Nativity scene magnets

I bought these Nativity scene magnets from a catalog that my neighbor's daughter was selling out of to raise money for the marching band. I did not have high expectations, but D loves them. They actually have tiny numbers (up to 25) on them so that you can put one on the fridge each day until Christmas. We are just using them to talk about the story of Jesus's birth. I am currently looking for a simplified (3 year old level) Christmas eve story in Spanish so that we can "act" it out with our magnets. If you are interested in finding them, I saw a set at Hobby Lobby yesterday for $13.00.

Let the countdown begin!... Almost

I just realized YESTERDAY that if I am going to get our count down to Christmas activities going on December 1st I only have a couple of days left. Where did the time go?

Last year D and I did a paper chain in Christmas colors to help him understand when Christmas day would arrive. This year since he is a little older and much wiser, I wanted to do something a little different. I can not take credit for the idea. I found a printable here. I thought that it would be way to small, however, so I redrew it on a larger piece of paper. I also mixed up the numbers so that they are not in order. D can identify 1-10 easily but gets confused with the numbers beyond. The idea is very simple. You simply place a piece of cottonball on the beard of Santa to cover the appropriate number until you reach #25.

After I finished the Santa calendar, I remembered that I have two children and nothing for M to do. Just kidding, I know that I have two children. I just keep forgetting that M is not a little baby anymore and he is capable and willing to participate. Since naptime was about over I had to whip up something quick. This Christmas tree was what I came up with. M obviously does not know his numbers yet so I will have D help him find them and we will put a different colored circle (an ornament) to cover each number. I will make a star to put on the #25.

To see what some very creative mommies are doing to get ready for Christmas check out The Adventures of Bear, The Land of Pleasant Living, Our Worldwide Classroom, and The Fifth Street Place.