Snow Globe Christmas Ornaments

These adorable snow globe cup ornaments are the perfect thing to make for Christmas gifts!

Supplies Needed:

• Disposable Plastic  cups
• Photos
• Construction paper
• Fake snow
• Hot glue
• Pipe cleaner

Directions:

Print the Childs picture and cut it out around the child's silhouette.

Fold the bottom of the photo and glue the folded part of the photo to the construction paper. This is used for the bottom to keep the fake snow in the cup.

Grab your Disposable Plastic cup and use a pipe cleaner for the top to use to hang on the tree. Poke it through the top and twist the ends together.

Add the fake snow and glitter into the cup.

Hot glue the construction paper to the bottom of the cup

And now you have a completed snow globe :)

Christmas Graham Cracker House

Items needed:

• Graham Crackers
• Favorite gummy candies (gumdrops, sour patch kids, Swedish fish)
• Sprinkles
• Mini m&m’s
• Marshmallows
• Teddy Grahams 
• Melting Chocolate/icing
• Plates

Each child should get two full-size graham crackers per house. The Graham cracker should be broken into halves, creating 4 pieces for the children to use and create their house.(2 pieces will be for the foundation of the house and the remaining 2 pieces will be for the roof of the house.)
Creating the foundation to the house, Grab your icing/melted chocolate and 2 pieces of the graham cracker. You will want to add your icing/chocolate to the top of each of these. then stack them on top of one another with the frosting facing up on both. (The icing/ melted chocolate will act as the “glue” to keep the house together.)On the top piece of the frosted foundation have the children decorate it. adding one of the sour patch kids or teddy graham to the center( giving the house someone to live in it.)
Next add the roof of the house in an upside down v position. Add icing/melted chocolate to where the top of the roof connects. while you still have the icing/ melted chocolate, add some to both sides of the roof and decorate those with your favorite gummy candy.
Now it’s time to admire your art and better yet eat it!

10 Indoor Winter Activities

Wondering how you will keep your little ones occupied while they are stuck inside this winter season? We are here to help you with just that!
Here are 10 of our favorite indoor winter activities:
1. Puzzles – These are perfect for all ages because they come in so many varieties. Get one that is perfect for your child’s age or get one that’s a bit more challenging that you can work on together.

2. Movie Marathon – Make some popcorn, grab a blanket and watch some of your favorite movies. Our movie suggestion for the winter time is Frozen, of course!
3. Build A Fort – Grab some blankets, chairs or anything else you may need to build a fort! If you have any spare cardboard boxes around, these are perfect for building indoor forts. You can even have a contest and see who can make the best one.

4. Grab a Book – Snuggle up with a book or two by the fire! This is the perfect time to catch up on your reading, practice reading with little ones, and even reading a story to the family for a bit of family time.

Need a good book selection? Check out our 2nd Look Book Box here!

5. Arts & Crafts – Get crafty! Your little ones will stay occupied for hours when given some craft supplies to work with. You can have them create something specific by looking up templates online or checking out a few craft ideas from our blog, or you can turn them loose for some creative thinking.
6. Get Cooking – Let your little ones help you out with baking a few cookies. Once cooled, let them decorate the cookies as they please. This one is both fun and delicious!

7. Dance Party – Needing to get the wiggles out? Turn on the music and let the dancing begin. This will allow everyone to get in some exercise and release that pent up energy from being stuck indoors.
8. Game Time – Pull out the board games and cards for a family game night! There is nothing better for warming up a cold, winter night than time spent with family.

9. Family Talent Show – Put on a talent show for your family and have each member contribute by sharing their own special talent.
10. Scavenger Hunt – Create a scavenger hunt around the house for the kiddos to complete. You can make this as hard or easy as you would like.

Christmas Cookies

 This adorable melting snowman is the perfect cookie for a delicious treat and a good laugh. With the cookie of your choice, take some white frosting and spread it across the top. You can also try melting the icing in the microwave and pouring it onto the cookie. This will give the illusion that your snowman is melting. Next, add on a marshmallow to be the snowman’s head. Lastly, add on your snowman’s features with icing or food pens.

Reindeer Cookies are just as simple to make! Again, using the cookie of your choice, create your base. You will want your cookies to have a bit of an oval shape so you may need to have a cookie cutter handy. While the cookies are still a bit warm, add on two pretzels for the antlers and three m&ms for the eyes and nose. This is a great one for the kids to help with decorating! If you have trouble getting the features to stick, try using a bit of icing to hold things in place!

