Polar Express Activities-Advent Day 13

So it has been one of those days…you know, the ones where you wake up a little bit late, things just tend to take longer than usual, and you feel a little bit behind all day.

Back in November when I planned our advent calendar activity for today, I didn’t factor in a couple of things. First Lovey had a Christmas party last night that kept her up past her bedtime (leaving her a wee bit grumpy today). This morning we had a play date at the park and story time at the library. And although it’s a sweet sound, the fact that Tinker is in her bed singing instead of sleeping right now tells me the afternoon may go a little differently than I envision. After nap we will head to gymnastics and return just in time for dinner.

There really hasn’t been time to sit down and enjoy making peppermint play dough let alone time to play with it. I don’t want our advent activities to be a chore, and I don’t want to do them just for the sake of doing them. Instead we agreed to switch Day 13 and Day 14, and that is okay.

We are taking it easy today. After dinner we will turn off all of the lights in our house except the Christmas tree and the TV. Then we will snuggle in our pajamas and watch The Polar Express. No frills, just family time.  We’ll also spend some time over the next few days reading The Polar Express picture book.

Polar Express Activities

Affiliate links included.

Next year we’ll extend our Polar Express activities into a movie night or even a full day of fun. If you are looking for more activities to go along with your Polar Express movie night, you might enjoy these links.

Mommy and Me Book Club shares some fun activities and games.

Oopsey Daisy has some cute snack and treat ideas.

Find activities, games, and recipe ideas on The Polar Express website.

If you homeschool or want to include some academic activities, you’ll find literacy, math, social studies and art resources to go along with The Polar Express at Busy Teacher’s Cafe.

3 Dinosaurs has a free printable pack and free coloring pages.

123Homeschool4me also has a free mega pack with activities designed for toddlers to first graders.

See how Create Celebrate Explore enjoyed their Polar Express Family Night and find a great hot cocoa recipe to try.

If you’d like to bring The Polar Express to your house, set up your own Polar Express train at home. There are non-powered sets for pretend play and powered sets for added fun.

What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch as a family? Do you have any fun ideas to go along with The Polar Express?

Less stress, more connecting this holiday season? Yes, PLEASE!

From the arrival of fall to Halloween to Thanksgiving and Christmas, the last four months of the year can be a wonderful opportunity for making family memories and spending time together, but they can also be stressful as we try to collect ideas, recipes, and activities to try together.

Stephanie Morgan, founder of Modern Parents Messy Kids, a site that’s been voted Best Craft Blog in Parents Magazine and one of babble.com’s Top 50 Craft Mom Blogs, recently released a new eBook to help us have a little less stress and more time to connect with family this year, and I’m so glad to be an affiliate for such a great resource.

Stephanie’s goal is to make it easier on all of us to enjoy the holidays with our kids. Hands-On Holidays is 100 pages full of her family’s very favorite ways to connect as a family over the holiday season. I love the convenience of having so many ideas in one place, and most of them are simple enough for even my toddler to participate in.

The book includes picture book suggestions, DIY decor, activities, and treats. Bonus sections also offer even more ideas to enjoy. Click here to view more details.