Holiday Cards and Gift

It’s that time of the year again where we get to spread joy by giving to others. I love to give gifts, its one of my love languages. I like to make gifts personal and something very special. I wish I could sit and help my students come up with a gift that is personal for each of their families. Since that is clearly not a possibility with 20+ students, I find ways to make our gifts personal. One thing that I love is when the kids get to put their personality into the present. I also try to come up with gifts that are easy and cheap to make. Again, 20+ children can add up quick. 

Don’t worry, I also thought up some cards that the students can make as well. Just like the calendar, these can be changed and adjusted to fit the needs of your own classroom. Each card has three different holiday writing pages to choose from. Each of these holidays has four options of pictures/fonts. You also have three options of orientation for each of these as well. I also made sure you have EVERYTHING you need in one spot. I have created a supply list, a cut list, step-by-step directions and a video. There are FIVE cards you can choose from. Each of these cards can be adjusted and made your way. Be sure to check them all out! There is the tree, bells, presents, mittens and my favorite the snowman! If you aren’t sure what one to choose you can always choose the bundle with all five cards. Be sure to check them all out on my TPT, Etsy and YouTube. The best part about these lessons is the fact that I’ve tried to make it as quick and easy as possible for you, the teacher. 

Teaching I know that we have been given too many things to do in a day. Add on other things, like gift making, it can seem overwhelming. It feels like there is no way to do it all. One way I keep up is using videos I have of my lessons. During Covid I wanted to make sure my kids still got to do the “fun” things in school. My fix was creating videos of me teaching lessons that the students could access at home. I did this by making videos with step-by-step directions for the kids, walking through just like a normal lesson. This was AMAZING during our distance learning adventure. Afterwards I tried to figure out a way I could use this in my in-person class. I realized it was the perfect way for me differentiate in my room. I started using my videos as a way of teaching different parts of my day. The main way was for art lessons that students needed to take more time on. I assigned the video on Seesaw. The students were given the materials they needed and from there they were in control of the lesson.

Not only did this become something that was part of my own classroom, many of my colleagues also used the lessons. Especially the ones that don’t enjoy art as much. I love art. I love the mess; I love being able to create and try different things. I know that not every person is like this. I also know that shouldn’t be a reason to not have art in the classroom. This fact helped with my decision to create these lessons. I love art and want to be able to share with others. I also want others to feel comfortable doing art in their own room. Each lesson I create has a free video link on YouTube. You can use this video how you want. If you want to assign it to your class, feel free! You want to show it as a whole group? Sounds great. Do you just want to do the project first and make sure you understand it? Perfect. You may be able to complete the project without the video, which is even better! My goal is to make these lessons as helpful and easy for teachers as possible. I even made sure to include cut lists in the lessons. Not only do I give you the sizes of paper you will need, but I also have guides to show you how to maximize your paper. I know there is nothing worse than wasting your paper on weird cuts. When I’m creating these lessons, I do my best to create sizes that translate to the sizes of construction paper. I love to create lessons and teach them and I’m hoping that these lessons help someone else who may need some peace!