Advent Calendar for a Preschooler: Week 4 Update

While my husband is big on celebrating Christmas through epiphany (or Little Christmas, as Theo has grown fond of calling it), let's admit that life is about to go back to normal when we head back East tonight.  Our tree will probably have to come down due to the lack of watering for a week, and Theo will only have a few more days until he returns to school.  His break sure went fast this year, and Christmas was once again a special time of traditions, family, reflection, and celebration.  We had a couple last activities this week to finish up.

Gingerbread Houses:  After driving all night, we got in on Christmas Eve and wanted to see my nieces right away, so my sister helped me get them over to grandma's house while their mom worked.  We needed Maci to help us build the gingerbread houses we've started building every year.  The kids actually did a lot more this year on theirs, though Eli was mostly into just eating all the candy still.  Maci looked like a pro with the icing bag, and Theodore designed his with important builder concepts in mind.

Walkway of Lights:  A lot of years we do this on New Year's Eve, but we moved it up and did it on a Sunday night this year.  We had to wake the boys up despite it being only 7pm, but once they were awake they enjoyed the lights as always.  Theodore narrated just about every display he saw.  This year they decided to only start the lights by the bridge, which made them a bit more squished together but would make it possible to actually walk through them all (though we drove).  Normally during the hours we go, a donation is requested, but this night it was a specific $5 fee (with a sticker to come back any time).

We actually decorated some more cookies, but I didn't get any of those photos yet.

For all of our advent calendar ideas for Christmas activities with pre-schoolers, click below:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Advent Calendar for a Pre-Schooler: Week 2 and Week 1 Update

It's starting to get close!  The rainy weather around here is kind of putting a damper on our activities, but I guess it's better than deep, deep snow.  Here's what we're up to this week:

Week 2

Update on Week 1
ZooLights:  Despite the intermittent rain after a 70 degree day, we actually had a great time at the National Zoo's ZooLights.  We went during members free days, and got to use coupons and free parking worth about $44 plus a discount at the gift shop.  It's half the reason we pay for a yearly membership that allows free parking every visit.  We did get to ride the train this year, but despite Theo being past the 36 inch height requirement, we did not try the zoo tubing since it was so wet.  Elijah of course requested "more" of the carousel, and was requesting the "choo choo" all the way up the hill as we walked to the visitor center to see the indoor display of trains.  Our little builder, Theo, enjoyed evaluating all the gingerbread panda homes that were on display.  A tip for others visiting would just be to bring your own thermos of hot coffee and treats if you want them.  We paid $4.50 for ONE sugar cookie!  (Here's a link to when we went last year for more info on the event.)

PJ Donation:  As I've mentioned, I LOVE Scholastic book orders, and this year our pre-school partnered with them to collect pajamas and books for needy kids with their annual Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive.  We donate new pajamas and Scholastic matches it with a book.  It is a good program, and Theo struggles with the idea of giving things away (he worries that then we won't have those things to use), so I'm trying to involve him in this in different ways.  He collected food at a local grocery store with our church before Thanksgiving, and he's starting to get the idea that we can be generous and still have what we need.

Tiny Tots Concert:  Brian took the morning off to take Theodore to his field trip to the annual concert put on for pre-schoolers.  Theodore is still talking about the Superman song, and seeing Elsa sing.  (Here's a link to when we went last year for more info on the event.)

Angel Tree Shopping:  Our church is donating gifts to local foster kids as part of an angel tree project.  We picked a two year old boy who wanted anything train related.  I figured we are kind of experts on that, and hope our little guy loves his gift. 

Reindeer Run and Winterfest:  See link for the Reindeer Run & Romp

Puppet Show:  We all went to the library for another puppet show, featuring classical toys on strings.  The boys always crack up at these performances (though I'd rather be reading a book :).

Week 1 Calendar Link

Advent Calendar for a Pre-Schooler: Week One

My son really loves calendars.  Whenever we've got a lot going on, I make one up for him to help him keep track of things.  He was one that has struggled with transitions, and having the calendar helped him navigate when he would have things to do and when he could make up his own mind.  When the last one I made him for the week of Thanksgiving was such a hit, I knew I'd have to make him one for the busy month of December.  This year I really tried to cull some of our activities for the month and make sure we had a good balance of things going on so Theo won't think Christmas is just about presents.  With that in mind, I quizzed him for what Christmas is all about and basically, he explained that it is "to remember God/Jesus."

I'm only printing out a week at a time, as I know our advent activities will change based on weather, sicknesses, etc.  Here's our first week of advent!

Tomorrow we will also start our annual Christmas stories at bedtime routine, so I'll try to get our list of books up then.

And if you want more info on zoo lights and the tiny tot concert, you can see my post from last year on these events here.