Dear Santa Letters

Dear Santa letters are a time honored Christmas tradition in many households. They are your child’s opportunity to express their wants and hopes. Being able to express their ideas to someone other than family and friends can be an exciting experience for kids.

Encourage your kids to be creative and practice their good writing skills in their Dear Santa letters. You can download letter to Santa templates from Parents.com and BirthdayInABox.com to add a festive touch. Macy’s is also offering stationary down loads and will donate $1 to the Make-a-Wish Foundation for every letter received. So while your kids are expressing their good thoughts, they can also learn about helping others.

Christmas Printables

Christmas printables can be a huge help for any teacher. These templates allow you to simply print off an instant craft project for your students while also allowing their imaginations to work creatively.

Here are some great holiday craft printables:

• Snow Flake Templates
• Bible Coloring Pages
• Paper Ornaments
• Christmas Stockings

Customized Christmas Cards

Creating customized Christmas cards is a great activity to do with your homeschooled children. Not only can it be a lesson in holiday spirit, but also in creativity.

It is great fun to make hand made Christmas cards, and now you can get that homemade effect with the help of the Internet. Here are some sites that are great for personalized Christmas cards:

• Cards with Photos – Uploading your own pictures to create a card is fun, easy, and a great lesson on the way the Internet works. The Kodak Gallery, Moo.com, snapfish, and shutterfly all offer beautiful and affordable options.
• Card Templates – You can find print out templates to work on at home from FamilyFun.com, Enchantedlearing.com, and Parents.com.

Send your customized Christmas cards to friends, family, and supporters of your homeschooling efforts. But don’t forget the postage, PhotoStamps are a great way to add a festive finishing touch.

Online Christmas Games

Online Christmas Games are a great way to ring in some holiday cheer, while helping your public school and homeschooled kids practice how to use the computer and mouse. There are tons of different kinds of games your children can play that will serve as fun learning tools.

A great way to practice using the mouse is a Christmas game where you need to move the mouse to get points. On PrimaryGames.com you can find several easy to play games where you have to aim your mouse just right to hit targets and get points. For educational online games, you can try some Christmas quizzes on MerryChristmas.com that test your knowledge of the holiday, or go to Funschool.com for word games.

Online Christmas games can be good learning tools and are fun for the whole family.

Teacher Discounts

It is no secret that educators do amazing and inspiring work, often for very little compensation. In these difficult economic times, and with Christmas right around the corner, many stores are offering teacher discounts and homeschooler rewards. For anyone on a budget, you might want to check these out:

• Ann Taylor Loft – Loft Loves Teachers is partnering with DonorsChoose.org to help education professionals bring their program proposals to life. Lend support, sign up, and get 15% off of each purchase.


• Staples – Teacher Rewards is a free program where, when you sign up, you will earn 2% back in rewards up to $15 per quarter when you spend $200 or more. You will get free delivery on all your phone and online orders, and much more.


• A.C. Moore – Offers teacher discount cards to be use in-store on your purchases.


• Michael’s – When you sign up to be a member of The Knack Faculty, you'll be get access to online educational projects, a monthly e-newsletter, special offers and promotion.


• Lakeshore Learning Store – The Teacher’s Club gives you 15% in saving on hundreds of classroom items.

Fun Christmas Facts

We all love a bit of trivia, so what better than to share some fun Christmas facts with your classoorm, or homeschooled children and families. Teachers and parents can make flash cards with the history of Christmas and use them for a fun quiz show night.

• Santa Claus – Also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, and Kris Kringle, the origin of Santa Claus begins in the 4th century. Saint Nicholas lived in what is now present day Turkey and was Bishop of Myra. Everyone thought of St. Nicholas as a generous man, and particularly devoted to children. After his death around 340 A.D. he was buried in Myra, and his generous ways inspired the gift giving of today.


• Christmas Stockings – According to legend, in Myra where Saint Nicholas lived, a nobleman left his three young daughters without dowries. The generous St. Nicholas, went to help them, but wished to remain anonymous. So he threw three small pouches of gold coins down the chimney where they were caught by the stockings that the young women had hung by the fireplace to dry. This was then interpreted into the present day stockings filled with gifts.


• Christmas Trees – Starting in 16th century Germany, fir trees were decorated indoors and out, with apples, roses, gilded candies, and colored paper. The popularity of the Christmas tree grew further in the Middle Ages, and continued to spread across the globe.


• Mistletoe – Druid priests 200 years before the birth of Christ used this plant in their winter celebrations. They revered the plant because oddly enough it didn’t have roots, yet remained green during the cold months.


• Candy Canes – During the 17th century, craftsmen created white sticks of candy in the shape of shepherds' crooks at the suggestion of the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. The candy treats were given to children to keep them quiet during ceremonies. The candy cane's symbolism became that the color white represented Christ's purity, the color red the blood he shed, and the three red stripes the Holy Trinity.


• Christmas Cards – The first form of Christmas card began in England when young boys practiced their writing skills by creating Christmas greetings for their parents. But it was in 1843 when the first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole who found himself too busy to send individual greetings so he got John Callcott Horsley to illustrate some for him.