Kids Need Play

Make an Ornament

Dear Reader,

I wasn’t going to post this because it wasn’t even my idea, it was my sister-in-law’s. But since my toddlers have been puking the past few days, they weren’t really in the mood to do anything but snuggle this week. So, here’s an old activity (obviously, since it’s a Christmas one) to tide us over to feeling better.

My sister-in-law went to the store and got clear plastic ornaments, tissue paper, and pom poms in Christmas colors. then she just let the kids fill them however they wanted. They all had a blast! It was a great activity for working on pincer grasp, that was for sure. And it was a good sensory activity, as well.

When we were done, we all ate cookies and donuts and the kids ran to go play. My toddlers kept trying to put the ornaments on her tree instead of realizing they could bring them home!

Anyway, sorry so short, and that it’s after Christmas, but fingers crossed this bug passes quickly and no one else gets it!

Keira at searchforseven.com
FHE

Three Kings Day FHE

Purpose: to celebrate with your family by extending the spirit of Christmas and looking closer at symbolism and the story of the Magi

A little explanation as to why I include this holiday in my FHE lessons: I know that in American culture, especially American Latter-day Saint culture, we don’t often celebrate Epiphany or Three Kings Day, or Twelfth Night or the twelfth day of Christmas, but I personally think that’s a real shame. Christmas gets all lumped together and muddled with festivities and rushing and the story gets lost. People are forgetting that Jesus was a toddler by the time the wise men found him. Plus, there is so much symbolism and divine intervention that gets overlooked because of the magnitude of the Nativity. Plus, I’m just not ready to put everything away after the holiday. Two parts exhaustion and one part post-holiday sadness. (cue Michael McLean’s song about taking the tree down)

For us, personally, most of our traditions come from Spain, but I highly suggest you look into how you would like to celebrate this holiday and adapt it to fit your heritage or lifestyle.


Possible scriptures: Job 34:2-4, 34 (see also Proverbs 8:33-34; Proverbs 13:1; Proverbs 14:16-17; Proverbs 19:20-21; James 3:13); Proverbs 9:8-10; Proverbs 13:20; Jeremiah 29:12-13; Matthew 7:7-8 (see also Luke 11:9-10, 1 Nephi 10:19, 3 Nephi 14:7-8, Doctrine and Covenants 88:63); Matthew 7:24-27 (see also 3 Nephi 14:24-27); Helaman 16:13-14; Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-27;

Possible Songs: “With Wondering Awe,” Hymns 210 ; “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful,” Hymns 202; “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” Hymns 214; “Mary’s Lullaby,” Children’s songbook 45; “Stars Were Gleaming,” Children’s Songbook 37 (second verse); “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. (here’s a kid-friendly version with lyrics if you need).

Possible Materials: Three Kings Bread (Roscón de Reyes); small, Christ-centered gifts for each kid; Gold, Frankinsense, and Myrrh would be amazing! But not necessary; a small sock and pencils and paper for your family.


Preparation: Begin with prayer. In order to even know where to start, you may have to study a little about this holiday. I found this site incredibly informative and I pray the post never gets taken down because it’s the best information I’ve seen on the holiday in regards to members of The Church. I suggest starting your study there. Read the suggested scriptures, as well as Matthew 2. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Make Three Kings Bread for your family (I’m sorry I can’t share my recipe. It was given to me and it wouldn’t be right to share someone else’s recipe). Make sure it has a little surprise inside but keep kids and choking hazards in mind (and how much cake will need to be eaten in order for someone to get the prize). Children: Watch this video about the wise men. Get some help from a grownup to make Three Kings Bread.

Lesson:

Discuss how last week’s challenge went.

