrap parent gifts that they make too!

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Supplies you’ll Need

Each student will need

1 paper bag

the eyes, nose and antler template that you can download below

glue stick

Sharpie or crayon

Optional – Instead of using the nose from the template, you can use red glitter foam and cut the circle for the nose to use. Or you could always use the nose from the template and add some red glitter to that too.

To Assemble

To make the paper bag reindeer craft, you’ll start by cutting out the eyes, nose and antlers. If you’re not printing on colored paper you’ll want to have the students color the pieces before cutting them out. After the items are cut out, they can glue them onto the bag. Use a sharpie or crayon to draw on the mouth and any other special details they may want to add.

Perfect for taking goodies home after your winter party or wrapping up their parent’s/caregivers gifts!

Click the green box to download the paper bag reindeer craft template.

If you’re looking for some more fun reindeer activities we have a bunch of fun ideas!

Your students will have so much fun wearing these cute reindeer hats! You can grab it for free here.

Reindeer bingo would be the perfect addition to your winter party along with making these paper bag reindeer. You can check out our reindeer bingo here.

And another fun activity to add to your winter party is making reindeer food! Click here to get all the details.

If you’re class makes the paper bag reminder craft, we’d love to see them! Share with us on Facebook here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Paper Bag Reindeer Craft 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

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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.

his 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 books that have characters that our little learners already know. For this week’s literacy snack, we’re reading The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst. This book takes place a year after she outsmarted the fox that ate her brother.

“The Gingerbread Girl is fast. She’s feisty. And she outsmarted that sly fox in her boisterous debut. Now the gingerbread girl is back with a new batch of friends – the animal crackers! They don’t want to listen to the Gingerbread Girl’s advice, even though she is one smart cookie. But they’d better watch it, or they’ll all become treats for that trickster fox. “

For this week’s snack to go along with the book, we’re having animal crackers like the ones in the book!

snack idea

For our snack to go along with the book, we’re having animal crackers. I tried to find the fun boxes of animal crackers but couldn’t find them anywhere! So we settled with a large bag of them. Try to give each student one of each of the different animals.

free printable

I made a free printable to go along with the book as well. It’s perfect for your students to work on while enjoying their animal crackers. They can even see if they can match up any of their cookies with the animals on the printable.

On the printable, your students will work on sequencing and retelling the story. They can number the pictures 1-8 in the order they happened and then color the pictures.

You can download the Literacy Snack Idea Gingerbread Girl free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking the green box below.

I hope your kiddos enjoy this funny story and their special yummy snack!

See you next time!

Jenette

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There’s a good chance that you have a pretty good collection of teacher mugs. You may even have enough to open your own coffee shop by now. Some people love receiving fun mugs and others don’t even drink coffee or tea and have no clue what to do with them. I’m sharing a bunch of different ways to use your teacher mug collection.

Before I do though I wanted to share a little story with you. A few years ago, my son had a gifted teacher he went to twice a day for reading and math. He had her for a couple of years and was really close to her as there was only a handful of kids in his class with her. He knew her well and asked to get her a coffee mug one year for Christmas, she drank coffee in her classroom throughout the day. (had a coffee maker in her classroom) She loved the mug he gave her and used it every day in the classroom.

The next school year, he had her again for the same classes, but sadly passed away in September just after school started. When her room was being cleaned out his homeroom teacher knew the mug had been special to both his teacher and him and she gave it back to my son to keep as a special memory of her. It now sits on our hutch in our home with some fake succulents in as a special memory of her for him. So you just never know how special a mug can be as a gift.

The students absolutely love seeing you use the mugs they have give you, wether you use it for your morning coffee, or put pencils in it on your desk. It’s very special for them to see you using it.

15+ Ways To Use Your Teacher Mug Collection

• Use the mugs to hold water for watercolor painting. The mugs are nice and heavy so they won’t tip over and spill.
• Use them to hold writing utensils, pencils, pens, markers, scissors, etc.
• Collect the Christmas mugs and create a gift for your students. Fill them with popcorn and a candy cane or with a package of hot chocolate and a candy cane for them to take home.
• Add some soil and succulents or fake ones to a few mugs and place them throughout your classroom.
• Have a mug exchange in your classroom. Wrap the mugs, play a game, have the students open the mugs and enjoy some hot cocoa.

• Save the mugs for when you retire. Use them as centerpieces for your tables and then raffle them off.
• Keep the Christmas ones to set out at your home during the holidays for guests to use. Relatives and friends love getting to choose a fun mug to drink from.
• Save them for when you teach the letter T. Have a tea party, dress fancy and serve tea in them.
• Save Christmas mugs until you have a class set to serve your class hot cocoa during the winter months or a Polar Express day. Keep them for the next year after washing or send them home as a gift to your students.

• Use the mugs to plant flowers in during your plant unit.
• Break them into pieces and make stepping stone mosaics with your class.
• Use them to hold paintbrushes near your sink.
• Donate them to a high school or local flower design class.
• Suggest to your school’s student council or NJHS to collect mugs in November. Add a hot cocoa packet and candy cane and wrap them up in a decorated bag and deliver them to a senior living center.

