For us homeschoolers, the term "Christmas break" (or any other school break) is a misnomer because we don't really take a break from educating our kids. I've noticed that homeschooling families or parents are always wired to look for opportunities that encourage hands-on learning and let the kids work on non-academic (but equally important) skills :) They are actively participating in their kids' education~ wherever, whenever. Of course, there are non-homeschooling parents who are like this also so I'm not judging okay? Haha!
We live in a tropical country by the way so it's easy for us to spend time outdoors as listed below. If you are experiencing winter during Christmas, you can substitute catching and petting animals to making snowmen or playing with snowballs. We would love to experience that! Soon, we hope.. <3 Anyway, without much further ado, here are the Top 4 activities my homeschooled kids did this Christmas break.
1. Learn new skills. In our case, the girls started their piano lessons. The Eldest also expressed that she wanted to learn playing the guitar / ukelele AND doing art lessons. Okaayyy.. That will take up her summer break as well, haha! Ask your child what his / her interests are and look for lessons in your area that fit it.
2. Lots and lots of sensory play! Start with play dough and add Christmas-themed molds and cutters. They can actually use your real cookie cutters if you won't mind sharing ;-) To prevent massive mess, give each child a tray and tell him / her to create there. Expect to remind him / her a few times before he / she learns to follow the tray rule. After he / she learns it, you can use the tray system in any homeschooling lesson or play activity. Less mess = WIN!
3. Go on family trips. Preferably nature trips! :) We are lucky in this regard because my parents are originally from the province, so when they visit it, we tag along. And what's in the province? Lots of animals of course! Insects like dragonflies, bees, bugs and other flying creatures we've never seen before. Haha! The Eldest (below) was scared of holding the dragonfly at first. To encourage her, we let her inspect it first then she moved on to touching just the wings / tail / legs then finally, she held it without fear. Proud mama here!
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| Taken in Kalaisan. Where in the world is that? Ask Carmen San Diego or Google it! ;-) |
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| My niece (in green) are scared of animals. Here, we were encouraging her to touch the fluffy chicken :) |
4. Baking and cooking! Actually, this is not just a school break activity for us. On any given week, the girls help us cook, mostly pancakes because it's fast and easy :) For Christmas break, you can bake gingerbread cookies or other holiday goodies. Here, the girls are making crinkles with my awesome SIL (she blogs too!). It's a great sensory / hands-on experience because the girls will mold the crinkles dough into small circles (right) then roll it in confectioner's sugar (middle). If the dough sticks to the hands, lick it (left)! SO. MUCH. FUN. Thanks Aunty Rye! <3
And that's it~ our Top 4 activities this Christmas break! How about you and your kids? What activities did you plan to keep the kids busy this holiday season? Do share in the comments below! :)
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