PureFUN! Supply wishes you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Meet us back here for our first blogs of 2016! 

Holiday Craft and Gifts Ideas – Holiday Handprints

Handprint Crafts are the perfect choice for all ages in your school, daycare or childcare center! With a little help from a teacher or parent, students can easily recreate these handprint crafts and use them as gifts for the holiday season. Add the following designs onto T-shirts, cards, ornaments and more!

Five little fingers create the perfect five little snowmen! Paint the entire palm of the hand along with the inner side of the fingers white and stamp down firmly to create the base. Finish off the snowmen by painting on their features and whatever accessories you would like them to have.

This adorable Santa handprint is easy to recreate. Start by stamping your handprint onto the top half of your page. Once you have made your handprint, flip the paper around so that the top is now the bottom and your handprint resembles Santa’s beard. (Fingers should point downward.) Next add on Santa’s facial features and of course his hat! Each of these can be painted on. To keep it easy for little ones, give them a circular paint sponge and let them stamp on the features. Lastly, add on a set of wiggle eyes!

 

Let’s not forget about the Reindeer that pull Santa’s sleigh! Have students make their handprint with their fingers spread apart. The fingers should be pointed downward with the palm towards the top of the base they are printing on. Finish off your reindeer with a set of hooves on the tips of each finger, a red nose on the tip of the thumb, a small tail opposite the thumb, reindeer antlers and an eye.

Healthy Holiday Snacks: Thanksgiving

We wanted to kick off this Holiday Snack series with some festive healthy choices. First off is a healthy Turkey themed snack that is perfect for celebrating Thanksgiving with your little ones.

Items Needed: Pear, Strawberries, Grapes, Cheese, Dark Chocolate

Begin by cutting your pear in half and placing it flat side down on the plate. This will be the body of your Turkey. Next you can place cut up strawberries, bananas and grapes around the top of the pear to represent the tail feathers. Try having your students create different patterns in their tail.

Lastly cut the beak and feet out of a piece of cheese and add the eyes with a little dark chocolate. Now you have an adorable turkey snack that is perfectly healthy.

For more Holiday Snack ideas, check back in with us.

Toilet Paper Roll Crafts: Christmas

Christmas Themed

Toilet Paper Roll Christmas Trees – These festive, little Christmas Trees make for the perfect Christmas decor. They can even be used as ornaments. Cut the roll at an angle making a continuous swirl down from top to bottom. You can make the distance between the cut thin like the first picture, or thick like the second. We have found that it is easier to paint the roll green after cutting so you have easier access to the inside portion. You can add glitter, jewels or stickers to personalize your tree.  Don’t forget the star for the top!

  

Toilet Paper Roll Snowman – There are two options for this adorable snowman. For the first option, cut the roll into three rings. You will need to have a small, medium and large in width. Next, paint it white on the outside and inside. Once dry, you can add on chenille stem arms and draw on the eyes, nose, mouth and buttons. Lastly, cut a circle and rectangle out of black construction paper. Use the rectangle to create a fourth ring and glue it onto the circle to form the hat. Now you have a triple stacked snowman that makes for a cute ornament!

  

Option two is perfect for little ones. Paint your roll white. When dry, draw on the eyes, nose, mouth and buttons. To keep it simple, you can also draw on the scarf and hat or cut them out of construction paper to give a different look.

Toilet Paper Roll Santa – This Santa is quite similar to the second snowman pictured above. Paint 1/4th of the roll white or peach, and the rest red. When dry, take a cotton ball and use it to form Santa’s beard. You may need to manipulate it a little by pulling it apart to give it more of a real beard look. After gluing on the beard you can add on his eyes and nose. Try using wiggle eyes for a different look! For Santa’s hat, just cut a triangle out of red construction paper. Take a small piece of the cotton ball to make the little ball for the top of the hat and you're done.

Toilet Paper Roll Reindeer – You can leave your toilet paper roll in its original color for this one or paint it a different color brown. To create Rudolph’s legs just cut out four rectangles on the front, back and each side of one end. Now you can add on a ball for his nose, wiggle eyes, and form him some antlers out of chenille stems. Don’t forget to give your reindeer a smile to spread the Christmas joy with.

Toilet Paper Roll Crafts: Halloween

Toilet paper rolls make for the perfect recycled crafts! We want to help you prepare for the upcoming holidays with a few of our favorite Holiday Toilet Paper Roll Crafts. From Halloween to Christmas, here are a few ideas to decorate your classroom or to send home with your students to decorate their homes.

