Christmas came and behold, she gave me a gift. Six year old me politely said thanks and gave it to my Mum. Six year old me did not realise that my friend was expecting a gift in return; after all she had told me all these weeks leading up to Christmas that she was giving me a gift for Christmas.

Gift giving puzzled me. It was clearly not my love language.I have since learnt that giving and receiving gifts is a way to express love.

The English word “gift” comes from the Greek word “charis”, which means “grace, or an undeserved gift.”  If something is earned, then it’s a payment. A gift, in contrast, is an expression of love for the individual and is freely given.

Christmas is an important time of year and a wonderful opportunity to teach children many truths. Learning about meaningful gift giving is a valuable lesson.

DIY Christmas Gifts: Painted Bowls

Painted bowls are an easy and fun DIY Christmas gift.

Materials:

• air dry stay-on enamel paints (some enamel paints are not recommended for surfaces that come in contact with food, so just to be safe, don’t paint the inside of your bowls);
• brushes;
• bowls (we purchased ours for only $1.50 each at the dollar shop).

Method:

1. Clean the bowls with soapy water, rinse and dry. Make sure the surface to be painted is completely dry.
2. Using a clean, dry brush, paint your bowls using your enamel paints. (If you want really even layers, you can apply some enamel paint surface conditioner first before painting).
3. Let your painted bowls fully dry and harden (about 10 days).

As we were painting our DIY Christmas gifts, Mr N (a now very chatty 4 year old) narrates his painting, “I’m painting a stripe here, and some spots. Yes, this one is for [G],”

The grace of giving has has everything to do with love. A gift reminds the receiver that they were thought about and loved.

God’s amazing gift to us is the forgiveness of our sins through Jesus. We don’t deserve this nor did we do anything to earn this. It’s a gift.

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

The post DIY Christmas Gifts: Painted Bowls by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

I’m all for keeping Advent simple and over the next few weeks in the lead up to Christmas, I’ll be reading Christmas bible stories with my kids and doing simple playful Christmas crafts, to enjoy the stories together. We kicked off our advent activities with a super fun and easy Christmas craft for kids: DIY angel wings. This week, to keep playing and to further build up our excitement about the coming of Jesus, we created a little town of Bethlehem.

The story for our second playful Advent activity is from Luke 2:1-7. In this story, Jesus was born in a crowded town of Bethlehem, and was laid in a manger.

After reading the story, and before we started creating our Bethlehem Town kids craft, we looked up where Bethlehem was situated on the world map. We talked about its location relative to Africa and Europe, (in particular, Italy as N&M have been learning about Italy at preschool).

This Bethlehem Town kids craft requires the most minimal of craft materials. All we used were TP rolls, markers, scissors and some sticky tape (you don’t really need the tape, it’s just that N&M can’t get enough of the stuff). 

They set about drawing windows on their town buildings. They made some doors and experimented with some ‘shade’ structures above the doors (i.e. those cardboard flaps above the doors). M drew the stables where baby Jesus was born. He drew Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

As we created the little town of Bethlehem, we talked about how unusual Jesus’ birth was. It was, and is, not normal for a baby to be born in a stable, where animals stay. It was, and is, not normal for a baby to be placed in a manger, where animals feed from.

“It’s so dirty,” M kept saying. N reasoned that Bethlehem was very crowded, and there was no where else to go. I added that this was no ordinary baby. This was the Son of God, who was born in a dirty stable and placed in a dirty manger. He could have been born anywhere really – when you think about it. He certainly had the power to, after all, he was the Son of God. I could see them trying to wrap their minds around all of that. It’s mind blowing really – when you think about it.

We brought out our Christmas fairy lights and added it to our Bethlehem townscape. It’s amazing how much more fun some simple lights can add to a play scene. 

What makes Christmas special for you and your kids? It would be fabulous if we could all share our Christmas ideas here. Are there  traditions you’ve grown up with? Have you tried something with your kids and it’s been loved to bits? Or have you tried something that hasn’t quite worked? Found or seen something online that just totally knocks your socks off? I’d love to pin ideas to my Pinterest boards, I’d love to share ideas on our Facebook Page. Let’s pool everyone’s wisdom together and get excited about Christmas together.

