Supporting Christian Science families and their young children
Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Tongs
Baking Pan
Foil
Line the baking pan with foil. Preheat oven to 350. Invite your child to spread blue tortilla chips evenly on the baking pan. Using a small pair of tongs, invite him to carefully sprinkle cheese over all the chips. Bake in oven until cheese melts (approximately 7-10 minutes). Let cool for a few minutes before serving. Yum!
Materials
Star Mold
Water
Large plastic tub
Directions
Fill silicone star mold with water and freeze overnight. Remove star-shaped ice and place in a tub filled with water. Invite your child to use their hands and explore the star-shaped ice cubes. How do they feel? Are they slippery? How many stars can you count? Observe how the ice melts. What happenes to the ice?
Lesson Extensions
Materials
Variety of festive jingle bells
Tweezers
Empty plastic water bottle
Small basket or container to hold jingle bells
Directions
Using the tweezers, invite your child to pick up the jingle bells, one at a time, and place them in the empty water bottle. Encourage him to count as he drops them into the bottle. It’s fun to shake the bottle once all jingle bells have been dropped in the bottle and the lid has been placed on top.
Materials
Shredded red and green construction paper
Jingle Bells
Large plastic bin
Directions
Place shredded paper in a large bin. Hide several jingle bells in the shredded paper. Invite your chid to seek and find the bells. Count how many he can find.
Ingredients
1 bag mini marshmallows
2 tbsp coconut oil, plus additional for mixing
1/2 cup corn starch, plus additional for mixing
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for mixing
Food coloring
Directions
Place marshmallows and coconut oil in a large pot and heat over medium heat. Stir continuously until melted (you can do a microwaved version of this as well). Once melted, pour your marshmallow melt into a mixing bowl and add in corn starch and powdered sugar. Mix with your hands. Note: this will get STICKY! To help with this, coat them in coconut oil. (As the slime cools, invite your child to help with the mixing) Transfer the mixture onto a cornstarch coated surface, and continue to knead and mix until the *right* slime consistency is reached. It should be stretchable and not sticky. Keep adding corn starch, powdered sugar and coconut oil until you feel happy with your texture. Divide the slime into three, and add a few drops of food coloring on each. Knead again to mix the colors. Have fun rolling, stretching and playing with your slime (and it’s ok to take a bite, too!).
Materials
1 12×18 piece of red construction table
white tempera paint
clean sponge
Sharpie marker
Scissors
Directions
Draw a large candy cane shape on the red piece of construction paper using a Sharpie marker. Pour whit tempera paint onto a paper plate. Using the flat edge of a sponge, invite your child to dip the sponge in the white paint and press it across the shape of the candy cane. Continue down the candy cane shape, leaving space between each white stripe. Dry completely. Help your child cut out the candy cane and display.
Ingredients
White glue
Plain shaving cream
Spoon
Bowl
Paper plate
12×18 Green construction paper
Glitter (optional)
Materials
Package of Christmas bows
Directions
Invite your child to help place the bows on the floor or table space. Encourage your child to identify the various colors of the bows and then ask him to sort them (or put them in groups) by their colors. Once all the bows are sorted, count the different groups. Which color group has the most bows? Which has the least bows?
Lesson Extensions
1. Ask: How many more red bows are there than green bows?
2. Count the gold bows, then count the red bows. How many total gold and red bows?
3. Use small and large bows. Sort by size; sort by color; introduce a Venn diagram (two circles that overlap) – encourage your child to place the red bows in one circle and the mini bows in the other circle. A mini, red bow will go in the center where the circles overlap.
Materials
Watermelon slices
Knife
Directions
Using a small knife, cut Christmas tree shapes out of the watermelon slices, using the rind as the trunk and the red flesh as the tree. Enjoy as a special snack!
Ingredients
6 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate
1 package pretzel rods
1/4 cup red and green candy sprinkles (optional)
Directions
Melt white chocolate in the top of a double boiler, stirring constantly. Supervising closely, invite your child to dip pretzel halfway into the white chocolate, completely covering half of the pretzel and then roll in topping if desired. Lay pretzel rod on wax paper. Continue the process until all of the white chocolate is finished. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes to harden. Store in airtight container. Place pretzel rods in a juice-size glass and place on the table for a fun, colorful edible center piece. Enjoy!