tis the season to focus on the savior

i get caught up with a lot of motor skill activities and crafts for nursery. and then i catch myself totally engaged in, well, not the wrong things, but the things that matter less. i am constantly reminding myself that the purpose of nursery "is to help children learn the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and live it. The nursery class should help the children increase their understanding of and love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, have positive experiences in a Church setting, and grow in feelings of self-worth."

so then i feel a little guilty that i'm doing so much research on crafting but let's be real, you can't teach a full on 20 minute lesson to toddlers. it's just not possible. unless you sedate them of course. but you can find ways to have a positive experience in a Church setting and to grow in feelings of self-worth. i feel like crafting and developing skills in nursery help the kids feel that, feel confident, feel accomplished, feel loved. 

that being said, i wanted to find a nursery craft/lesson help that would satisfy my (and maybe your) need to find something different to do outside of the manual coloring page for the christmas lesson. with help from the google, i found these free nativity printables from pretty prudent. i'm probably not going to print fabric just yet, but i probably should for future usage for the nursery peeps or for myself! but for the kids, i want them to be able to each take home a set, so we'll just be doing paper. 

images from pretty prudent

Toddler Christmas Craft Round-Up

i was looking at our lesson schedule, and man. there are only four sundays left of the year. four. and mentally, i did this little dance, like yay the year is over! but then, i siiiighed cause it's not like you have a two week break between this year and the next like between semesters. come dec 28th, you'll just get right back into it the next sunday. no breaks (unless you are going on a vacation). and man, it just keeps going, the years, the days, round and around and around. don't think too hard about it.

anyways, i rounded up a few of my favorite christmas craft ideas that we will be doing in nursery party this month and they are really easy, low maintenance and contain supplies that you probably already have in your closet. (so yay!)

1 - craft snowman found here

2-  candy cane pipecleaners and beads found here

3- toilet paper roll angels found here

4- paper plate ornaments found here

5- paper plate reindeers found here

6- christmas tree paper plates found here