Santa Day

Today we celebrated Santa Day!

(Which is really a culmination of all things Santa.)

We started out with pancake Santas.

Miss Sassy does not like whipped cream (I don't get it)

So I used mashmellows instead.

And for Baby Hansome we used whipped cream,

strawberries, and chocolate chips.

It turns out he doesn't like whipped cream either.

We made a Christmas count down as well.

We did it clear back on Dec. 1st.

Man this month flew by!

You can find this printable here.

We glued 25 cotton balls on our Santa, and ripped one off every day. 

 Some people glue one on every day, but I could never commit to that...

Here are our picks from seeing Santa.

Yay! Baby H. didn't cry!

 So sweet...

She is telling Santa that she wants a Rapunzel dress, and a Rapunzel doll, and shoes, and crown.

Santa was so nice that she just kept on going and going while she had the chance.

We also made up on the house top Santas

I used a tissue box cut in half,
with a hole cut on top for the chimminey


I found a picture of Santa from google and printed it out.
Then she colored it while I hot glued the chimminey together.

We cut out the Santa and put him on a Popsicle stick.

Then we decorated the house with shape stickers.
While listening to up on the house top.


So here is my take on Santa,
We give our children imaginary creatures to give them sweetness to life. There are also tons of great literacy tools that go with Santa as well.  (Rhyming, books, poems)

But there are also great ways to tie Santa to Christ.

 

This book is my favorite.

It has very simple print and it says things like,

Santa wears red, Jesus wears red

With beautiful pictures of Christ in red.

I also love the poem "Teach them the True Meaning of Christmas."

Here is the abbreviated version:

And Santa whispered, "Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas." 

He pulls each item out of his sack...

The Star: A heavenly sign of prophecy fulfilled long, long, ages ago..The shining hope of mankind.

Red: The first color of Christ symbolizing the Savior's sacrifice for all.

Fir Tree: Evergreen--The second color of Christmas shows everlasting life. The needles point heavenward.

The Bell: Rings our to guide lost sheep back to the fold--signifying that all are precious in the eyes of the Lord.

The Candle: A mirror of starlight reflecting our thanks for the Star of Bethlehem.

Gift Bow: Tied as we should be tied together in bonds of goodwill forever.

Candy Cane: The shepherds crook used to bring lambs back into the fold.--A reminder that we are all our brothers keeper.

The Wreath: A symbol of the never ending eternal nature of love..having no beginning and no end.

I put all of the items in a Santa like sack and tell them what each symbolizes. It is very visual and perfect for kids.

But, wouldn't it be awesome if you had a family party with Santa and before he had children sit on his lap, he did a "true meaning of Christmas," monologue.  

One day...