Christmas With Your Pre-Schooler
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and this is an exciting time for many, especially young children and pre-schooler’s who are beginning to understand Santa and the magic that comes along with this wonderful season of festivities.
We’ve done our research to bring you some of the best places to visit, activity ideas and gift inspiration for you and your pre-schooler during this exciting time!
Places To Visit With Children This Christmas
Little Garden Day Nurseries Christmas Fayre – What better place to start than an early visit to Santa Claus, to hand in your Christmas list early, at one of our Christmas Fayre’s this weekend! There will be festive activities and inspiration such as decoration making and letter writing to encourage your pre-schooler with their literacy skills, stalls to buy those early unique Christmas gifts and of course the big man himself will be putting in a special appearance for your children while you enjoy a glass of mulled wine or something from out tasty seasonal menu! You can also pick up some ideas here on what activities you can do at home with your little one. Contact us to book a tour here.
Christmas at Kew Gardens – Kew’s incredible gardens get a magnificent seasonal makeover. Christmas at Kew brings illuminations to light up the buildings and plants. The mile-long, twinkling trail leads visitors and children past singing trees, a flickering Fire Garden, kaleidoscopic projections and giant flora-inspired lights. Santa and his elves will also be in attendance at the North Pole village waiting to see your pre-schooler, while grown-ups can take advantage of the festive shopping, seasonal snacks and warming mulled wine. Find out more here.
Winterville – This year Winterville is coming to Clapham Common and will feature Clapham Common’s first outdoor Ice Rink, Backyard Cinema’s Winter Night Garden, Plonk Golf, a Fairground, a Roller Disco, a Special Family Christmas Show perfect for young children, a Market filled with creations from independent designers and various themed bars. Street Feast are curating all the food and drink, showcasing a sensational selection of street food from some of London’s best traders. While elsewhere in the town the Spiegeltent will host cabaret, bingo, club nights, kids raves – perfect for those energetic pre-schooler’s, brass bands, Mexican wrestling, choirs and the Mimi & The Mountain Dragon family Christmas show. Therefore expect a completely different festive experience! Find out more here.
Christmas Activity Ideas
There are an array of different and amazing Christmas themed activity ideas and inspiration online suitable for a busy pre-schooler and with so many to choose from it can be hard to know where to start, therefore we’ve listed a few of our favourite ideas to keep your pre-schooler entertained whilst you wrap those last minute presents or peel the spuds! These activities are also great for providing your pre-schooler with learning opportunities and the chance to develop different skills.
Paper plate crafts – Paper plates are a great craft item to keep to hand for your children as the possibilities are endless. You can make anything from 3D Christmas trees to decorations for the tree or wreaths for the door! They help your pre-schooler to develop not only their imagination but also their fine and gross motor skills. artycraftykids.com has lots of fabulous ideas.
Cinnamon Ornament Clay – This recipe requires NO COOKING, takes mere minutes to mix up, and the ornaments will make your entire home smell just like Christmas!
- Cookie cutters
- Baking paper
- Acrylic paints (optional)
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Once combined knead the dough with clean, dry hands. If the dough is a little sticky dust your hands with a bit of flour and knead.
- After a few minutes of kneading you will be left with amazing, cinnamon ornament dough.
- Roll the cinnamon dough out on baking paper to prevent sticking.
- Give your pre-schooler cookie cutters and rolling pins, and they will have a blast making their very own cinnamon ornaments.
- Pierce a hole in the ornaments before leaving them to dry. This makes stringing them on the tree much easier!
- It will take roughly 24 hours for the ornaments to dry. Once dry kids can embellish the ornaments using acrylic paint, or you can simply hang them from the tree as is.
Peppermint Oobleck Science – If you feel like getting a little it more scientific this Christmas then it is an excellent time of the year to put a little twist on classic science experiments! Try peppermint oobleck! Oobleck is classic science because it shows off the properties of a Non-Newtonian fluid perfectly. Oobleck is a mixture of cornflour and water. Roughly a 2:1 ratio but you can tinker with the ratio to find a desired consistency that still maintains the properties of oobleck. “What’s the Science?” I hear you ask… Well, it’s a solid. No wait it’s a liquid! Wait, it’s both! Very fascinating to be exact. Pick up solid chunks, pack it into a ball and watch it ooze into a liquid. This is called a non-newtonian liquid, a substance that acts like both a liquid and a solid.
Peppermint Oobleck Recipe
- Cornflour
- Water
- Peppermints or Candy Canes
Other Materials
- Tweezers
- Spoon
- Baking Tray
Method
- Mix up about a cup of cornflour and 1/2 cup of water! You can adjust the ratios as needed, but this recipe is a general guideline!
- Pour and spoon onto a baking tray.
- Stick in your peppermints or candy canes and give it a stir (really anything can be used for sticking into the oobleck!)
- Add a pair of tweezers and some spoons and get stuck in!
Christmas Pre-Schooler Gift Inspiration
You will probably be over run with gits for your pre-schooler this year as the options are endless and the family just want to spoil your little one but we have listed below some of our favourite gift ideas for a little bit of inspiration that will keep them entertained and learning all year round.
Dollhouse
Why they will love it: You may make the rules in your house, but children love having a playhouse where they’re in charge. Add some play figures, and watch your kids go to town making up scenes and stories.
Why we love it: Preschool children are quick to take on pretend roles and situations, and a dollhouse lets them do this. Extending and challenging their imaginations through play and offering up new ideas, the possbilities and games are endless and will surely keep them entertained for hours!
This one is available at Asda for only £28.00
Play-Doh
Why they will love it: This soft, squishy stuff has been thrilling preschoolers for more than 50 years. Because it’s open-ended, there’s no limit to what your child will create with it. Play-Doh spaghetti anyone?
Why we love it: Play-Doh has so many uses, especially if you add tools. It encourages your children to use their fine motor skills and imagination. Play-Doh also provides hours of fun so therefore is at the top of our recommendation list!
This set is available from Aldi for £9.99
Scooter
Why they will love it: They will feel like a big-kid on a scooter and it provides a nice solution to that in-between stage when they’re getting too big for a stroller but aren’t ready for long walks on their own. Besides what better and faster way to get to nursery anyway!
Why we love it: Scooters are excellent for developing children’s motor coordination skills and reducing the time it takes to go somewhere!
Mini Micro Scooters are a great option from around £69.45 Check out the full range here.
We hope all this information, ideas and inspiration has helped you get prepared for this exciting time of year and we hope to see you at our one of our Christmas Fayre’s!
