The 12 Days of Learning: Keep Christmas Alive!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, we celebrated epiphany

by making candles and starry cinnamon toast.

Well, Christmas has come and gone and although we had a wonderful holiday full of special family memories, we forgot to blog. I will take the blame. I was so excited to have everyone home and around for the holidays that I basically took up all of their time and before we knew it, December 25th had come and gone and so did the family. So sad. I am a firm believer in extending the Christmas season until the VERY end and warm feelings that we all have with friends and family as long as possible.

One activity that we have at preschool is our Epiphany celebration. This is a fun activity to do at home, as well. The children listen to the Christmas story with the emphasis on the three wisemen who followed the star to Bethlehem.

A fun book to read at home is Humphrey's First Christmas by Carol Meyer.

Then each child makes an Epiphany candle. It is a small white votive candle decorated with shiny star stickers. It is a simple project and can be made much more elaborate if your family wants to participate and make one at home. I have seen large three wick candles on a pretty candle holder and also a simple taper decorated with glitter. Make it special and make it your own.

Just grab this stuff.

And let your kiddos do this!

The most important part of this candle is when you light it. You can light this candle at meal time or for bed time story time. Light it whenever you want to gather your family together to share stories of the day and exchange times of when you let your "light" shine or saw someone else "shining ther light" during the day. Shining your light might be passing a smile out to someone, sharing, being patient, being kind or just listening to someone.

To extend the activity, make star cinammon bread:

1. Use one piece of bread

2. Let your child spread butter on the bread and sprinkle it with Cinnamon Sugar.

3. Then cut it with the star cookie cutter.

A simple, not too sweet snack to extend the activity!

Make this activity your own and enjoy the season. Remember, Jesus was God's gift to us and is with us everyday, not just on Christmas Day. The celebration shouldn't end on December 25th. Light your candle as a reminder to let Christmas live in your life everyday.