Introduction: As a family, sit together and enjoy Three Kings Bread. While your family is eating, discuss what they know about the wise men that came to visit Jesus. The importance here is spending time together. It is in creating tradition with loved ones. You could talk about heritage and cultural differences, but don’t let it overshadow the time together. Celebrate and laugh as the “prize” is found! Based on where in the world you get your information, either the prize winner is the “King for the year,” the one that has to buy or make the bread for next year, the one that will have good luck. For our family, we have the winner get the stocking we use later in the lesson and pass out the papers.

From the Scriptures: Read all of Matthew 2. As a family, discuss why it is important to know this part of the Christmas story. Talk about how it differs from regular Christmas tradition. By the time the wise men found Jesus, he was no longer a little newborn. Mary and Joseph lived in a house!

Discuss the importance of revelation in keeping Jesus safe. What would have happened if the wise men hadn’t followed revelation? And Joseph? We can be protected by the same power that protected Jesus.

An important similitude exists in the ethnicity of the wise men. Although there is much discussion as to the actual origins of these magi, historians agree that they were not of Jewish descent. they weren’t Israelites. And yet they received revelation and guidance because of their desire and their studies. In the scriptures we are assured that anyone that seeks Christ will find him. The fact that the wise men found Christ, and recognized Him as their king, is proof of this. How Can we seek him? What steps do we need to take?

Further Discussion:

Have family members take turns reading We Three Kings from the December 2009 New Era and Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh from the December 2016 New Era. Discuss the symbolism and divine significance of the gifts given. What do we learn about the wise men that we may not have known before?

Read Epiphany, a fireside talk given at BYU by James E Faust. How has God guided willing people who seek Him all throughout history? How does it make you feel knowing that God has His hand in His work and in our lives?

Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: A Faithful Search Rewarded, by Elder Patricio M. Giuffra; Pure Truth, Pure Doctrine, and Pure Revelation by President Russel M. Nelson; The Faith to Ask and then Act, by Henry B. Eyering; The Things of My Soul, by Ronald A. Rasband; Ask, Seek, Knock, by Milton Camargo

Challenge:

If this is the first year you have done this activity, pull out a small Christmas sock. Explain that the wise men gave gifts to the Savior. We can give Jesus a birthday present, too! He doesn’t ask for us to give him frankincense or myrrh, but clean hands and a pure heart. Ask each member of the family to think of something they would like to give Jesus this year and to write it on the paper and place it in the sock. This is meant to be private, unless the person wants to share, so have them write their names on the outside, maybe even offer to tape them closed or provide envelopes.

At our house, we pack up Christmas on January 6th, so once everyone’s written their gift, it’s time to pack up Christmas, so it’s nice and easy to make sure the sock gets with the Christmas decorations or supplies. If you pack up your Christmas earlier, make an extra effort to make sure the Christmas sock gets put away correctly and safely so that you can find it in a year.

If this is not the first year you have done this activity, hand out last year’s “gifts” to the individual members of the family, as well as a piece of paper and pen or pencil. Give everyone time to reflect on last year’s gift and write a new gift to add to the sock. Ask your family to reflect upon their gift that they wanted to give to Jesus last year and be prepared to share their thoughts on how they did and how they’ve grown since last year.

Kids Need Play

Coffee Filter Trees

Dear Readers,

We had some coffee filters lying around and I decided to use them for this really cute craft.

The skills this craft works on is coloring in the lines, pencil grip, and scissor skills.

To do this craft you need coffee filters, markers, something to decorate the tree with, a piece of paper for trunk and one for what you glue the project to as well as glue.

Using the marker color the coffee filters with marker. An option you can do is to dip the filter in water. This will change the look slightly. If you do this though it will add time to your craft. Ours took forever to dry, all night and the rest of the next day.

Whether you dip in water or not the next step will be to glue both the filters (folded into tree shapes) onto the stem and paper you are using for the background.

The final step is to add your decorations to the tree. We used some jewel stickers we had lying around but you can use pom poms, other stickers or whatever else you decide to use.

My girls liked this activity, but grew impatient waiting for it to dry. I think dipping it into water added an extra step that wasn’t necessary, but you live and learn.

