Teaching a Toddler about Christmas

From a young age, we want Li'l Girlie to be hearing the real story of Christmas and learning why we celebrate it. She's 22 months old this Christmas, and some of her favorite things (like most kids) right now are books and Fisher Price Little People toys. Playing to those interests, I found a couple of things that would be great for her for this year, but we could continue to use as she gets older.

The children's ministry director at our church --a mom of three herself, and a children's book aficionado -- recommended Patricia A. Pingry's The Story of Christmas for toddlers and preschoolers to tell the story of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, wise men and of course Jesus' birth in an easy-to-understand manner. Li'l Girlie likes it a lot, especially since there are animals and a Christmas tree in the book. It ties in why we give gifts; to show our love and to celebrate Jesus' birthday. My personal opinion is that it would benefit from adding at least a paraphrase from Luke: "for today a Savior is born, which is Christ the Lord." Something about why baby Jesus is so special. Just my opinion. Maybe Pingry left it out so that parents could fill it in.

Our other Christmas story purchase was the Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set.  We have some lovely nativity sets, but none appropriate for toddler playtime.  She likes pressing the angel on the top of the stable to hear 'Away in a Manger' and she's learning who Mary, Joseph and Jesus are.  As she gets bigger, we can use the figures to act out the story.  Fisher Price also has the Three Wisemen and the Inn at Bethlehem sets, but we've also been on a tighter budget this year, so for us, those will be purchases for another year. 

The tradition that we started last year (when Li'l Girlie was too young to even notice) was making a birthday cake for Jesus.  This year, I let her squirt some of the frosting on the cake before I wrote the words.  She was nonplussed.  Oh well, hopefully seeing the finished cake and the happy rejoicing and eating will be a little more fun.  We still have yet to break out the cake today. 

I wish you a very merry Christmas celebrating our Savior

Erin

Storytime!

Just got back from the storytime at Winter Park Public Library, grateful for the free indoor fun that it offers my active 19-month old and I. To me, a great storytime for this age includes easy-to-follow stories with big pictures, songs, dancing, and hand motions. Sound effects like animal noises and stomping are big winners too. I think the WPPL (Winter Park, FL) dishes these out in the right doses to get toddlers interested and having fun. Plus, there's the big finale of either bubbles or playing with a big basket full of animal puppets. That spells 'instant party' to Samantha.

Yes, I know there are music, movement, and gym classes where kids can learn and explore. I'd love to try one with Samantha sometime. However, for families tightening their budgets or who like the flexibility of only coming when their schedule permits, library storytimes are big winners for interaction with other kids and a variety of learning situations. Not all storytimes are created equally though, so it's worth going to all the storytimes in your area to see which one your child likes the best.

A big bonus is a library that has a play area or cozy reading corner in the childrens' section for pre- or post-storytime activities. It's easy for kids to pick out books from the shelves and want to read with Mommy or Daddy when there's an easy environment to relax in.