• Donate them to a local diner or coffee shop that uses fun random mugs for their customers.
• Pass them onto your parents, sibling or friends that can use them at their vacation home/cabin.
• Use them as a gift idea for college students you may know. Print off some fun recipes that can be made in a mug like cakes, mac, and cheese, etc. and tie them to the mug.

Do you have any other fun ways that you like to use your coffee mug collection? Or maybe have a special story to share? Share with us in the comments below!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post 15+ Ways To Use Your Teacher Mug Collection 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.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

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.

Winter brings so many fun things to learn about. We’ve been talking a lot about the weather lately, so this week’s book ties into our learning about snow. We don’t get snow where we live, so it’s always a fun treat to learn about snow and snowmen for our kids. For this week’s Literacy Snack Idea Snowman, we’re reading, “There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow!’ by Lucille Colandro.

“This time, the old lady is swallowing everything from snow to a pipe, some coal, a hat, and more! With rollicking, rhyming text, and funny illustrations, this lively version will appeal to young readers with every turn of the page. And this time, there’s a surprise at the end no reader will be able to guess!”

The surprise at the end is, of course, a snowman! So that’s what we will be making for our snack this week.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

ingredients

each student will need

1 mini-size bagel

a tablespoon of whipped cream cheese

2 pretzel sticks

6 chocolate chips

1 baby carrot

and 3 M&M’s or Skittles

Assemble

You’ll want to make sure all of your bagels are pre-sliced for the students. They may need a bit of help spreading the cream cheese on the bagels, so I usually just walk around from table to table helping with this step. After the cream cheese is on our snowman, the students get to add all of his details. I used the chocolate chips as his eyes and his mouth. The baby carrot for his nose. The pretzel sticks for his arms and the M&M’s for his buttons. Let the kids be creative and let them add them all as they like to build their snowmen.

Free Printable

While the students are enjoying their snowman snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. They get to remember back to the book and color in all the funny things that the old lady swallowed in order to make a snowman.

You can download the Literacy Snack Idea Snowman free printable from my teacherspayteachers store below.

If you’re looking for more snowman ideas to use during this time, the students love this snowman activities pack. It has everything from labeling a snowman to writing about how to build a snowman.

Or these snowman ten frame task cards are a fun addition to your math centers.

And our snowman real and nonsense word sort is fun for literacy centers or small group work.

What are some of your favorite snowman activities to do this time of year?

See you next time!

Jenette

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Mmm, who doesn’t like a plate full of fresh-baked cookies? For this week’s literacy snack idea cookies, we’re reading, The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins and combining it with our math lesson.

This is a great read-aloud picture book about friendship, sharing, and cookies that can also be used to introduce basic math concepts to young children.

For our snack this week, we are of course having a plate full of cookies to share with the class!

These resources from Primary Playground work well with this article.

Ingredients

I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies to bring in and share with the class for this week’s snack. If you’re running short on time, no problem! Grab a couple of boxes from the bakery at the grocery store or even a couple packages of Chips Ahoy cookies and put them on a plate!

While passing out the cookies, we talked about sharing with others and counted how many cookies we had to start with and how many we shared with the class.

While the students are enjoying their cookies, I made a free printable for them to work on. They get to work on their math, counting skills. They get to draw in the correct number of cookies in each box for the number shown.

You can download the Literacy Snack Idea Cookies free printable from my teacherspayteachers store below.

Do you have any other fun ways to incorporate math and reading at the same time?

See you next time!

Jenette

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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.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

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.

THIS RESOURCE WORKS WELL WITH

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

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I love teaching the students about how different people celebrate the holidays this time of year. It’s so important for the students to know that everyone is different and has special traditions just like their own family. For our literacy snack this week, we have a Literacy Snack Idea Hanukkah Read Aloud,  Is It Hanukkah Yet? by Chris Barash.

“From snow on the ground to making applesauce and latkes to lighting the menorah, this sweet, lyrical story shows the seasonal and traditional ways we know Hanukkah is on its way.”

The book touches on traditions just briefly on each page, enough for you to reference back to help explain the traditions in more details afterward. I especially like to go back and talk about how the family played a dreidel game.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Our first graders in our school each year, sing Holiday songs at an assembly. The song they sing for Hanukkah is Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, so I like to play this video for the students so they can sing along.

And then we watch a video to help us understand how to play the dreidel game.

At the end of the video, the dad gives each of them special chocolate gold coins, and that’s what we’ll be having as our snack today to go along with the book. They’re easy to find at the store, Target Dollar Spot, Trader Joes, World Market Place, tons of places. I give each student 2 gold coins.

While they’re enjoying their special treat, I made a free printable for them to work on. They get to draw in the nine candles on the menorah that they learned about in the book.

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

If you are continuing to teach about other holidays around the world, your class may enjoy these Holiday Around the World bingo cards. It’s a favorite for us!

And here is a fun Hanukkah scavenger hunt to help celebrate too. . Click here for the digital version and click here to grab the printable version.

Do you have any other fun ways to teach about Hanukkah in your classroom?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea Hanukkah Read Aloud 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.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

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

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