It's SANTA-TREE!

OK... this is it... the one and only SANTA-TREE!

Tree on the front, Santa on the back; hang and spin!

The picture doesn't do it justice. This is my FAVORITE holiday craft that we do in class. I LOVE it! Seriously, the ooos and aaahhs from the kids doesn't compare to the excitement I get from this dang project. I mean it's a Santa AND a tree all in one.... L-O-V-E! I wish I had come it with it, but I picked it up from my district's TRC one year and have done it ever since.

I usually wait till the last week before break to do this VERY labor intensive project, but we were able to squeeze it in early this year so I could hang it up! Hooray!

I like to pair this activity with the skill compare and contrast... how? you ask... with these two books.

We read both stories (not back to back, but within a few days of each other) and talk about their similarities and differences.

Then the kids do this follow up independent activity (which you can get HERE), while I work with my strugglers on the skill.

Same: They both go in a house Different: One had Santa the other has Goldilocks

If you are interested in the Santa Tree pattern let me know, and I'll post it!

And... one more fun little project that we do for the holiday is this reindeer. It is a fun direct instruction cutting project great for giving the kiddos a chance to practice tracing, cutting squares into circles and rectangles into ovals, and the awful task of cutting out a triangle from the rectangle (I have to have MILLIONS of extras for this; tons of "it's okay, just try again" going on for this project). But, in the end they come out super cute.

The girls stick a bow in their antlers and the boys tuck it under the nose as a bow tie. I'm sure you you can figure this little project out on your own, but if you are interested in the paper dimensions let me know!

Okay... that's enough, LOL! Happy Wednesday!