Puppets are a wonderful way to enjoy art and drama and to develop language skills. They can be used with all ages of children. The youngest children can watch you perform and talk to the puppet. Starting at about age 3, the children can help make the puppets and put on simple “shows.” You can make a puppet from almost anything. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Finger puppets:

• Draw a face on your fingertip.
• Draw on strips of paper and tape them around your fingers to make different characters.
• Decorate the fingertips of an old glove with felt, yarn for hair and beads or buttons for eyes; make a whole family on one hand.
• Cut out simple animal or people outlines on cardboard. Do not include legs or feet but leave a wide bottom edge. Cut out two holes near the bottom – large enough to put a finger through each hole. Your fingers can make this kind of puppet dance or walk.
• Almost anything slipped over your fingertip can make a puppet – try making faces on a paper cup, or a ball. Put a cloth napkin over your hand first to give the puppet some clothes.
• A toilet paper tube can be used vertically for a soldier or other figure, or horizontally for a dragon or other long animals. Just put the tube over your finger to make it move.

Stick puppets:

• Make a drawing of an animal or person and glue it to the end of a Popsicle stick. You can draw hair or make the hair more interesting using curled paper.
• Cut out photographs of members of the family or friends and glue them to sticks. You can act out real family events.

Sock Puppets:

• A simple puppet can be made from an old sock by adding hair and eyes. Put your thumb in the heel and your fingers in the toe of the sock to make the mouth. For a fancier version cut a plastic lid in half and then tape it together to make a hinge. Glue this mouth in place at the toe end of a sock. This makes a great dragon.

Paper Bag Puppets:

• Take a lunch size paper bag and draw a face on the flap at the bottom of the bag. Glue on hair, ears or other features. Put your hand inside the bag. Move the flap up and down to make the puppet talk.
• To make an owl, glue or draw eyes under the flap. Draw eyelids and eyelashes on the flap. Add wings, ears and feet. When you move the flap up and down the owl will blink.

Making a Stage for the Puppets:

• Hide behind the back of a couch.
• Use the edge of a table covered with a tablecloth or turn a table on its side on the floor.
• Balance a mop handle or broom stick between two chairs and hang a large towel or blanket over the stick to make a stage.
• Make a puppet theatre out of a large cardboard box (appliance size). Cut a window for the puppets. Operate the puppets from inside.

Enjoy the show!

Play dough is the perfect modeling material for children. Their small hands can pat, poke, pinch, roll and knead it into many shapes. Keep it in an airtight container to use another day, or let it dry into favorite shapes. It can be painted when dry.

There are many different recipes for play dough. This recipe can keep for several months if kept in a covered container. Children can help you measure, pour, and stir, but you should do the cooking at the stove yourself.

• Measure 2 cups of flour, one cup of salt and 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar into a bowl.
• Add 1/4 cup of oil to one cup of water in a separate bowl then add the mixture to the dry ingredients.
• Squeeze 10-20 drops of food coloring into one cup of water and add it to the mixture. Mix well to make it smooth and to spread the color evenly.
• Cook the dough at low heat in a wide pan, stirring constantly until it becomes rubbery. Remove the dough from the heat and knead it for a few minutes. When it cools the kids can play too!

Safe Toys and Gifts Month

This is a good time to check toys for broken parts, sharp edges and loose pieces that could be swallowed by very young children. If you are choosing a holiday gift for children you are caring for, make sure any toy is age appropriate and cannot harm the child. Getting children to help put toys away is another way to be safe around toys. For more hints on toy safety, click here. For information about age appropriate activities, click here.

Gingerbread is an important part of many cultures’ holiday celebrations. The story of the Gingerbread Boy has been retold in many versions. It might be fun to make some gingerbread cookies and read the story.

Visit the Library!

• Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.
• The Cajun Gingerbread Boy illustrated by Berthe Amoss
• The Gingerbread Boy by Richard Egielski
• The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone
• The Gingerbread Man: An Old English Folktale illustrated by John A. Rowe
• The Gingerbread Man illustrated by Karen Schmidt
• The Gingerbread Man illustrated by Pam Adams
• The Gingerbread Man by Eric Kimmel
• The Gingerbread Man retold by Jim Aylesworth

Head for the Kitchen!
Make a batch of gingerbread and bake and decorate a tray of gingerbread boys. Read the story while they bake.

Winter officially begins next week, but in some parts of the United States it is already snowing. Make your own snowflakes to decorate the windows, or to hang by thread from the ceiling. Visit http://www.papersnowflakes.com/sitemap.htm for full instructions.

What a great week to teach your children a few words or even a song of your native language! If the children can read you could write the words for objects around the house and post them (door, window, sink, closet, etc.). Children of any age can learn to respond or speak in other languages. Older children might have fun learning how to say “Hello” or “Happy Holidays” in lots of languages. Check out the Kids Culture Corner for some language lessons. Children who are old enough to read and spell can make up their own “language” using code. Here’s an easy way to do it.

Paper plate code:

1. Use a small Paper Plate for the top wheel of your code maker. Along the edge of the plate, use scissors to cut out a small square.
2. On the back of the plate, draw an arrow pointing toward the cut-out hole. Decorate the arrow and the rest of the plate with markers or crayons if you wish.
3. Around the outside, back edge of a larger plate, write alphabet letters (and numerals if you like).
4. Use a brad to fasten the small plate face down onto the larger plate.
5. Point the arrow toward the A. In the box opening write another letter or symbol to stand for the A. You could use the alphabet in reverse (A means Z), or you could choose a different symbol or a picture for each letter. When every letter and numeral has a code, you’re ready to write secret messages! Make sure the person you send the message to has a code-breaker!
   

