Winter and Holiday Reading Posters 2017
November 20, 2017
Jumpstart Your Library Makerspace
December 1, 201712 Days of Christmas – Librarian Edition
On the twelfth day of Christmas Alexandria gave to me:
Twelve Picture Books for Reading
Nothing puts you more into the Christmas spirit then sharing a Christmas book with others! We have selected twelve Christmas inspired picture books to read aloud. From classics like The Night Before Christmas to fun stories like Llama, Llama, Holiday Drama; you have a book to read every other day leading up to Christmas. Let us know which one is your favorite!
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
The Legend of Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola
Dream Snow by Eric Carle
Llama, Llama, Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney
The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore
The Mitten by Jan Brett
The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers
Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening By Robert Frost
If Picasso Had a Christmas Tree by Eric Gibbons
Who’s That Knocking on Christmas Eve by Jan Brett
Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson
Eleven Games-a-Printing
When winter break is fast approaching it can be hard to tame kids and their daydreams of sugar plums. But, a game of Christmas bingo can be fun for all patron visitors to the library. Check out these eleven free bingo game cards. Print out the bingo cards on cardstock and use Christmas colored candy like Hershey kisses or M&M's as markers.Ten Step Christmas Tree
This simple origami project is perfect for kids of all ages. The craft takes a total of ten steps and only a few minutes to make. You'll only need:- green origami paper
- brown paper
- glue
- scissors
- decorations (i.e. sequins, paper, pom poms, etc..)
See the full instructions here!
Nine Reindeer-a-Leaping
You know Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen; Comet and Cupid, and Dunder and Blixem... or is it Donner and Blitzen? In the 1823 poem " A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (or more famously known as "The Night Before Christmas") each reindeer were individually named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. Things get a little confusing when trying to pinpoint the exact change from Dunder to Donder to Donner and Blixem to Blixen. The poem was published anonymously and it wasn't until thirteen years later that Clement Clarke Moore was accredited as the author. Moore rewrote and published the poem under his name in 1844, but rechristened the reindeer as Blitzen and Donder. However, in 1949 enters Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. His song helped to popularize the Donner usage.In 1926 the New York Times published an article on the origins of Santa Claus and stated:
“two of the original reindeer were originally given Dutch names, ‘Donder and Blixen’ (Blicksem), meaning thunder and lightning” and “it is only modern publishers who have rechristened them with the German ‘Donner and Blitzen.'”
Eight Days of Hanukkah
Mix up your lesson plan for during the holidays to include Hanukkah. There are eight days of Hanukkah beginning Tuesday, December 12th through Wednesday, December 20th. During this time you can teach children about the history of Hanukkah, make a dreidel, and learn to play the dreidel game. You can see more about this lesson plan at Scholastic.comYou can also pair your lesson plan with a book about Hanukkah like Light The Lights! A Story About Celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas. This book can help children learn about other holidays and traditions their family may not celebrate.
Seven Santa Clauses
Check out these seven facts about Santa Claus!- Santa Claus is also known as St. Nickolas, Father Christmas, Grandfather Frost, Kris Kringle, and Papa Noel. See more names for Santa around the world here!
- The earliest depictions of Santa Claus have him wearing a green cloak.
- Santa’s red cloak only became established in 1931 through a Coca-Cola advertising campaign.
- St. Nicholas was a real person who lived during the fourth century in Patara (modern day Turkey).
- Santa has to deliver presents to over 2.1 billion children in the world.
- Santa has about a millisecond to go down the chimney, eat his cookies and milk, and place gifts under the tree!
- In the 17th century, the Dutch brought the name Sinterklaas with them to America. In which the name adapted to Santa Claus.
Six Figgy Punnings
A pun is it's own reword. So, let's make our 12 Days of Christmas list a little more pun. ;)
It's Penguin-ing to look a lot like Christmas!
Peas on Earth
Owl Be Home for Christmas
Have a Meowy Christmas!
The North Mole
Dachshund Though the Snow!
Five Festive Trees
Did you know these facts about Christmas trees?- Nobody really knows for sure when Fir trees were first used as Christmas trees, but a good guess is about 1000 years ago in Northern Europe.
- The first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house may have been the 16th-century German preacher Martin Luther.
- In Germany, the first Christmas Trees were decorated with edible things like gingerbread and gold covered apples.
- The first Christmas Trees had a figure of Baby Jesus placed at the top. Over time it changed to angel/fairy and then to a star.
- In Victorian times, the tree would have been decorated with candles. In many parts of Europe, this is still done.
BONUS! Here is a legend of the Christmas Spider and how Tinsel came to be.
Four Posters-for-Posting
Have you seen our holiday posters yet? Decorate your library with our reading and book inspired posters!Download your posters here!
Three Elves-a-Crafting
Check out these three fun craft ideas for the little "elves." Give your students time to color, cut, and glue during this time of the year! These activities are great for everyone, especially when the holiday break gets closer and everyone is a little distracted! Printable Elf Craft This printable elf craft is great for kids because it's easy and fun! Plus, you can download the free printable here! Reindeer Christmas Card Craft This is a cute idea for writing letters to Santa. You can pair this craft up with a book like Dear Santa Claus which is a fun holiday book about a little girl who exchanges letters with Santa. The book even has removable letters to engage the class! Button Snowflake Craft Fun and easy to make! You'll only need popsicle sticks, white paint, glue, and an assortment of white, blue, and purple buttons.
Two Doors-a-Decorating
Christmas decorating can be daunting, especially when you want to switch things up each year. We found two Christmas inspired door decorating ideas that are adorable and fun! Both require a good amount of poster paper in a variety of colors, time, a steady hand, and excellent cutting skills! Both these ideas are fun and classic.And a Display-of-a-Book-Tree
Your library won't be complete without a display of a book tree! Gather books together to form a tree. Choose books that have a color scheme or place colored paper as book covers to make your "tree" the color you want. Take a string of lights and wrap your book tree up. And lastly, place a star at the top (or maybe another book)!
4 Comments
Twelve Picture Books!!
The display of a book tree in my favorite day.
The six FIGGY PUNNINGS are my favorite!
The book display was awesome! Very creative.