Advent Calendar Activities Days 14-20

I know we are past Christmas time but I was busy with giving birth ;) So here come some more Advent activities we did with E. waiting for Christmas (2015) to come:

1. Snowflake out of popsicle sticks (Day 14)
   
   I decided to give some Christmas presents to the nursery teachers (2), the dinner lady (1) and the afternoon nurse (1). In the gift there was a bath bomb, a box of chocolates and something that E. made for them. You can see in the earlier advent post the Christmas baubles she made with pompoms and jingle bells.
   
   For the other two presents we prepared 2 snowflake ornaments that could be a great decoration for the Christmas tree.
   
   What you need (for 1 snowflake):
   - 3 popsicle sticks or spatulas (you can buy them in a box of 100 at the chemist's or in crafts shops but the latter is more expensive)
   - blue and white paint
   - paint brush
   - shiny sprinkle (I had tiny, blue and silver stars)
   - sliver snowflakes (optional)
   - gray ribbon
   
   How to do it:
   
   Before she started I glued 3 popsicle sticks together in the shape of a snowflake.
   
   
   
   
   
   E. painted the popsicle sticks white and blue. She also experimented to mix the 2 colours to get a light blue hue. She painted both sides of the 2 snowflakes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   While the paint was wet she scattered some sprinkle on them. This was the time she had enough. She did a great and thorough job with the painting and the sprinkling.
   
   
   
   
   
   We needed to wait for the paint to dry, so I put the snowflakes aside to return to them later when they're dry. She didn't want to do anything else with them later on, so I needed to finish them. I added the sparkly, silver snowflakes at the end of the stick and also attached a silver ribbon on top so that they can be hung on the Christmas tree.
   
   Unfortunately, the photo I took of the final result is blurry.
   
   She helped me put the presents together. She also made a Christmas card to each little packet with stickers and she traced my letters inside but signed them all by herself. This is what they looked:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Roll and Count Christmas (Day 15)
   
   After the crafty day we played a counting game. I found this activity in the Christmas Tot pack by 3dinosaur. I printed pages 37/38.  I laminated the counting sheet and added green marbles for the counting.
   
   

   

   Opening the activity pack

   
   I didn't make the die but cut out the pictures and stuck them on a big Styrofoam die we have at home.
   
   
   
   The whole family played. At the very beginning we all guessed which picture will have 5 counters for the first time. Then we rolled the die and placed the marbles on the mat.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Window stickers (Day 16)
   
   I didn't need to prepare much for this activity and still, it was fun. What's more, this one also involved the whole family.
   
   I bought (at KIK) winter and Christmas themed window stickers. I just presented to E. and she did the job. Actually she did a great job decorating her windows.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Christmas tree decoration with play dough (Day 17)
   
   I printed a Christmas tree and coloured it, then laminated it. I put out some play dough, and Christmas related moulds like a candle, a bell, a circle shape for the baubles, a star etc.
   
   
   
   
   The fun began. E. decorated the Christmas tree and was really proud of the final product.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Christmas patterning  (Day 18)
   
   I made the Christmas pattern activity back in 2014. We hadn't got to play with it then but a year later. The set needs retouching and after that I'll add it as a free printable.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Decorate the Christmas trees with pompoms - counting activity (Day 19)
   
   I found this counting activity on one of my fav blogs: Welcome to Mommyhood.
   
   I printed and laminated the tree cards and provided E. with small, colourful pompoms.
   
   She ordered the number cards then placed the pompoms on them accordingly.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   She wasn't too fascinated by this activity. It wasn't too challenging for her, though she liked the pompoms, which she grouped according to colours at the end of the activity.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Roll and build a snowman (Day 20)
   
   Here is the link to the printable: roll and build a snowman. (ateachingmommy has a Snow and ice pack, which is more than worth downloading including a lot of winter activities for preschoolers)
   
   You just need to print the snowman parts. It is optional to laminate them but I did as I want to play with it more and probably next year two kids will test its durability.
   
   
   
   E. selected the different shapes and grouped them before the game.
   
   
    The hat suited the dog too :)
   
   
   
   
   I presented them with a big die then we could start playing. E. called her Daddy to play:
   - Daddy, come. A lot of people have to play this game.
   
   So the three of us played.
   
   We rolled the die and got a body part, a hat or a scarf depending on the number we threw. The first person to finish the snowman was the winner.
   
   
   
   If your little one doesn't like it if he or she is not the winner, you can build the snowman as a group.
   
   
   I'll be back with 4 more Advent activities you might like and wish to try next Christmas time.