Tis the season of Christmas and New Years, at home as well as at school you can create so many art projects with the little ones. The materials you would need to make a christmas tree would be green construction paper, and different colored papers shaped out in circles, glue, scissors. You can cut out a triangle shape using green construction paper. Also, as you are doing this you are also teaching your students the shapes of a circle and triangle. You will cut out different color circles and glue them onto the triangle which represents a Christmas tree. You can also cut out small squares that represent presents under a tree with different construction colored paper. You can also make the tree white doesn't have to be green too or any color you want to make your tree, pink, blue, green or white.

 Also something that always is done too in schools are snowmen out of 2 or 3 white circles. This is another way of learning shapes. You cut out white circles, carrot nose, a hat, belly buttons, shoes to paste on the snowman and you have a beautiful snowman. Even a Santa Claus can be made similar with white and red construction paper, using the shape of circles, rectangles, and squares.

 Another art activity, would be creating a Christmas village with homes and snow, you can cut out the homes out of colored construction paper shapes rectangles and squares. With cotton you can paste the snow above the homes, creating a winter home setting picture. 

Math Manipulative Activities

   One great idea many parents can you in building up math ideas at home or at the daycare. A child enjoys using math puzzles counting shapes, primary colors, number concepts. Also, in the classroom you can count beans, beads, crayons, markers as a way of learning math for preschoolers. The use of math books, reading short math stories to a child will not only help literacy but their math skills. Lakeshore Learning store sells coins, colored chips, and blocks you can use at home or during center time. When using manipulative at home or school you are building a lot of math skills so they child will be ready for pre-k or kindergarten. By having a child read signs while in the passing by stores, roads or even grocery shopping will help them build math skills as well. Using beans as a math activity is great too, you can draw a circle on construction paper and past 1 bead for number 1 and so on. This will help them gain math knowledge of learning 1-10.