Perfect holiday time, with a touch of education!

The lights twinkling in the tree, the smell of hot chocolate, "It's begginning to look a lot like Christmas" that rings in my ears ... How I love the holidays! Each year, the Christmas rituals return to create an atmosphere very specific to my small household. With us, every opportunity is good to start the souvenir factory. And the holidays and a time indicated! I try very hard to create a magical and sweet atmosphere for my tribe. With 4 children, the holiday season is not very Pinterest with us, but it suits us like that! The magic of the holidays happens in the small details. Also, like mom-teacher, I really like to "hide" small educational activities in my daily life. I also do it in my holiday season! In this article, I suggest some little rituals that we can slip into our festivities without breaking our heads too much. Reading as a gift  Even if my children already have a nice stocked library, I take the time to choose a few titles related to the holiday season. They will find them under the tree a few days before Christmas. It's like Christmas starts a little early! Last year, I chose:

• Carlos the goblin (my kids love Carlos! He's so rude that it makes him endearing!)
• The wolf who didn't like Christmas;
• Little wolf prepares Christmas

 There is always a good selection in bookstores as the holidays approach! Treat yourself! Wishes for loved ones  It’s always a big hit when we start to prepare the Christmas cards we’ll send out. My children choose who they want to send them to. They draw and color. We put on some Christmas music and presto! That's it! We spend a sweet and productive little Sunday afternoon! If your child cannot write, he can still try to sign his first name. If he's a writer, even a beginner, he can have fun writing his own wishes and telling people how much he appreciates them. Often when we send Christmas cards, we have nice answers that arrive in the mail in the days that follow! Kids love it! And Father NoWhat about all of this?  If greeting cards are a must, the Santa Claus card is even more so! My kids have drafted their list with toys, various items and outings they want. I really like the one proposed in the Little Combines, because the child does not need to write a long, continuous text. It’s actually a nice little writing situation where the child thinks about his year and what he wants. He can even draw if he cannot write. It is simple, but effective! We like that! Family memories to cherish  A nice idea that I want to put in place when my brat is a little older, is the retrospective notebook of the year that ends. You have to take a notebook (any!). It can be a very ordinary notebook (Canada Notebook) that we can decorate according to our tastes. Do not forget to write the year you want to celebrate on the cover page! In this notebook, each family member is asked to fill in a few pages with their favorite times of the year. Each person will write testimonies on these key moments that marked the last 365 days. There may be drawings for the little ones. You can put pictures there. You will surely have a lot of fun highlighting the previous notebooks and rereading your testimonies during the holiday season that will follow ... Moments of nostalgia guaranteed! Letters and names We can work on calligraphy very easily by asking our child to write the first names on the labels of Christmas gifts. Minis tend to apply themselves and be more perfectionist when there is an intention behind the act of writing. They will surely be very focused on the task to please the people they love. They could also decorate the labels and will be very proud to have contributed in their own way. Who am I? What am I?  Riddle games are very interesting for working on children's understanding and inferences. By giving clues to your mini, he must be able to guess the characters, objects, places related to Christmas. It may also be interesting to ask the child to give us clues so that we can guess the word. Here are some suggestions. You could get them for a guessing war!

Santa	Rudolph, the little red-nosed reindeer	A glass of milk	A candy cane
A fire in the fireplace	Christmas balls	A snowball fight	A greeting card
A Christmas stocking	A sleigh	A Christmas tree	An elf
The North Pole	Gifts	Advent calendar	A snowflake
Biscuits	A garland	A hot chocolate	Make a fort in the snow

   Feel free to add guessing ideas and even involve your child by asking him to find them too. Guaranteed fun! I hope you enjoyed these few ideas. Do you have any ideas for educational activities to do during the holidays? I wish you a wonderful holiday season filled with magic and memories that your tribe can cherish for a very long time.