One of my best winter memories happened when we first moved to the woods, two years ago. Snow had fallen and we had just read Owl Moon for the first time. Isia, just four years old, asked if we could go on an "Owl Moon hike." So we waited until dark, bundled up, and stumbled our way through the woods with a flashlight. Halfway through I wondered what I was thinking- Billy was only two- but it ended well & we celebrated with cups of hot chocolate afterwards. It brought "Owl Moon" alive for Isia, and she requested it often afterward. Doing book-based crafts with kids can also help books "come alive" for them. That is why I'm delighted to be joining Mama Miss and other amazing bloggers in the 10 Days of a Kid-Made Christmas. Everyone is creating ornaments based on books, which is a great way to stay kid-focused this holiday season, add to your Christmas tree (or gifting stash!), and discover new books to read together too.
We chose Owl Moon for our book, sharing that story about our long-ago hike as we created our ornaments together. It's amazing what kids remember! The base of our owls were pinecones from our woods. They've been on our nature shelf so we weren't worried about critters- but you can always bake them first if you like.
Acorns caps were our first eyes, then we experimented with felt circles & liked those with our googly eyes as well! Which was helpful, because we lost a few acorn caps underfoot while creating these (wink). Isia & I cut out the felt wings in a tear drop shape so they could wrap around the bodies a bit. I love hot gluing with kids. It's a great way to empower them & give them some of the autonomy they enjoy so much.
We've decorated pinecones with glitter glue before, so we decided to try that again. Oh, they turned out lovely! And of course the kids decided that the wings needed glitter glue too. (Can you ever have too much glitter?) We also added orange glitter glue to their noses, which ended up being my favorite part.
Creating owl ornaments together reinforced my kids' love of animals, gave us a chance to build our animal vocabulary (wings, eyes, bill, breast, and wings), and share some owl facts. Did you know an owl can turn its head all the way around? We ended with a reading of Owl Moon and a promise of another "Owl Moon hike" through the woods this year- as soon as we get snow. Which will probably not be too much longer!
More Book-Based Ornaments to Create Together:
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Ornament from Left Brain Craft Brain
"The Thing About Yetis"Ornament from House of Burke
"Guess How Much I Love You" Ornament from Emma Owl
"Room on the Broom" Ornament from Great Googa Moogas
"Santa's Book of Names" Ornament from The Educator's Spin on It
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Ornament from Adventures in Wunderland
"Secrets of the Rain Forest" Ornament from The Natural Homeschool
"Room on the Broom" Ornament from Great Googa Moogas
"Santa's Book of Names" Ornament from The Educator's Spin on It
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Ornament from Adventures in Wunderland
"Secrets of the Rain Forest" Ornament from The Natural Homeschool
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