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The season of Advent is only weeks away and we are planning a month full of family activities. Creating treats is one of our favorite Christmas traditions. Every year the kids are inspired by the glossy magazines at the checkout. Every cover seems to show festive cookies and crafts claiming to by 'simple'. Cookie decoration is not a talent i was graced with. Thankfully my mother passed down a foolproof cookie recipe and am going to share it with you! First head to the store and grab a couple of boxes or graham crackers or plain cookies and box of powdered sugar. Gather together all the sprinkles and chocolate chips that have been lurking in the back of the pantry. Make a big bowl of icing from powdered sugar and water. Open the cookies and let the kids decorate to their hearts content. Glamorous cookies? Nope. Healthy...hahaha! Sticky, Happy kids? Definitely!
Just as we don't have to make picture perfect cookies to create memories we also don't have to buy into the yearly toy hype. Educents has put together a great list of educational stocking stuffers and activities to inspire us!
Personalized Letter from Santa
Gone are the days of trying to write in “Santa’s handwriting.” Educents has made it so easy to make your child feel special and loved by Santa! The personalized letter comes straight to your front door from the North Pole in a beautiful red envelope, and highlights your child’s exciting accomplishments this year. The letter also includes some fun Santa-approved activities for you and your kiddo to spend some sweet holiday time together, like a recipe for Mrs. Claus’ Famous Cookies, two snowflake craft templates, a packet of reindeer food (glitter!) and a sheet of festive stickers. This special letter will make for an imaginative and exciting addition to the very top of our Christmas stockings this year!
This letter will make for an imaginative start to any Christmas morning, but there’s more pressure now to keep the fun going! Here are some other easy stocking stuffers to keep the magic going for your kiddos this year!
Educational Stocking Stuffer Ideas
1. FREE DIY Crystal Christmas Tree Experiment - An opportunity to spend more time together as a family is one of the best gifts you can give! These directions for a DIY salt-crystal Christmas tree can get the whole family involved and teach everyone something new!2. DIY Push Light Planets - Create these amazing lights for your kiddo's bedroom. Each light is decorated to represent one of the planets. To encourage planet recognition, even paint the names of the planets onto each pushable light!
3. Show Me the Kwan - Looking for a great, fun game for the whole family to play after all the presents have been opened? This clever and upbeat word game gets kids excited about vocabulary, word construction and more and is the perfect size for a stocking!
4. Matching Games for Little Learners - These handmade wooden matching games from Mama May I are a very sweet stocking stuffer for little learners. Choose from Zoo, Trucks, Vegetables,Space
5. The Familia Craft Kit - This craft kit has all the tools for your kiddos to decoupage little wooden peg dolls to create their own story or to include in a new adventure! They come in a slim tube that’s easy to fit in a stocking! 6. DIY Domino Set - This homemade domino set is one you and your family can play for years to come. To make this set special for the holidays, use green and red puff paint!
7. DIY Pop-Up Alphabet Sponges - This simple gift is a low-cost way to make baby's bath time fun and educational! Cut sponges into the shapes of alphabet letters and numbers.
8. DigiPuppets - This adorable animal finger puppet acts as a touchscreen-sensitive stylus for phones and tablets. Use them on their own to keep kids engaged with digital learning tools, or head to the app store to download DigiPuppet’s educational games.
9. Just Add Milk Science & Art Kit - This kit is filled with fun science and art projects you can do along with some at home ingredients, and it’s just the size of a milk carton! If your child is lactose-intolerant, don’t worry, the experiments work with non-dairy milk as well!
10. DIY Telling Time Clock Pillow - Crafty family members can take a few hours to create this comfortable accessory for kiddos learning to tell time!
11. Clever Catch Math Balls - These inflatable balls make math-learning fun with active games you can play with 2 or more people. Just keep it deflated, and this blow-up Clever Catch is ready for the stocking! Choose from: Numbers 0-25, Money, Multiplication, Addition, or Subtraction.
12. DIY Hopscotch Mat - Here's a fun game you can make yourself, roll up into a Christmas stocking, and then play on Christmas Day and many, MANY days after that!
13. DIY Bongo Rice Shakers - Use some household materials to make shakable, musical instruments for little ones to use while Christmas caroling on Christmas Day!
Looking for more ways to make your Christmas stockings and holiday gifts extra special this year? Head to Educents' Give the Gift of Education page for more ideas, tips, steals and deals!
