Christmas Countdown Chain

A few years ago, I discovered a treasure trove of free Christian teaching resources at Hubbard's Cupboard.  I love using her printable books with my preschool and kindergarten students. If you teach or homesschool preschool or kinders, definitely check out this website for free printables for most all subject areas!

On this site are many ideas for celebrating Advent and Christmas.  Last year, my two sons and I created the Christmas Chain that is featured on Hubbard's site.  They loved, loved it! In the free download, there are 25 Bible verses and activities to help little ones prepare for Christmas. Very simply, print the verses, glue to strips of alternating green and red paper.  Then uses the strips of paper to make loops/chains and link them together.  Each day, the child takes off a link and reads the verse.  We did this each morning before school and then my boys would count how many links were left (days until Christmas).  They enjoyed seeing the chains get smaller and smaller!

Click here to see all the Christmas activities on Hubbard's site.  Scroll down just a bit and you will see the Christmas Chain activity.  This is a fun and meaningful activity for the whole family or to use in your classroom!

My sons (ages 6 and 7) and I are making our chain today.  I'll come back in a few days and share pictures with you!

Have a very blessed and restful weekend!

 

 

Free Holy Family clip art

Free Christian Clip art

Free Nativity Clipart - Holy Family   
©Charlotte Braddock 2012
 Terms of Use

May Your Family and Friends

Know the Love of Christ 

 this Christmas!

What do you think?

Here are two logos that I played around with this week.

I have been sick and so has my computer, so I may be way off target.  Perhaps, it is a little too busy.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

More posts coming soon!

Thanksgiving Posters

There is something about the book of Psalms that soothes my soul.  When I was pregnant with my youngest son, I read and reread this encouraging book so much, that I just had to select David as his middle name (his first name is Christopher~ "Christ -bearer"). As we prepare for and anticipate our Thanksgiving celebrations and feasts, I think it's important to prepare our hearts as well.  Here's a verse that I have been meditating on the last few days:

I want to share with you a small set of posters I made to decorate your classroom. Some have Bible verses on them while others are more secular in nature. With my young sons and my primary students, I find Thanksgiving a great time to remind them that we should have a thankful attitude each and everyday!  We begin and end the day with thankful prayers to our gracious and merciful God.   

Click the pic below to grab your free poster set!

  

 

More Rosary Resources

This is Maria Manore from Kinder-Craze and I am SO thrilled to be a part of this great collaborative blog for sharing faith-based lessons, activities and resources. I noticed that Cindy (KinderKay) recently shared a great resource for praying the Rosary with her little ones.

I saw her post and felt compelled to share a Rosary resource from my classroom as well. This year I am praying a decade of the Rosary every week with my kindergarten students. We created our own child-friendly Rosaries with pipe cleaners and pony beads. You can read more about the craft here. 

Once the Rosaries were complete, I created a prayer guide for myself to use as I lead the class in prayer (I am not a Rosary expert and need some reminders about the prayers and procedures). I know from personal experience that praying the Rosary can seem intimidating at first (lots of worries about what prayer to say when and what the Mysteries of the Rosary are) so I send a copy of the guide and prayer list to families that may be interested in praying the rosary at home as well.


I have gotten a great response from many Catholic teachers and I hope this prayer guide is helpful to you as well.

Have a blessed day!

How to Make a Burning Bush

Here is a quick video lesson about 

Moses and the Burning Bush.

Watch closely because it is only "burning" at the very beginning of this clip. Of course, you can always push replay to see it again.

I would love to hear comments, if this is useful.  

It takes a lot of time to put together, so if it is not, I will do something else. 

I Thank God For...

Do you need a quick bulletin board idea or decoration for Thanksgiving??? 

Oh yes, and for Free!!!

Turkey Printable

You can print these on colored paper or the students may color them.  Older children can write what they are thankful for on the sign.  Younger children  either can draw a picture or have an adult write what they are thankful for on the sign. If desired, children may cut around the rectangular shape.   

These can be used as book covers, Thanksgiving cards, or decorations. 

A good bible story is when Jesus healed the ten lepers, but only one remembered to say thanks.