2018 Home for the Holidays

2018 Home for the Holidays LINCOLN DAILY NEWS November 21, 2018 Page 15 for Christmas. Again, music keeps the magic going. Let the kids sing Santa Claus is coming to town while they “wear” their beards. The Christmas tree is an important part of the season for children. It holds its own magic and beauty. When you have the opportunity to see a tree decorated at church, school, the mall, or anywhere else, be sure to give them time to admire the tree. Let them look at the ornaments, and turn it into an “I spy” game. Describe an ornament that you see, and let the kids figure out which one you are looking at. At home, let kids build their own tree puzzle. It is an activity that takes only a little bit of time, but it creates a new toy/activity that they can play with on their own at any time. Christmas tree hand puzzle Onto green felt outline the hands of the children and parents. Cut each one out (make several of each hand). Cut a tree trunk from brown felt or stiff paper and also a gold star for the top of the three. Help your child then “assemble” the tree. With fingers pointing downward, start at the bottom with the larger hand prints of dad or grandpa. Then move on to smaller handprints, perhaps mom, then big brother or sister and finally the smallest handprints at the very top. When the tree is assembled, top it off with the gold star. When the tree is all compiled, children can appreciate what it looks like. Then, it can be taken apart and done again and again. Let your child “experiment” with the shape of his or her tree and remember, it is just a game, there is no right or wrong way. On Christmas Eve make reindeer food Kids enjoy setting out cookies for Santa and don’t be fooled, they do pay attention. In the morning, even though gifts may be the first thing on their mind, they are still going to look and see if Santa ate his cookies. When they find a plate of crumbs they are delighted and excited because first it is affirmation that Santa was in the house, and secondly it is a Continued u