Have fun and experiment!

Kids Need Play

Read a Book with Santa

Dear Reader;

Hope your Christmas is going great! I wrote this post early because I’m probably in the middle of tearing wrapping paper and hyper kids as per publish time.

I can’t take credit for coming up with this activity, though it’s totally awesome! My daughter’s preschool arranged to have Santa come and visit the classroom an evening last week and invited the whole family to come meet him. He read a story to all the kids, then they each got to have their picture taken with him, and he gave all the kids a book to take home. Seriously the coolest after-school thing ever for a preschooler! It was such a fun night. there were other little crafts to do while we waited to meet Santa, so the kids didn’t get too bored of waiting in line. The teacher came around to make sure everyone had a turn, and they stayed busy the whole time we were there. I’m really impressed with how fun the evening was!

She also had a big mailbox for Santa to collect the letters we wrote last week. Easy peasey. And all of my girls loved it. You’d think my toddlers would be terrified, but honestly they’re obsessed with him. I don’t even really know why, since I don’t really emphasize him much at our house. But they knew who he was, and went right up to him!

Keira at searchforseven.com
Kids Need Play

Felt Boards from Oriental Trading

Dear reader;

If this link works, jump on this! —>

I saw these the other day and thought, “what the heck, they’re worth a shot.” I know they’re labeled to use once and then they’re all done and kinda worthless for anything else, but looking at the picture, I couldn’t see why they weren’t super easy to convert over to a reusable activity.

And I was right! with just a little bit of sandpaper, this is one of the happiest tests I’ve ever had with making a craft into something re-useable. Just stick the sticky felt stickers onto the smooth side of a sheet of sandpaper, cut them out (okay, that part was tedious) and hand the to your kids for endless fun!

One of the sheets doesnt have sticky backs, and I just left them alone. I could add sandpaper, but it hasn’t bugged my kids that the big pieces are slightly less clingy than the smaller pieces.

Also, the stands are kinda worthless, but eh, they came with the kit. they’re just not weighted enough to really hold the project up.

They did fight over the pieces quite a bit, so I’m half tempted to buy 2 more sets before they’re all sold out, but I wish they’d just all share because there are 3 boards, so I don’t think I should have to have 9 of them! I’m just crossing my fingers that when they’re not new, sharing becomes a little easier.

My oldest started out with the gingerbread man. The mouth is upside down, so the sandpaper side is showing.
Keira at searchforseven.com
Kids Need Play

Write a Letter to Santa

Dear Reader;

Holy Cow, this week has creeped up on us! It’s the last week of school before the holidays!

Our preschool teacher sent us home a few papers to write letters to Santa as “homework” this week. She never gives homework (preschoolers shouldn’t have any homework besides reading stories, imo. She does have goals she’d like us to meet in other ways, which is totally cool, because that inspires activities for us), so this wasn’t meant to be graded and turned in, just something fun to do. She sent home enough for everyone to do one!

She told us that we could bring them to an activity she was putting together (more on that next week) and we could mail them to Santa, and that was pretty exciting for our kiddo. Preschool is great for inspiration for activities, and I love it. I am sure eventually I’m going to be more inclined to homeschool my neuro-divergent daughter, but this teacher has been sooo good for her!

What did my toddlers ask for Christmas? one said “Toys! (it was kind of prompted, though, since she looked at us confused.)” and the other one said, “a visit from Grandma!” As you can see, my preschooler wants birthday cake, haha.

Hope your holidays are going well!

Keira at searchforseven.com
Kids Need Play

Decorate gift bags

Dear Reader,

As I was walking around our local dollar store, I came across these cute little bags. I figured eh, why not! Something that takes zero prep work once we get home is always a bonus! and the fact that it cost me $3 ($1/kid) was a win. so I grabbed them. Apparently they’re trendy, because since doing this project, I’ve seen some at Walmart, too. They’re just canvas bags, not super high quality or anything.

