3 Activities Using Christmas Cards

You get to December and suddenly post gets interesting. Even at 28, i get a Christmas card buzz. I know its less joyful for some, and more of a chore, but for me there is something quite lovely about sitting back with a list and my address book, popping on a festive movie and writing til my hands hurt (with my bad hands, thats not long; it’s total fluke if you receive a card from me which is remotely legible) and working my way through them.

Then receiving them is a little joy too! It seems that i have passed it onto Squirrel who hears the post and runs to get them and brings them over to us, so we can open them together, excited to spot which classic Christmas elements are on the cards, and to see which friends and family members are thinking of us in return.

When the day came that we had a few too many for our shelf, I gathered them together in a small box i had hanging around, and punched holes in them to thread them with so i could hang them.
Naturally, it was a matter of seconds before Squirrel was tangled up and involved.
His refreshed interest in our card collection was adorable, so we sat together and inspected them and played for a long while, and that is when these activities were born! We now keep all the cards and some ribbon (with the hole punch nearby) in the little box where we can add to them as they arrive, and where Squirrel can get them whenever he wants to play with them. Sure, they’re not displayed, but i personally feel this is a perfect use for them.

Festive Flash Cards

Squirrel loves going through the cards and practicing his new words and visual association with me. Not necessarily flash cards, but sort of. Ish. Well, it’s how we use his other picture flashcards! We love playing “What is this?” and also “Can you find a…” with them.

He loves pointing out anything he recognises on the cards, then finding more robins/reindeer/snowmen/Santas in the card collection.

Fine Motor Threading

Originally i was threading them onto some cute red velvet ribbon to drape across the wall, and Squirrel found me while i was threading them on, and immediately wanted in on the fun!

Pulling them through and following the length around and collecting his beautiful cards so that they flap when he moves the ribbon… Good gracious, such fun!

Size Sorting & Transferring

Well, a box is a magical thing. Ask any toddler or cat. Squirrel loves transferring in containers and recently showed us recognition of ‘big’ and ‘little’ and also ‘TOO big’ and ‘TOO little’, and this lead on fantastically.

This is, once again, a Leo-discovered game. He started filing them away, apparently sorting them somehow into some piles, before transferring them to the box. He discovered that some were just simply a bit too big, and with a little guidance, we experimented standing them up instead, and then of course, we had a little challenge on our hands, as once one was standing, he couldn’t get any little ones in!

He soon learned which ones were too big by recognition, using his words ‘beeeek!’ when ever he identified one that had previously had to be saved til the end to stand up. Then would resume counting the other smaller ones in. “Un”, “Oo”, “Theee”, “Dooor”, etc, repeating by tipping them out again once finished for another go.

There we have it! Let no Christmas card be wasted if your mantle becomes over crowded when they can become a new world of discovery for your tot!

This post is part of Unit 3. Winter & Christmas.

Linked to and featured on 1+1+1=1 with the Tot School Gathering Place Link Up.

Jingle Bell Experiment Station

Bells. That signature Santa sound. Literally ringing of reindeer prancing across the sky, its a magical sound. Last year we gave Squirrel a jingle bell shaker toy around Christmas at around 9 months old, and he loved it, and now, at a whopping great big 20 months, when daddy bought him his own box of big, beautiful golden bells, he took one in each hand, looked them over, inspected their shine and stars…
And them shook them hard all over the place like a knee height maniac and melted into giggles and nose scrunching gurns.

Spheres are all kinds of awesome, and these are like balls that go up to 11. I love jingle bells too, so its my mission to find as many toddler activities as i can to use these bells.

We are starting here, getting up close to a good shape and getting to know it, beyond the crazed flingful rattling and decorating purposes.

I laid out a tray with a bunch of containers, tubes and other bits with bells ‘behaving’ in different ways, from hiding to hanging, and let him get on it.

One thing i have learned in our toddler year so far, is that although actual verbal counting is beyond him at the moment, he knows full well how many there are of certain things, and so will keep looking for individuals until they are all rallied, and these bells are no exception.
He went through each of them, looking attentively at the bell ‘hidden’ under the clear pot, and noticing the convenient little nook on top of the pots, perfect for perching the balls on, and wrestling the hanging bell off of the wooden spoon until he possessed all 6.

What with harbouring the compulsive need to sort everything into any given receptacle, that was next on his agenda. That tray was just too inviting.

Then ‘fed’ them to the reindeer for a bit. Seems legit.

Next up, that bucket. Oh the irresistible sound of jingle bells tossed into a metal bucket.
He went for a little walk with them and the reindeer.

Then, having noticed that mama had ridiculously neglected to cover the floor in toys that afternoon, he decided it was worth remedying (my hero, right?) and moved everything onto the floor, where he could stretch and play but also reinvent what i had set up for him and explore from new angles. Dropping the bells through the tubes until it was so full it would no longer drop and we could see them at the top.

We rehid a bunch of them under various pots and played “where’d they go?” for a bit. He loves these games, his new phrase being “there-y’is!”

We had lots of fun thinking experimentally and getting to know these great seasonal tools for a good half an hour.
I’ve got a few other ideas lined up to use them in up coming activities too!

This post is for Unit 3. Winter & Christmas.