As we have now been a Home Ed family for a few years now, (except for a few weeks in January when they went back to school) we have collected quite a lot of resources over the years and made endless lists of ideas. We have a folder just for festive ideas so I thought it would be great to share some of those ideas with those who may be just starting on their home ed journey.
Some of our ideas for December
*Christingles - We are going to be looking at the history behind Christingles and what they symbolise in the Christian religion.
*Religions - One of the things that we encourage with the boys is to look into all religion and gain an understanding of what other people believe in. We are not religious, but we still enjoy exploring religion and seeing how others may celebrate at different times of the year.
*Christmas around the world - Something that we love to do each year is look at christmas around the world, we just find it so interesting to see how other countries celebrate. From the food they eat to the decorations, we will be choosing a country and making decorations and eating some food to try it out.
*Baking - I think baking goes hand in hand with Christmas. I bake quite a lot and love nothing more than to make some festive cookies, mince pies and some festive canapes. The boys will have a christmas cake design challenge to do in December
*Wreath Making - Around 6 years ago I started making my own wreaths from what I found out on our walks. It has become a bit of a tradition now and we like to get out the glue gun and create something totally unique. I only ever take what I need and never pick straight from a plant without asking first. Local parks are a great start but please check with your local council regarding any foraging rules.
*Lots of reading - This year we are going to gather any christmas books we have and place them into our reading basket. These days Elliot is the only one that likes to sit and read with me, so I am grabbing the chance whilst I still can.
*A winter scavenger hunt - We do these throughout the year, so why stop now?
*The symbols of Christmas - There are quite a lot of symbols surrounding christmas so this year we are going to be looking at symbols.
*Learn Handel's Messiah on piano - The boys are currently learning how to play some Christmas tunes on the piano and I decided to set them a challenge to learn Handel's Messiah.
*The life of a christmas tree - Christmas trees are everywhere at the minute and are a big talking point right now. Most people have one in there home, so why not look into the life of a Christmas tree. Find out how and where it grows, what it needs to grow, what happens when it is cut down, thrown away etc.
*Debate - Plastic or real tree - This one speaks for itself. I am all for saving the planet and hate anything plastic, but I admit we actually have 3 plastic Christmas trees up in our home, because you get at least 10 years from them if you look after them properly.
*Weather - Snow. Why does it snow? How does it snow? What exactly is snow? All questions we will be exploring. (I am hoping we get some)
*Study snowflakes Not so easy in the UK but we are going to be making paper snowflakes and researching to find out as much as we can about them.
*Create a christmas story - We like to make up our stories and I thought it would be fun to create a christmas story.
*Christmas now Vs 100 years ago. We are doing a lot of Local history stuff right now and looking at 100 years ago compared to now. I thought it would be a fun task for the boys to look at what life around Christmas time would have been like 100 years ago, here in the North East.
You can also do lots of crafts with the kiddies (post is coming soon), watch movies, look into hibernation. The options are endless.
If you need any help with Home Ed questions please feel free to pop me over an email.