Jingle Bell Streamers and The Nutcracker

Lovey and I have been looking forward to this day since we saw a live performance of Hansel & Gretel in October. Today we went and saw The Nutcracker, and I think it was even more beautiful than we both envisioned.

To get ready for the day we spent this week reading a few versions of the story and listening to music. And, of course, there was a lot of dancing!

Lovey really enjoyed The Nutcracker illustrated by Allison Jay. We have watched performances on TV before, but this was the first year we read the story. It was interesting to see her piece together her previous understanding of the plot with the details in the book.

Jingle Bell Streamer Craft

We also made these simple streamers with pipe cleaners, bells, and ribbon so that the kids could use them as they danced along to The Nutcracker. I made one for Tinker, and the big kids enjoyed counting and making a pattern to create their own streamers.

It is an understatement to say that these streamers were a HUGE HIT with all of the kids. They danced inside. They danced outside. They sang Christmas carols and made up their own jingling tunes. They ran through the halls with ribbon flying through the air. They even tested how well their streamers could fly through the air (outside, thankfully), and they were fascinated to find out they flew much better than the paper airplanes we experimented with last week. I loved to see their creative minds at work! But even the sports mode on my camera couldn’t quite keep up with their speed…sorry for the blurry pictures 🙂

Have you done any activities to go along with The Nutcracker? I would love to include some new ideas for next year.

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.