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Christmas: Bethlehem Town Kids Craft by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

 
Are we all in that similar state of longing for rest? I am looking forward to the Christmas and New Year holidays.

 
Rest. Refresh. Ahh…. I feel my shoulders and neck relax at the mere thought.

 
This is my last Weekly Kids’ Co-Op for 2012 and I am psyched to go out with some pizzazz.

 
An Instagram from us:

 
How do you wait for your turn at the doctors’ (who is running an hour late?) Mr N and I passed the time with some paper planes, (and the iPhone helped too). Seriously though, the paper planes were so much fun and the highlight of our waiting time.

 
Paper is so useful! I honestly can’t imagine a world without it.

 
This week, I bring not 3, not 5, not even 10… but 20!!! Yes, 20 fun ways to play with paper. These brilliant ideas were all from last weeks’ Weekly Kids’ Co-op.

• Stained Glass Nativity by Housing a Forest
• Christmas Crafts for Kids: Angels by Lessons Learnt Journal
• Cotton Wool Santa by Keeping My Toddler Entertained
• Christmas Wreath by Learning to Play and Playing to Learn
• A little Golden Book Nativity Set with story stones by My Little Bookcase
• Christmas Sensory Stamping! by Mummy Musings & Mayhem
• Recycled Wrapping Paper by Wildlife Fun 4 Kids
• Recycled Christmas Card Advent Calendar by Octavia and Vicky
• Easy DIY Advent Calendar by One Perfect Day
• Gift Box Collages by Reading Confetti
• Sticky Wall Christmas Tree Decorating by Gift of Curiosity 
• Sweet Santa by Babylandia
• Kids Christmas Craft by B-InspiredMama
• Cutting Practice & Learning Shapes by Learn with Play at Home
• Toddler Art Bookmarks by Connecting Family & Seoul
• Fingerprint Lollipops by Little Lucky
• Christmas Paper Lanterns by Mudpies and Sunshine
• Paper Plate Angels by Hey Mommy Chocolate Milk
• Handprint Reindeer Hat by Putti’s World
• Christmas Trees with Tissue Paper Lights by Two Big Two Little

 
What a collection!

 
I am blown away by the kid focused brilliance contributed week after week at the Weekly Kids’ Co-Op. To those who link up, thank you!

 
I will begin hosting the Weekly Kids’ Co-op again in mid January 2013, (after some lovely rest). Can’t wait to see what 2013 will bring at the Weekly Kids’ Co-Op.

 
For more kid focused brilliance from the Weekly Kids’ Co-op, keep visiting our very popular Weekly Kids Co-op Pinterest board and The Kids Co-op on Facebook.

Dec 2012

The post Play with Paper: The Weekly Kids’ Co-Op by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

 
… “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him.” (John 1 verse 10).

 
An Instagram from us:

 
There was such a beautiful array of Christmas play, craft and activities in last week’s Weekly Kids’ Co-op.

 
In keeping with the joyous mood of the Christmas season, I have found a collection of fun Christmas songs and musical themed crafts to share this week.

 
As we sing and make wonderful music, let’s not lose sight of the great news of Christmas. Let us recognise with great joy that Christ the Lord was born.

Fantastic Fun & Learning: Christmas Songs

Lewis Music Studio: Upcycled Drums

An Idea on Tuesday: Clay Bells

What will you share this week?

 
The Weekly Kids’ Co-op is co-hosted by a group of 50 fun kids’ blogs. Add your child-focused link here and we’ll share your idea across all of our child-focused blogs.

 
We’ll pin the best on our very popular Weekly Kids Co-op Pinterest board. Don’t forget to follow The Kids Co-op on Facebook.

Dec 2012

The post The Weekly Kids’ Co-op: Christmas Music & Crafts for Kids by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.