For starters, you will need to collect your toilet paper rolls. These are great to have on hand for art projects throughout the year too. Try storing them away as you use them up.

Next you will want to grab all your art supplies. This could mean using paint, markers, stickers, glue, scissors, and more!

Halloween Themed

Toilet Paper Roll Pumpkins – There are two different pumpkins that we chose. One is very simple and the other a little more challenging. Just paint or color with marker or crayon to get an orange roll. For the first, draw on a face and add leaves to the top. For the second, cut the roll into multiple rings. Glue or tie them together in the middle to create a pumpkin shape. The stem is simply a ring of toilet paper roll painted green with two strips cut on the bottom to create a vine effect.

  

Toilet Paper Roll Bats – This is as simple as it looks. Paint or color your roll black. When dry, fold down the top end on both sides to create the bat ear look. Wings can be cut out of black construction paper while you wait for the paint to dry. Add on the wings and a set of wiggle eyes and you're all finished!

Toilet Paper Roll Mummies – These mummies make for the perfect Halloween decorations. You can use a little left over toilet paper, thin streamers, white gauze, or tissue paper to cover the toilet paper roll and give it a mummy look. To get the first option simply add on some wiggle eyes. The second one makes this craft even cuter by making it more personal! Just cut out a picture of each students face and put it on the roll before wrapping. Now they are the mummies!

   

Check back in at http://purefunsupply.blogspot.com for more holiday themed Toilet Paper Roll Crafts.

Christmas Craft for ages 4 and Up

Christmas Crafts: Soufflé Cups!

Often when you think of using kitchen paper goods for crafts you think of paper plates or coffee filters but a soufflé cup can be a unique item to use. I have listed one below with two different options that make a fun Christmas Craft for home, child care centers or schools for ages 4 and older.

Soufflé Cup Christmas Tree

Materials Needed:

16 – 4 oz paper soufflé cups

1 – Each red and green crayon

3 – Q-tips

1 – Bottle of children’s glue (not glue stick)

1 – Each small container of red and green glitter

1 – 14”x15” piece of heavy cardboard

Instructions:

Step 1 – Place soufflé cups on newspaper or old shower curtain to protect surface.

Step 2 – Color inside bottom of 8 cups red and color inside bottom of 8 cups green using crayons.

Step 3 – Using a Q-tip, spread glue on outside sides of 1 red soufflé cup.

Step 4 – Sprinkle a small amount of red glitter on the glue sides.

Step 5 – Repeat steps 3 and 4 for 7 more red cups and then do the same for the 8 green cups using green glitter. Let dry completely.

Step 6 – Place the cardboard 14” length and 15” height on your surface.

Step 7 – Starting with 1 soufflé cup, place it at the very top (center) of the cardboard. Then place 2 cups (centered), touching sides, directly below first one. Place 3 cups directly below the 2 cups, 4 cups directly below the 3 cups and 5 cups directly below the 4 cups. Place the last cup (this is the tree base) directly below the middle cup on last row. Alternate the colors, making sure to use green for the base.

Step 8– Beginning back at the top, glue all soufflé cups in place. Let dry completely.

Now for the Options!

Option 1

Your craft tree can be a gift! Put pieces of small wrapped candy in each soufflé cup. You can write a greeting directly on the cardboard or write it on a separate square of paper and glue it to the cardboard. This is a perfect idea for relatives and your children’s favorite teacher!

Option 2

Your tree can be a game! Place the cardboard on a table or floor. Using heavy buttons, coins, or marbles, make up a tossing game; any number of players can play.

 

For more great craft ideas, view our craft page at http://www.purefunsupply.com/Arts-Craft-Ideas-from-www-purefunsupply-com-s/224.htm

Holiday and Seasonal Books for Kids

December is the most holiday rich month in our year. Most families in the US celebrate either Christmas or Hanukkah. Schools and child care centers should be prepared to teach all children about these holidays, what they mean and why people celebrate them. It’s important for kids to understand why we have holidays and how different holidays are celebrated around the world.

PureFUN offers a selection of holiday and seasonal children’s books to make teaching the holidays a little easier on caregivers and teachers. These books are age appropriate and easy to understand. The holiday series variety pack covers 12 holidays throughout the year in language that is easy for kids to read. These books make learning to read easy, fun, and engaging.

Happy Holidays!