“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” – Buddy, Elf
With Christmas right around the corner, and it officially being December, there’s nothing more festive than some Christmas Themed Play!
The other week, I set up the Tuff tray full of Christmas themed items. All of these items we owed previously, and have done for a while. If you have any Christmas bits and bobs that are no longer making it on display, Reuse and recycle!! It was super simple, I just laid everything out whilst Molly was asleep, and let her go to town when she woke up!
We had a mixture of “Christmas tat” if you will, tinsel baubles and a few other tree decorations. Aswell as a few natural elements such as cinnamon sticks, pine cones, dried orange slices and wooden objects. I put out our Christmas selection of “That’s Not My” books as well as her stocking from last year. A few of the objects are actually from a sensory pack I got last Christmas from Melodie Treasures on Instagram.Rattan stars and ball, the wooden snowman and tree, the bells, and the little pot full of small pieces, berries and the wooden circle with ribbon on.
I also set up a old muffin tin full of red, green and white pom poms from our craft stash. Divided them by colour and popped a spoon and cup next to it to encourage scooping and counting as well as colour recognition.
Exploring..
Molly had a blast exploring this set up. She was particularly drawn to the pom poms – which I had guessed she would be. Scooping them up and saying the colours of each one, pointing out the glitter ones. She wasn’t particularly fond of the tinsel. I don’t know if it was the texture or what, but she picked up each bauble and completely ignored the tinsel. The books got a lot of attention too as Molly is a book worm at heart. “That’s Not My” books are a personal favourite and have been since she was very little. The fact that each page has a touchy feel section of different materials make them a perfect addition to any sensory activity! Molly sniffed the natural elements, shouting “YUK” at the cinnamon stick after licking it.
Overall I’d say it went down with Molly pretty well and kept her amused for a good 2 hours. It goes to show you don’t need anything fancy to grab the attention and curiosity of a child, and to spark their imagination!
