Muddy Boots 12 Days of Christmas!
Christmas is on its way, and we know your little ones must be really excited about getting a visit from Santa! At Muddy Boots, we’ll be setting up lots of fun activities for your children while they’re at nursery, but to continue the festivities after nursery closes on Christmas Eve, we have created our very own 12 Days of Christmas!
In this blog, we’ll be giving you some more detail on the ways you can make these activities as fun and easy as possible for you and your children. We’d love to see what you get up to, so be sure to share via the Famly App or social media - for an extra bit of excitement, the first family to share and tag us in a picture of their completed poster on social media will receive a prize!
Write a Letter to Santa
While this activity is particularly suited to older children with some guidance on writing, there are ways you can adapt the activity for younger children too! You could make a scrapbook together using toy magazines/catalogues, or even write or print off a simple letter prompt which your child can then decorate to their heart’s content. Once the letter is complete, you could take the activity a step further by posting the letter to Santa together - don’t forget your stamps!
At-Home Christmas Grotto
Whether or not you have a visit to Santa’s Grotto in the diary, you can make your own fun at home by building one yourself. Start by building a den out of blankets, pillows and anything else you have to hand - make sure there’s enough space for everyone! To make it festive, add some fairy lights, spare decorations and play some Christmas music while you build it. Perhaps you’ll work together with your little ones to prepare some festive snacks, play some games, or even read a story. If you’re able to leave your creation up, it could even become a little festive sensory space for your little ones whenever they need a moment of calm.
Wrapping Paper Chains
If you’re looking for a little slice of nostalgia and a more relaxing, less messy, activity for your little one, have a go at making some paper chains! This is a great way to use up some spare scraps of wrapping paper or old Christmas cards, and a fantastic activity for developing fine motor skills. Pre-cut some strips for the activity so you can focus on connecting the chain together - use them to make a pattern out of different colours/styles of paper, or have it completely random. Your child can take their time, carefully connecting each strip together until you make a complete chain, ready to hang wherever you like!
Salt Dough Ornaments
If you’re looking for a few extra ornaments for your tree, don’t go out to buy them - you can make them at home! You can use air dry clay if you fancy, but a great way for you and your little ones to get more involved is by making your own! There are lots of recipes for salt dough online that you can make your own ornaments out of, and you can use cookie cutters if you have them, or make your own shapes and stencils to create your festive masterpieces. You could also try making a keepsake by pressing your little one’s hands or feet into a circle of salt dough and marking their name and the date on the back. Once they’re completely dry, leave them as they are or decorate them to your heart’s content!
Snow Sensory Tray
At Muddy Boots, we love sensory trays and this is a wonderful way to bring the fun of snow indoors without having to worry about getting wet! There are some recipes online for making your own fake snow, but you could also explore different textures by using varied household items. Try using cotton balls to mimic snowballs, sprinkling icing sugar for the effect of snowfall, cornflour for those crunchy powdery footprints, or a flour and oil mixture for moulding your own snowmen!
Winter Walk
You know we love the outdoors, so we just have to include some activities you can do outside! Read our blog on Great Parks and Green Spaces in York if you’re looking for somewhere to visit nearby for a lovely winter walk. Whilst you’re out, go on a hunt for some fallen leaves, sticks, pinecones, etc. as they’ll be great for the nature themed activities in the rest of the calendar. But most of all, enjoy your outdoor adventure and wrap up warm!
Pine Cone Christmas Tree
If you’ve had the chance for a winter walk, you’ll hopefully be equipped with some key supplies for making a Pine Cone Christmas tree! This is a super simple activity that you can make as messy as you like - all you have to do is decorate your pine cones in any way you like. If you want to keep things traditional, paint the cones green, perhaps add some green glitter or go all out with some patches of white paint and glitter to make snow! Make your pine cones a little abstract with different colours, or even roll them around in a tray of varied paint colours to get really creative. Once your little trees are dry, you can attach them to some cardboard to help them stand, or perhaps tie some string around the tops to hang them from your tree.
Nature Ornaments
We hope you found some sticks and leaves on your walk, because this is the perfect activity for them! Use small sticks to make some nature based snowflakes, glue the sticks together in a star/snowflake shape and paint them white or blue. You can paint leaves into a number of different Christmas shapes, think snowman, reindeer and even a classic Christmas tree. Once the paint is dry, your child can decorate each one with sequins, glitter, pompoms - anything you can find! Attach some string to each decoration and hang them from your tree, or glue them all onto one long piece to make your own nature themed garland!
Christmas Baking
There are lots of fun, festive and child friendly baking recipes online that you can make at home. You can choose a recipe together or select one yourself, and work together to make something delicious! Some of the most popular examples are gingerbread, shortbread or cupcakes.
Mini Nature Wreath
If you have some extra bits and pieces from your nature walk, or you fancy going out on another one, this is a fantastic activity for little ones to get involved in! You can make mini wreaths by cutting out the centre circle in a paper plate, leaving a ring for your little ones to glue and stick leaves, twigs, and more as they please. You can customise the wreath activity however you like - paint the items you found before sticking them on, cover them in glitter or sprinkle some on top of the final piece, add some snow using white paint and glitter - the possibilities are endless!
Follow a Christmas Trail
If you’re looking for some more outdoor fun, why not have a go at following a Christmas trail? There’s lots to discover locally in York and Leeds, and they make a fun way to explore the local areas! Follow the York Nutcracker Trail celebrating Christmas around the world, and see if you can spot all 10 as you crack the code to figure out what country each statue is inspired by. If you’re looking to travel further afield, visit Sutton Bank National Park to go on the North York Moors Snowman Trail and follow the snowmen around the grounds. In Leeds, visit Kirkstall Abbey and see if you can spot all the reindeers in the grounds, or follow the Otley Snowman Trail to see all the different snowman decorations in shop windows!
Read a Christmas Story
What better way to spend a cosy night in on Christmas Eve than by reading a Christmas story? Whether you read in the daytime, or save it for when they go to bed, make sure to get cosy together and share a story you love. If you don’t have any Christmas stories to hand, you could try coming up with one together, taking turns to add to the tale and seeing what you come up with! Not only is it a wonderful bonding experience, but it’s also great if you’re struggling to get your little one to fall asleep with all the excitement of the festive season. What stories will you share?
Don’t forget to share and tag us in a photo of your completed posters on social media, perhaps you’ll win the prize…
Thank you to all our families for another wonderful year, we’ll see you all again in 2025!
Merry Christmas from the Muddy Boots Team x
