Christmas Gifts

Gift Plates - I do these every year with the kiddos.  I buy the plates at the dollar store and I use paint pens from Michaels.  The kiddos draw, I write on the back then pop them in the oven for 30 minutes or so at 350.

 

I love it when they draw pictures of their family.  This year I made it on a plate!  Ha!

 

Canvas Picture - I LOVE to make these for my parents.  It's fun trying to capture a cute picture of their kiddo in the fall so I can create these ornaments.  Just a mini canvas from Wal-Mart, modge podge and a cute picture.


Sibling Gift - Pom Pom Friend - I found these poms on clearance from Michael's and snatched them up knowing I could use them for this project.  A nice simple gift for the kiddos to make for their families. 

We tucked these little friends into tp tubes for easy wrapping!

Gift for Parents - Plates

Each year I have the kiddos draw a special picture on a plate or bowl (dollar store) using Sharpie oil based paint pens.  I write their description on the back, then bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for a half hour.

Here are a few plates from this year...

A doggie with a race track and stripes.

 

The toddlers had bowls...

 

 

 

Gift Making for Siblings

I love to have the kiddos make gifts for their loved ones.  I hope it helps them catch a bit of the giving spirit of Christmas instead of just the getting.

This year we made Christmas crocodiles.  This is probably my favorite sibling gift we do.  It takes a lot of mini eyes and clothes pins (the kiddos are welcome to make as many crocodiles as they can come up with people to give them to).  It does take a bit of time to hot glue all the eyes on, but it's totally worth it.  We wrap each of these as well, which also takes time, but the kids are just beaming with their crop of crocs to give.

 The kiddos paint them, I glue the eyes on once they've dried, then they add glitter glue or detail with sharpies.

Learning Station - Snipped Santa

The kiddos put together this cute Santa, then clipped his beard for him.  I folded a coffee filter in half and glued the center part together.  I got this idea on this blog:  Here!

Here are a couple of preschool Santas...

 

... And here are a couple of youngster Santas...

 

Christmas Gifts 2015 - Spoiler Alert!

This year for Christmas gifts for the kiddos I kept it fairly simple.  I usually make a superhero cape for each kiddo, but I simply ran out of time.  Drat.

Gifts for the Kiddos -

I was excited to find the mini flashlights at Walmart for $1, the book I got with my Scholastic dollars, the bag I found in the dollar bins at Target in August.  The bubbles were donated and the cup I found on super clearance at the end of summer.  Each gift cost just $2.25.  Cool beans!

Gift for the Parents - I took a head shot of each of the kiddos, then mounted it on a mini canvas.  I got the canvases at Michaels, during one of their art supply sales.

The kiddos LOVED the mini canvases.  I think it would be fun to make a class set of blocks like these for the kiddos to play with.

 I wrote the kiddo's name and the date on the back and hot glued a twine for hanging.

Gifts for Siblings - Pine Cone Buddies - I always love to provide a gift that the kiddos can make for family members.  The kiddos also make jingle necklaces again this year.  They get so excited when they have gifts to give.  

The kiddos wrapped the small pine cone (it's what we had in the yard) with fat yarn and picked out eyeballs.  I hot glued the eyes on and made sure the yarn ends were glued down too.

Gift for their Parents - We do this every year.  I find the plates at the dollar store.  I have the kiddos think of what they would like to draw for their parents.  When they are ready, they use Sharpie paint pens to draw.  I write the kiddo's name and the year on the back as well as any explanation of their drawing they give.  I also write "hand wash only".   I bake them in the oven (30 minutes at 350 degrees F.). 

Here are a few of this year's plates.

 

All of the classes do this project. 

 

 

2014 Christmas Gifts

Sharpie on Dollar Store Plates - I love doing this one.  The kiddos draw on a plate with sharpie.  I write on the back what they drew, along with the date.  Then we wrap them up for their parents for Christmas.

This was my youngest class.  I added the curly cues.

Capes - I love to make the kiddos their own superhero capes for their Christmas gift.  Every kid needs a cape (or 2 or 3).  Then the kiddos get to bring them back to preschool and use them the week we do superheroes (usually in the end of January).

This year I used donated fabric (thanks to my neighbor!) and cut simple triangle-ish shapes.  I used felt for their initial and ribbon around the neck (in a simple slip cover).  I made a loop in the ribbon on one end of the ribbon and sewed a button on the other end.

Sibling Gifts - Christmas Crocodiles - The kiddos made these cute crocodiles for their siblings, friends, parents, anybody.  I ran out of tiny googly eyes, so we made do with regular sized eyes.  The kiddos enjoyed painting them and adding bumps and teeth with a Sharpie.  The younger kiddos used watercolor paint.

Kiddo Gifts From Me - Along with their cape, the kiddos got a couple of books and a "build a straw" kit.  I gave the younger kiddos a crazy straw.

Week 1 of Christmas!

I love these two weeks before Christmas with the kiddos!  The preschool becomes Santa's workshop as they create gifts for family and friends.  There is just a busy energy and excitement as they catch on to the good feeling that comes from giving to others.  I love it!

Curly Santas - I love these!  The kiddos did a great job curling Santa's beard.

Santa Stick Ornaments - These turned out super cute!  We just painted a jumbo craft stick red (I put a bit of masking tape where the face would be).  Then the kiddos added the rest!

 

 

Science - Candy Cane Bending - We started with the question:  How can we bend a candy cane?  I thought I had them stumped, but nope, they said to put them in the oven!  (Put them in the oven at 250 degrees for 3 to 5 mins.)
Here is Ms. Sara's "S".  We found you could bend them until they started cooling, then we had to pop them back in the oven.  One kiddo twisted hers, which looked really cool.

Marbleized Candy Cane Printing - Using shaving cream, red food coloring, and peppermint extract, we created some lovely candy cane paper prints.

Sibling Gifts - Christmas Crocodiles - Aren't they cute!  I always like to have something the kiddos can make for their siblings and family members.  This year I chose clothes pin crocodiles.  Super easy, inexpensive (so they can make tons), and really cute!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Ornaments - These turned out super cute!  I saw these on this blog.

Tissue Wreaths - The kiddos scrunched a square of tissue paper, then glued it to their wreath (cut and painted cereal box).  This is one of my favorite ornaments to make.

 

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments - Mmm, they smell so good!  (I'm drying them in the oven right now.)  The kiddos helped mix the ingredients (1 cup applesauce & 1+ cup cinnamon), then we rolled it out and cut our shapes.  A few kiddos wanted to taste the dough, they weren't impressed.  Ha.

 

Our Class Christmas Tree - It's looking fabulous, isn't it!