Another Christmas Tradition!

I thought I would share another tradition that has been around since Griffin was a toddler. When it was just him he had this banner that had 24 little bags on it. He could open  up one each day to count down til Christmas. In the bags were $ or candy. Over the years, we outgrew the bags. I decided we needed a new fun way to count down so I came up with this idea. 

Each year I make a Santa out of paper plates, cotton balls, construction paper, tape and markers. To make this Santa you take 2 paper plates, cut one in half and tape it to the other paper plate so it makes a pocket(It should be sticking out.). Then decorate to make it look like a Santa. Write the numbers 1-24 on the paper plate cut in half. We glue a cotton ball on each day to count down until Christmas. When you reach day 24 Santa will have a full grown beard. We are just 11 days away.

Now you could just stop there but I like to add a little adventure and excitement to our Santa. Inside the pocket of our Santa are 24 pieces of paper that have a special treat written on them. The kids get to pull 1 piece of paper out each day. Sometimes the prize is fulfilled that day or saved for another day. This past Saturday the kids turned in their piece of paper that had this written on it...........

They were so excited!

I think Griffin was just glad to be eating....

 I try to add at least 1 or 2 new treats each year. Breakfast in bed was a new one this year and it was a huge hit. It will definitely make it into Santa's beard again next year. 

Here are a few of the other prizes usually scene...........

Good for a hug.

Good for a kiss.

Good for hot chocolate.

Good for a family movie.

Good for staying up late.

Good for your choice for supper.

Good for a night of riding to look at lights.

Good for 1 item at the dollar tree.

Good for a friend to spend the night.

Good for a family game.

Good for a high five.

Good for a treat at the basketball game.

and many more.

As you can see many of the treats are free. You do not have to do anything expensive. Just think of things that would be consider treats for your kids.

I even took it a step further and use it in my classroom this year. I choose 1 child per day who has shown good behavior to draw a treat from Santa's beard. Here the treats would be something like....

You can play with play dough.

You get to sit in my chair.

You get to be the teacher.

You get to have a special snack.

The kids like this because they get to do these things while the rest of the class is doing work.

If I had my wish, my kids would never grow up and want to do this the rest of their life! Wouldn't that just make a lot of mothers happy?