BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

DECEMBER 1, 2022

The countdown to Christmas is officially on, and if you’re looking for a great way to build that festive feeling for your under-five, or tick off 10 kids’ gifts in one go, then read on!

Thanks to Puffin, we’re giving away a supersized Christmas prize pack, containing some of the biggest names in children’s books and a huge floor rug to roll out for reading time.

This prize is valued at $675, and one KindiCare reader will take ho, ho, home the following:

• Bluey: Merry Christmas: A Colouring Book
• Bluey: 12 Days of Christmas board book
• Spot’s First Christmas board book by Eric Hill
• Peppa Pig: Peppa and the Christmas Elf picture book
• Peter Rabbit: Happy Christmas Peter! board book by Beatrix Potter
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Night Before Christmas board book by Eric Carle
• Men: The Christmas Elf picture book by Roger Hargreaves
• Zola and the Christmas Lights picture book by Melina Marchetta
• Meerkat Christmas picture book by Aura Parker, and…
• A GIANT Puffin rug!

 

To enter, simply:

- Follow @KindiCare, @puffinbooksaus and @penguinkidsaustralia on Instagram

- Tag a friend in the comments

Or:

- Like and share the Puffin Christmas giveaway on KindiCare’s Facebook page, tagging @KindiCare, @puffinbooksaus and @penguinkidsaustralia

The competition closes 8 December 2022*, so enter now for your chance to win big!

Books are a great way to keep your little one busy in the lead up to Christmas, and a few sensory activities will fill in the time, too!

Here are five ways for your child to get that festive feeling (literally) while waiting for Santa and his reindeer:

1. Mix up some scented play dough.

Play dough is fun to make and mould, and there are several festive recipes that smell as good as they feel.

Adding a few drops of peppermint essence evokes Christmas candy canes, a sprinkle of spice summons up gingerbread people, and a touch of cocoa makes chocolatey reindeer!

Just remember that deliciously scented play dough is not for eating – and neither are little decorations, like your reindeer’s googly eyes or red pom pom nose!

2. Serve star-shaped sandwiches.

Something your child can eat this December is a lovely selection of star-shaped sandwiches, with ‘windows’ to a different flavour every day.

Laughing Kids Learn provides the instructions here, and you can keep things savoury, or sprinkle a little fairy bread magic onto these taste sensations.

If you’re looking for something to tantalise your own tastebuds (and use up all those left-over crusts), this recipe for spiced breadcrumb topping is also worth a try. 

3. DIY a felt Christmas tree.

Felt adds a touch of magic to the festive season, because it sticks to itself and has the power to entertain your little one for ages!

To make a felt Christmas tree, simply cut out a big tree shape and some little ornaments in this fuzzy material.

Attach your tree to a wall with paint-friendly sticky strips, then delegate the decorating to your under-five.

Looking for different colours and shapes is great for their sense of sight, and sticking, moving, removing and re-sticking the felt feels good on their fingers!

4. Create a summery small world.

A white Christmas is all well and good, but in Australia, we’re lucky that summer coincides with Santa’s arrival; and a beach small world is a great way to busy your bambino before he flies in.

There are lots of ways to create a tactile beach scene in a plastic tub, using things like sand, pebbles, shells, water, blue fabric, driftwood and rice.

You’ll find bucketloads of inspo on the world wide web, and adding a touch of tinsel and some Christmas figurines is an easy way to make your child’s small world play a little bit festive.

5. Craft some jingle bell sticks.

Music is a big part of the holiday season, and you don’t have to hang at the mall to hear Christmas songs on repeat!

Instead, you can make a pair of jingle bell sticks, hand them to your under-five, then sit back and enjoy the show.

Singing and dancing supports your child’s development, and if you want to expand the band, a DIY drum is great fun for your other musical munchkins.

On that note, we hope you have an entertaining December – and don’t forget to enter our bumper Christmas comp!

* Competition opens on 1 December 2022 and entries close 11:59pm AEST on 8 December 2022. The winner will be chosen by chance and notified by Instagram or Facebook direct message. This message will come from the official KindiCare account. The total prize is valued at $675 (rrp). Entry is open to all Australian KindiCare readers, with a limit of one entry per person. This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Instagram or Facebook.