A Very Toddler Christmas

Leo had a party for one watching his mobile go round and round
rolling out dough for cinnamon "gingerbread" ornaments

Jodie gathers a crowd to hear Christmas stories

painting is always fun

crafts? Who needs crafts when there's toys!

Sophia and Isabelle show off their newly acquired books from the gift exchange

my sweet little cookies

(FYI...this picture was actually Sophia's idea! You can tell by the smile! I'll get her trained, yet!)

Sophia and I hosted a very merry Christmas party for her friends this morning. I decided while preparing for this event that maybe, just maybe, I missed teaching just a little. I had 5 stations set up and stocked with supplies and directions. They went as followed:

• Station 1 Christmas Cookies: pretty obvious, decorate and eat some sugar cookies. This was a very popular station, and the kids loved the M&Ms and of course the sprinkles. I think I will be cleaning sprinkles from every crevice of my kitchen for years to come!
• Station 2 Gingerbread Ornaments: I got this idea a few years ago and actually used it my kids at school. I pre-made the dough which consists of cinnamon, applesauce and glue and the kids rolled it out and cut shapes out with cookie cutters. After about 24 hours of dry time the ornaments smell festive and will last for years to come!
• Station 3 Reading Corner: I rounded up all of Sophia's Christmas/winter stories and set up a reading corner with books and blankets. Most of the kids had fun reading a story or two, but Sophia's room was so close it was too much of a distraction and many of them headed in there!
• Station 4 Icicle Ornaments: Okay, I cheated a bit on this one...I ordered some kits from Oriental Trading Company and the kids got to string together an "icicle" with beads and buttons. They were pretty cute but the younger kids needed a lot more help. I think they would have done better if there hadn't been so many toys within reach...Little People are a big distraction to bead work! ;)
• Station 5 Snowman Prints: I made snowman templates out of round furniture pads. The kids dipped them in white paint and stamped them onto paper to make cards. I also cut out some scarves out of felt and used the extra pads to make a top hat and stocking hat stamp, for variety of course! I will definitely save these stamps as I think we will get many years of use out of them! Sophia had fun dipping and stamping, but really didn't make a whole picture. She loves to paint, though, and had a ball with just that step.
  
  
  
  
  Mom was here to be my craft wench and just generally help out and oversee as needed. She also fed Leo and kept an eye on him as I tried to man Sophia, take pictures and make sure there were no painting disasters! She was a big help! After all the stations we had some snacks. I made eggnog mini muffins, white chocolate covered Oreos fashioned to look like snowmen and Christmas tree shaped grilled cheese. I was most impressed with myself by the grilled cheese, they were really cute...and delicious! I also made some quiche for the grown ups and had spiced cider and sparkling juice for the kids. All in all, a good time was had by all. We also did a Christmas book gift exchange where there was no fighting over who got to pick first (we did draw numbers, but I still had my doubts) and everyone was excited to open their gift. My crafts may have been a bit ambitious for my age group, but that's okay, it was all about the spirit of the season and just having fun...and I'm pretty sure we accomplished that!