A Gingerbread-Filled Holiday Season at Little Squirrels Child Care

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The holiday season has been full of joy, learning, and a little bit of magic at Little Squirrels Child Care! Apologies for not getting a post up last week—it was a busy one! The good news is that everything we did last week is included in this week’s post. Our recent activities brought creativity, hands-on fun, and a whole lot of gingerbread-themed excitement. Here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to.

Circle Time Highlights

Circle time was extra special with gingerbread-inspired fun!

Books We Read:

The kids loved our gingerbread book collection:

• The Gingerbread Girl (my personal favorite of the gingerbread collection)

• The Gingerbread Boy

• Gingerbread Pirates

• The Ninjabread Man – this was such a hit, we read it twice!

• The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever by Steven Kroll

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss (read over a couple of days due to its length)

• How to Catch a Gingerbread Man by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton

• How to Catch a Reindeer by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton

Songs We Sang:

We sang “5 Gingerbread Men”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wCZ3dzFK6BI

And added in another fun song “5 candy canes” This one was similar to the 5 apples song from September, and to my surprise they remembered that!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6MejJBiag5A

Activities:

Gingerbread Man Alphabet: We completed the gingerbread alphabet on our fridge! This was a major milestone for our group, as it’s the first time we’ve gone through the entire alphabet since our apple theme earlier in the year.

Bow Tie Color Match & Gumdrop Counting: These activities combined fun with learning as the kids matched colors and practiced counting.

Growing Candy Canes: Planting Tic Tacs in sugar, sprinkling magic glitter, and watching candy canes “grow” was pure enchantment.

• Fine Motor Fun: The kids stuffed green pom-poms into clear ornaments for a Christmas gift project. It was tricky but rewarding!

Building and Decorating Fun

A big hit this season was decorating magnetic tile houses with jingle bells. The kids loved seeing how many bells they could stick to their creations and dipping the tiles into the pile of bells. Supervision was required for this activity, so it couldn’t be left out, otherwise I think they would have played with it all day long.

Sensory Play and Experiments

• Gingerbread Science Experiment: The kids explored fizzy reactions by adding vinegar to baking soda with gingerbread spices and cookie cutters. The big kids even guessed the ingredients, adding an educational twist!

• Play-Doh Adventures: Gingerbread-scented Play-Doh was a favorite, even if it sometimes left a funny trail on their clothes.

• Marbled Peppermint Art: Mixing paint and shaving cream created stunning marbled patterns, reminiscent of swirling peppermint candies.

Creative Art Projects

• Gingerbread Men Art: Although our puffy paint didn’t stay as fluffy as planned, the kids loved decorating their gingerbread creations.

• Cookie Cutter Gift Bags: Using cookie cutters and paint, the children decorated paper bags for wrapping their Christmas gifts.

• Window Clings: Inspired by our Thanksgiving turkey window cling, we attempted a gingerbread-themed cling. While the decorations didn’t stick as well, the effort and fun were worth it.

Christmas Party Fun

Our Christmas party was a highlight of the season! The children arrived in their festive pajamas, decorated prebuilt gingerbread houses, and enjoyed hot cocoa, marshmallows, and delicious snacks. We ended the day with a lively Christmas dance party. It was a sugar-filled, messy, but absolutely delightful celebration!

Looking Ahead

As we wrap up the year, we’re so proud of all the creativity, learning, and joy our Little Squirrels have shared. We can’t wait to see what adventures await in the new year. I’ll leave you with a photo dump of a few other fun pictures from the last 2 weeks. Wishing all of our families a warm and wonderful holiday season!