The kit came with markers, so when we got home, I handed each of them a bag and a snack, and they all colored while I put groceries away. I usually have to wrestle all the favorite foods away from little fingers before everything gets opened or crumbled or squished before I can get it all put away. It was kinda nice to have the lack of “help,” for a change.

I don’t really know what we will do with the bags afterwards. Maybe they can use them to wrap gifts in. It’ll all depend on whether they’re determined to carry them around. Honestly, even if I get sick of them around my house or if they rip, I won’t be overly concerned, because I bought them for entertainment value. These 2 love to color, and color everything (even if they’re not supposed to), so although it’s great for the pincer grasp skill (something big sister really struggles with), for them, it’s more about giving them something they enjoy. If your kids are more like said big sis, this is a great activity because it lets her color something that isn’t just a coloring book, so it’s novel. I’ve found that to be pretty helpful for her. She’s more excited to do something if it’s new. Especially something she doesn’t like doing.

Keira at searchforseven.com
Kids Need Play

Go See a Live Nativity

Dear Reader,

We had a pretty neat opportunity this week! Our community hosted a live nativity. They found sheep and camels and goats and a donkey, got a sound system, and read from Luke 2. Behind the “Stable” that was in the park shelter, there was a whole little “village,” set up! They had a blacksmith, a basket weaver, a wood shop, a bakery (with pastries and hot chocolate) a ropemaker, and a tent with baby lambs and a bunny to pet.

The blacksmith let everyone make a square nail into a ring (we didn’t do that one because by the time we got there, the line was long. The basket weaver told us about a shepherd’s sling and how it was made. Then we talked about the story of David and Goliath. the ropemaker’s building had a twine making machine and we watched them make rope for a minute or two before moving on to pet the tiny little lambs and hold the bunny. At the woodshop, we made little ornaments for our tree. It’s really just a stamp on a circle of wood, but I absolutely love them.

And then it was time for the live nativity to start! We got into place and watched and heard the story of Jesus’ birth. By then my kids were pretty cold, but they still loved when the camels came in. And we were pretty close to the host of angels, so my kids liked that. I love the spirit that the story of Christ’s birth gives to the season.

If your community has a live nativity this season, I highly recommend taking your kiddos to it. Especially the preschool-aged kiddos because that’s when the story really gets real. Preschoolers thrive off of live-action things that they can see and hear and use their senses for.

Keira at searchforseven.com
Kids Need Play

Christmas Tree Handprint

Dear Readers,

This was a lot harder for me to do than I originally intended. Not because this is a hard activity, but my time management has been in question for a few weeks.

This activity is mostly self explanatory. First trace your child’s hand on a piece of paper the color you want your Christmas tree to be. Then cut it out. Get a second paper to glue your tree to and something for a trunk. Glue the trunk to the paper, then glue the handprint (or prints if you want, I wanted to have a family tree of all the kids). The final step is to let your little artist decorate the tree. This could be done any way you like. You could finger paint, use stickers, use crayons or anything you want. The sky’s the limit.

I decided I wanted to have my youngest finger paint the baubles on, but he doesn’t like having his fingers dirty apparently so it ended up being my second oldest doing it.

One caution I have is that if you decide to finger paint you will want to use washable paint or cover everything. My second oldest got both her shirt and the table painted, but I have washable paint for that reason.

In all this wasn’t a very engaging activity for my children. It was more a project for me. It is great if you want to make a keepsake or a gift.

A Day in the Life

Morbid Nativity

So I made a nativity for my mom this Christmas (she’s only been begging me to for about seven years), and one of the wise man’s hands just wont stay on. The problem with red clay is that it bleeds. So I am left with this…

 Untitled

until I can finish the whole project and stick wires in right before baking. Poor wise man. Just thought it too funny not to share.

(note, it’s not done yet. I’m that on top of it…)