This year, my family started a new tradition. We do the regular countdown to Christmas on a magnet tree every year. It’s a wooden tree with 24 magnets, and each day one kid chooses a magnet to put on the tree. This has been great, but with two kids, only one can get to do that job each morning. One day, while strolling through Pinterest, I came across a great idea. Take 24 holiday books and wrap them up. Each day your child opens one book to read.
I thought this was great! I already have a box of holiday books that I only bring out in December. The problem is we seem to have so many that they don’t get read because December is just busy. There’s no other way around it. Between the second weekend of The Nutcracker (yes, we all danced in it this year!), Santa arriving at night on the fire truck, the Lake Placid Holiday Village Stroll weekend, bell concert for me, and singing concert for my daughter, December is just busy. I do, however, take the time to slow down and read to my kids each night, not matter how busy we are. Usually, our nightly routine is each child gets to choose a book, and I read both books to both kids. However, the kids are extra tired in December, so by reading one holiday book a night, it ensures we are in bed on time, and we still get our reading accomplished. Here’s what I did. I took all the holiday books, but only had 22. I took some extras out of the gifts I was going to give the kids at Christmas, and wrapped them up to make a total of 24. If it was a book especially for my daughter, like Tallulah’s Nutcracker by Marilyn Singer, I wrapped it in her princess wrapping paper so my son wouldn’t be disappointed if he chose a book and it was a “girly” one. Each child had two books with their own wrapping, and the others were wrapped in regular Christmas paper. Our other family tradition is that Daddy reads ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve, so I wrapped that in all the leftover paper and put a large note: Do Not Open Until Christmas Eve. When the kids went to bed before December 1, I explained that my son was going to do the magnet, and my daughter was going to open a book present, and that would be the book we read at night, then we would alternate each day until December 24. The kids were so excited about this idea. I was skeptical because I wasn’t sure they would be happy about the books. Boy, was I wrong. They love it! Each morning, no matter what book is opened, I hear “I love this book!” “This is my favorite!” “Oh yeah!” They had never been this excited about the books before. All it took was a little wrapping paper and a plan. Now, each night we read the book that was opened that morning. We have enjoyed Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, Bear Stays Up for Christmas, The Nutcracker, If You Love a Christmas Tale and many more. We have different versions of the same book and talk about how they are different. We have especially enjoyed The Nutcracker books since we were in the show this year! There’s still time to start this in your house. Find your holiday books, wrap them up, and let the kids open them one at a time. If you don’t have enough, go to the library and check out books. Since you get to keep them for two weeks, you should be good to go between now and Christmas! This also gives the kids something to open, and might suffice until the big day when they get “real” presents. However, in my world, any book is a present! Happy Holidays to you and your family!
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AuthorMy name is Laura Coffin, and I am the reading specialist at Lake Placid Elementary School. I have a BA from William Smith College and a M.Ed. in Reading from Lesley University. I also hold a Wilson Language Level I certification. I teach reading, writing and spelling strategies to help all students! Follow me on twitter @lgaetacoffin Archives
December 2017
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