GINGERBREAD WEEK with an easy & cheap lapbook design

We just finished up the week talking about the gingerbread man, house, mouse, and baby. I found the "GINGERBREAD BABY", "GINGERBREAD MAN", "GINGERBREAD MOUSE", and we learned about the history about gingerbread houses. They also worked on their lap book that I created from a frew printable that I found on numerous websites.(I explained further about the lap book next.) We made peppermint hot chocolate with a candy cane. We are going to make both a paper gingerbread house and also a gingerbread mini house out of graham crackers and peanut butter as glue, marshmellow christmas trees, and sugar free candy. I will take pictures this weekend after they are made.

I know my household is on a tight budget, and we are always trying to find new ways to get the message across to our children in a fun way. I love lap books, but those vanilla file folders are not cheap. I have found a way to use those cheap three prong 2 pocket folders. At the beginning of the school year's back to school sales, you can get these folders very cheap. I have seen them as cheap as five cents each.



What I do is take two of these folders, either cut off one side or use both and tape them in the middle where the prongs are. I currently used one for my son's Gingerbread man/baby lap book theme. I had found some wonderful units, themes, lap book, and miscellaneous printables to put into this lap book. I have also laminated everything in the lap book so that it can be reused by my sons and even in the future by my daughter(she is only 1 yrs right now). I love for the fact that I can place these neatly in a hanging file folder with other printables for that theme, including crafts and projects.

This gingerbread lap book has a puzzle (removable pieces) on the front with their name plate on it, then on the first opening there is a house with the gingerbread baby inside the door (stuck on with Velcro (removable), the Upper & lower alphabet recognition cards, gingerbread man counting book, two questions pertaining to a gingerbread story book, making patterns, and animals in the book recognition. Then the next section has the Gingerbread Baby game from Jan Brett, colors and shapes sorter cards, gingerbread man spelling cards, worksheets (prewriting, gingerbread G tracer pages, another pattern recognition sheet, Size sequencing cards, and Eating a gingerbread man order of sequence cards (gingerbread men are stuck on with velcro to place all pieces on the table for the child). On the back I got a blank gingerbread man and I wrote the instructions for my sons to take 4 objects of different sizes and to trace around the outside of the gingerbread man and see how many it will take, and then to graph their results. I have found that I can get a lot more on these folders then I can with the file folder idea. I also like the idea of having the two pockets in the folder to house the worksheets and booklets.

This lapbook cost me the time to pint out the sheets, the lil ink for the printer, about 20 laminating pouches (6.99 for 50 at BJ's warehouse), two 3 prong pocket folder (free- had them among my supples), clear shipping tape, and a child eager to learn.

I would like to thank these following bloggers for their wonderful FREE printables. My sons also thank you too.

prekinders.com/gingerbread-theme/
mrsnelsonsclass gingerbread poems, printables, lessons, and stories
homeschoolshare

The History of the Christmas Advent Calendar

Some form of the Advent Calendar has been used for more than 150 years and becomes increasingly popular every year. From traditional calendar to calendars that feature popular collectibles and themes, there is a calendar for everyone. The origin of the calendar, like so many of our Christmas traditions, started in Germany in the 19th century. Different methods of counting down the days to the celebration of Christmas were used.

Drawing a chalk line to mark off the days, later lighting a candle every night or putting up small religious pictures marked each day until Christmas. The first printed calendar was produced by Gerhard Lang in Germany. When he was a child, his mother attached little candies to a piece of cardboard and each day Gerhard would take one off. His first (printed) calendar consisted of miniature colored pictures that would be attached to a piece of cardboard each day in December. Later Advent calendars were made with little doors to open on each day. The child might find a small piece of candy, a Christmas picture, a religious picture or a bible verse.
 
The German calendars were sold until World War II, at which time production was stopped due to the war shortages. After the war, the production of calendars resumed in 1946 by Richard Selmer. Selmer credits President Eisenhower with helping the tradition grow in the United States during his term of office. A newspaper article at the time showed the Eisenhower grandchildren with The Little Town Advent calendar. His company still produces calendars today and can be ordered online. Check out the online museum to see some of their early designs.
 
The first Advent calendars were based on 24 days with Christmas Eve as the last night to either put up a picture or take a candy. Today, the traditional German calendars still show 24 days, but in the United States, it's not uncommon to also find ones with 25 days -- the last opening to occur on Christmas Day.
Advent Calendars can be found everywhere Christmas is celebrated and have been made with many different themes. There are permanent ones with little drawers that are opened every day, felt pieces to decorate a tree, religious icons behind the different doors and lots of pop-culture/character Advent calendars. The traditional ones are still a paper/cardboard piece with a small treasure behind the doors. The treasures can range from a beautiful miniature religious picture, perhaps a little wooden toy or even a piece of candy (sure to cause problems when there is more than one child in the household).
 
In our family we have a tradition that dates back to 1969, when I found a wooden tree Advent Calendar. There are painted wooden ornaments and each day another ornament is chosen to be added to the tree. On Christmas day, the star tree topper is finally added. The tree has grown a little shabby and the ornaments are getting tattered, but it's still a tradition looked forward to every December.
 
It's not to late to start a tradition like this for your family, one that will become a real treasure in the years to come. You can come and access more on the advent history at: http://collectibles.about.com/od/adventcalendars/a/Advent120101.htm

CHRISTMAS Advent Crafts

I found these wonderful crafts that are for all ages (plus 2 yr olds).

These instructions will teach you how to make an advent calendar or two. Choose from a large selection of patterns! You can make fabric advent calendars, paper advent calendars, and so many others using these free craft projects. Waiting for Christmas Day to arrive can be tough. The anticipation of Santa's visit, family gatherings, and special gifts can make each day seem like an eternity, especially for kids. Something we have always used to help make the wait for Christmas a bit easier to handle is an advent calendar. The word advent originated from a Latin word meaning 'arrival'. With an advent calendar, you countdown each day until Christmas in a special way. You usually start the countdown on December 1st, but you can design your advent calendar to start on any day you like. Here are some advent calendars you can make to help you with the countdown to that special day.

http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/miscchristmas/a/110600a.htm