Ludwig von Beethoven’s Birthday

One of the greatest composers, Beethoven was born in Germany in 1770. Read the story about how his Symphony is played in Japan every year at Christmas: http://www1.mandala.ne.jp/mandala/eigo.html.

Enjoy music with the children

• Start by listening – to children’s music, classical music and even just the ticking of a clock, the rain falling or the wind in the trees.
• Make rhythms: clap hands, stamp feet, hop and jump.
• Dance to the rhythms of music on the radio.
• Make your own instruments: an empty milk jug is a good drum; two sticks or two pot lids create wonderful rhythms.
• Sing! Don’t be afraid to make up your own songs. Record them to play for the host parents.

Wright Brothers' First Flight

Orville and Wilbur flew their plane for 12 seconds in 1903. Make paper airplanes with the children and see if they can fly that long! See http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/ for instructions.

First Day of Winter

Animals handle cold winter weather in a variety of ways. Some travel to a warmer climate. Others grow thicker fur coats so they can stay warm and active during the winter. Many animals hibernate during the coldest weather – they spend the warmer months eating and storing as much body fat as they can and then live off this extra weight as they sleep. Learn about hibernation as winter starts:

At the library!

• The Story of Jumping Mouse: A Native American Legend by John Steptoe
• Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming
• When Will It Be Spring? By Catherine Walters
• Bearymore by Don Freeman
• Bernard Bear’s Amazing Adventure by Hans de Beer
• Wake Me in Spring by James Preller
• Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky
• Chipmunk Song by Joanne Ryder

Play “hibernation” – pretend to be one of the animals you have researched. Curl up and “sleep” and then wake up HUNGRY for snack time!

Also known as the Festival of Lights, Chanukah starts at sundown today and lasts for eight days. It is a celebration of religious freedom based on historical events of more than two thousand years ago. It is traditional to exchange gifts or gelt (Yiddish for money) in the form of real coins or chocolate wrapped in gold foil, to play a game of put-and-take with a four sided top called a dreidel, and to light candles each night. Traditional foods include donuts and potato pancakes. See http://www.holidays.net/chanukah/index.htm for more information, recipes and crafts.

Lady Bird Johnson was the wife of Lyndon Johnson, who was President of the United States in the 1960s. She worked hard to protect natural habitats and especially wild flowers. She helped to create the Wildflower Center in Texas. You and the children can add color to this winter day by coloring pictures of wild flowers. Visit http://www.nps.gov/plants/color/txhill/com.htm for a list of wild flowers to choose from.

Every family and culture has their own Christmas traditions. Try some of these ideas with the children:

Art Activities

• On a BIG piece of paper draw a fireplace and a mantle. Make a paper stocking (two halves stapled together), decorate with glue and glitter, write the children’s names on them, and “hang” them on your fireplace mural. Use catalogs to cut out toys to put in the stockings.
• Cut out a tree from green construction paper. Decorate your tree with colored ornaments, glue and glitter, and pieces of ribbon or wrapping paper.

Books to Read

• Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin
• It’s Really Christmas by Lillian Hoban
• The Christmas Doll by Wendy Parker
• ABC Christmas by Ida DeLage
• Santa Claus Forever by Carolyn Haywood
• A Forest Christmas by Mayling Mack Holm
• The Christmas Party by Adrienne Adams

A Fingerplay for Fun

Five Little Bells
Five little bells hanging in a row
(Hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said, “Ring me slow.”
(Move thumb slowly)
The second one said, “Ring me fast.”
(Wiggle index finger)
The third one said, “Ring me last.”
(Move middle finger)
The fourth one said, “I’m like a chime.”
(Move ring finger.)
And the fifth one said, “Ring us all. It’s Christmastime!”
(Wiggle all 5 fingers)

This festive, non-religious African-American celebration was started in 1966. It lasts for seven days. On each day a candle is lit and the day focuses on one of seven principles. Click here for Kwanzaa coloring pages for children.

Visit the local zoo or make your own with stuffed or plastic animals and blocks, or create a paper zoo with the coloring pages on this site: http://www.cooldinos.com/coloring/. Go to the library and find books about animals. 

Bicarbonate of Soda Day

Bicarbonate of soda, also known as baking soda, has many household uses including cooking, cleaning and medical uses. But it can also be used for a very simple and fun science experiment suitable for ages 7 and older.

Baking Soda Volcano
Create quite a fizzle by mixing baking soda/sodium bicarbonate with vinegar.

You need the following:

• Baking Soda - Make certain the box says soda, and not powder.
• Vinegar
• A container to hold your experiment. You can make a clay volcano or just use a plastic container.
• Paper towels, depending on the extent of mess you plan to make.

How to do the experiment:

1. In a container place some of the baking soda.
2. Pour in some vinegar.
3. Watch what happens, and be prepared to clean up the mess!
   

New Year’s Eve

The last day of the year is a good time to think about how to make the next year better. You and the children can choose simple “New Year Resolutions.” Or create a keepsake of the year that is ending by making a time capsule or a scrapbook of memories. Include what are cool, slang words, popular activities, clothes, games, names of popular songs or games, and a picture of the hottest toy. If you are making a time capsule, put a date on it and decide when they will open it – in a year, 5 or even 10. Don’t forget to include a photo of you and the children!

Tomorrow, the first day of the New Year, is a federal holiday.