31 Days of December - Smash Book Type Journal

Mini book created with Silhouette Cameo

This little journal/scrapbook is for my seven year old daughter to record her December activities.  If she isn't sure what she wants to write about she can copy the corresponding item from the list at the bottom of this post for that particular day. Or she can write about something from her Countdown to Christmas/Advent Calendar. (Post with that list is here.)  Or she can write about something entirely different. It is hers to do as she wants.  She loves paper crafting and will do a job for which she will be proud.

We do "homeschooling light" in December. This gives us the opportunity to really enjoy this time of year and not feel so stressed about all the the things we want to do versus the things we Need To Do.

It is important for my dd to continue with some subjects, but we change it up a bit to make it fun and tie in with what we are doing.  This year she wants to celebrate Hanukkah.  Since we are not Jewish, we will spend some time learning about the holiday. We'll enjoy making crafts and foods to correspond with the holiday, too.

In a previous post I showed an activity board that I made.  We are using the board for this project.  Here is a picture of some of the little bags hanging with clothespins on baker's twine.

Original post explaining the bags here

Each little bag was filled with one of the following activities for my dd to do on the corresponding date.  For numbers 26-31, the suggested activity was placed in a box that corresponds to a day of the week. These are boxes that we have and sporadically use for homeschooling.

Day 1 = Assemble 31 Days of December Book

Day 2 = Paint a menorah (using handprints on paper)

Day 3 - Choose a recipe and make shopping list for the ingredients

Day 4 - Make and address Christmas cards

Day 5 - Paper craft

Day 6 - Make an apron

Day 7 - Glitter a pine cone

Day 8 - Make snowballs

Day 9 - Observe weather changes

Day 10 - Make a packing list
Day 11 - Find license plates from different places (we are going on a road trip)
Day 12 - Visit a wild animal (one in captivity, as we are going to the zoo - not the wild)
Day 13 - See a whale (Sea World)
Day 14 - Go on a safari (make believe at the safari park)
Day 15 - Hangout at the beach
What is the difference between Southern California and Southern Arizona
 
Day 17 - Alphabetical Order Game on the road

Family Time
Day 19 - Make a dreidel
Day 20 - Light the menorah
Day 21 - Make latkes
Day 22- Make a Hanukkah craft
Day 23 - Draw a self-portrait
Day 24 - Make Mandelbrot
Day 25 - Merry Christmas!
Day 26 - Play a Hanukkah song
Day 27 - Read Hanukkah stories
Day 28 - Sew something
Day 29 - Paint
Day 30 - Craft
Day 31 - Make something in the Babycakes book
 

Thanks for stopping by.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

Beverly

Mini Bag Advent Activity or Fun Learning Game Activities

Cute little kraft bags decorated and hung up with tiny clothespins

When I first saw these adorable bags I knew they'd make a very cute Countdown To Christmas Advent Calendar Activity.  In the meantime I made this Advent Calendar, so I decided to make these little cuties into a Learning Game for my 7 year old.  

A different activity is in each bag

Some of the things that I will be putting in these bags are based on where my dd is developmentally and educationally.  For example, each bag may have a word that starts with the letter "B".  Each day, for five days, she'll choose 5 bags and put the words in alphabetical order.  Then she can combine the words as the week goes on to make a longer list.  The next week, maybe we'll focus on spelling by putting the letters for each word in a bag.  She'll work on unscrambling a few words a day.  Bags can be randomly selected, they don't need to be chosen in numerical order.

I envision using these for math facts and also as "good deed" holders.  There is really no limit to how they can be used.  If she wants to use them as a Countdown to Christmas, we can do that, too! There is a list of Holiday activities that could be used for this project on the post here.

2" Scallop punched shapes embossed with Argyle Cuttlebug folder

Each bag was stamped on the bottom with black ink using one of the images from CTMH's Countdown set.  1" Colonial White circles were stamped with numbers from that same stamp set in Cranberry ink. The edges of the circles and the bags were ink distressed, also using Cranberry ink.  Cranberry cardstock was used for the scallop shapes. The bags were hung on bakers twine strung across a foam core board.

Entered in the Anything Goes Challenge #42 at The Kraft Journal