Thursday, November 30, 2023
It’s the last day of November
and we’ve got a short(er) post to share
as we all gear up for the busy month ahead!
Earlier this week we shared a post devoted to Advent
and, specifically, ways to make faith filled connections with our Littles
(our grandkids)
during this special time of year!
We’ve both introduced a kid friendly Nativity set to our Littles
and have found this to be an ideal way to plant seeds of faith and understanding!
You can check out our thoughts and ideas for games and activities here!
Today we’ve got one more simple and yummy Nativity idea for you…
another fun way to explore the Christmas Story with your Littles!
During a recent visit, Laura and her Little L enjoyed a morning of delicious fun!
She’s sharing this idea with everyone today!
When Hubby and I spent Thanksgiving weekend
with Little L and her family last week,
we reintroduced her to the Nativity set we had given her last year.
Little L was tickled to see all the figures
and this year, as a 22 month old, she was all in!
It was so fun to see her as she played with Mary and Joseph
and made all the animal sounds!
We played several of the games described in our last post…
over and over again!
A Funny Side Note…
When we pulled the Nativity set out of storage,
Daughter J reminded me
that last year our Grand Pup had nibbled (aka chewed up) Baby Jesus!
OH NO! Thank goodness for replacement pieces
(and colored copies in the meantime)!
A new Baby Jesus is on its way!
During my years as a Sunday School teacher I had seen an idea for recreating the Nativity scene with food and I’d filed it away for some day! So, on the final morning of our recent visit, Little L and I decided to recreate the Nativity scene in this yummy manner! We created a snack for her to enjoy and, as we did, I retold the Christmas story in yet another way!
Before Little L and I got started, I had taken some time to pull food items together. I knew that I’d want my focus to be on her and the story and I didn’t want to get distracted while we were creating and retelling the story! NOTE: The items below are simply suggestions… please feel free to use items that (1) meet your Little’s needs, taking into account safety/allergy concerns and likes/dislikes and (2) what foods you have easily accessible!
Here’s what was gathered ahead of time:
🟣 a piece of paper - to serve as a background (blue or black would work great)
🟣 a cheese slice & a star cookie cutter - cut out one star from the cheese slice
🟣 pretzel sticks - to build the manger
🟣 grapes - 2 or more cut in half lengthwise to represent Mary & Joseph - see below
🟣 a clementine - 1 section of a peeled orange for the manger
🟣 mini marshmallows - 3-5 for the sheep
🟣 3 Reese’s Miniature Peanut Butter Cups - 3 different colors for the Wise Men
🟣 a piece of toast - a small rectangle (for Jesus) to fit above the orange manger
🟣 butter - for Jesus’s blanket
🟣 an apple - cut into thin slices for the angel
Once I’d gathered the supplies,
Little L and I were ready to create our Nativity!
Step 1 - I used the cookie cutter to cut a star out of the slice of cheese. Then we used pretzel sticks, as shown, to create the manger. We placed the star on top of the manger.
As we did this, I told Little L that the manger was the place where Baby Jesus was born and that a star shone above it!
Step 2 - Next we added the sliced grapes to represent Mary and Joseph. NOTE: I cut little L's grapes again into smaller pieces before she ate them!
CAUTION!
Be careful with grapes as they are a safety concern for Littles up to 4 years old!
Grapes should be diced when served to babies, 9 months or older
and need to be quartered (12-24 months) or halved (2-4 years) before serving!
Grapes can all too easily slide down a small child's windpipe, blocking airflow!
Also... watch grapes around your dogs! All types of grapes are toxic for dogs!
Little L and I talked about Mary and Joseph - Jesus’s mommy and daddy as we added the grapes to the board. Then we talked about the orange and how it was there to remind us of the place where Baby Jesus slept… just like the crib she sleeps in every night!
Step 3 - Time to add the sheep (the mini marshmallows) and the Wise Men (the wrapped chocolates)! You’ll notice that we didn’t represent the shepherds nor the camels… our “plate” was just getting too busy! We had the Reese’s candies at home but you could also use three different colored M&M’s or three different colored Hershey kisses!
A Grand Tip!
Plan ahead!
While we added three candies to our storyboard
I also knew that Little L shouldn't eat all three at once!
So, we set the rule ahead of time that she could eat one now
and save the other two for later!
Better still... she could share with Mommy and Daddy (or even Gramma and Grampa)!
Little L and I counted the sheep and talked about where they were when they first saw the star. Then we counted the wrapped candies and noticed that they were sparkly, like the gifts the Wise Men brought to Baby Jesus!
Step 4 - Do you see the Baby Jesus we added below? Little L loves buttered toast so we cut a rectangle from her piece of toast to represent Baby Jesus. Then we spread some butter on top to show the blanket he was wrapped in! You could also use a cracker and spread peanut butter on it... so many options!
As we spread the butter on “Baby Jesus” and placed him in the manger, we pointed to his mommy and daddy and talked about how they all loved each other… Just like Little L’s mommy and daddy love her SO much!
Step 5 - The final step was to make an angel. I cut thin slices across the apple and then cut the slices some more to form an angel, as shown in the photo below. Feel free to use your creative juices to make your own angel AND if you have any safe ideas for a gold halo, please share!
Little L wasn’t sure what we were making as we built our angel. I showed her her angel figure from her Nativity set. We looked at both the apple angel wings and the one from the Nativity. Then I sang the “Gloria” chorus from “Angels We Have Heard on High” for her… she loved it! I can't wait for the day when she joins in!
When we had finished creating our edible Nativity,
Little L certainly enjoyed eating every bite!
She also was intrigued to build connections between this storyboard
and her Nativity figures and wanted to hear the story over and over again!
Most likely, Little L will not remember this activity in years to come.
Rather, we know that with each experience provided,
we are nurturing her faith
planting seeds year after year,
laying the foundation of God’s love in our Little's life!
What Little L will remember is some of the vocabulary we talked about,
the characters we had fun with,
the music we sang
and bits of the Christmas story that was told!
AND
she will know the feeling of love and joy we share…
Priceless for us both!
As we wrap up our blog focus on Advent
I have one more fun purchase I’ve made that Little L is loving
and your Littles might, too,
so I just had to share!
REMINDER - These are our own recommendations!
We are not compensated in any way!
I found this felt board set at Amazon
and we’ve already used it so many times!
It’s a great quiet time activity, fun to use when singing songs
and provides great fine motor practice, too!
We LOVE hearing from other Grands!
Many of our readers have lots of experience as Grands
and we’d love to have you share your wealth of knowledge with us!
Please feel free to comment at the bottom of this post
or you can always email us directly at ourgrandlives@gmail.com.
We share new ideas regularly so be sure to stop by!
In our next post, Laurie shares
one of her favorite holiday traditions…
A Christmas Craft Day!
Be sure to stop back next week to learn more
or, better yet, subscribe so you don’t miss out!
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Thursday Favorite Things from Eclectic Red Barn
Full Plate Thursday from Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Gma’s Photo ge•ner•ic Linkup Party from Gma's Photo
You're the Star from Eclectic Red Barn
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