Santa with a Twist

No, I haven't gone completely bonkers. Yes, I know Christmas is well and truly behind us, all boxed up ready for next year. But I'm not ready for my normal routine yet. Still suffering from this infernal virus, I feel I've been robbed of my Christmas break. So I thought I'd extend it for just a little longer with my latest packet. . .

Yes, I know it's got a Christmas theme (well, loosely), but read on and you'll understand why I'm bringing it out now - I really haven't lost my marbles (yet . . .!)

I'm sure you're all familiar with the work of Raymond Briggs - you know, he of "The Snowman" fame. . I'm a huge fan of "The Snowman", but there's a whole host of other books available from Raymond Briggs that sometimes get overlooked. There's "Fungus the Bogeyman" and "When the Wind Blows", and "Father Christmas" is just superb. I'm really taken with the follow-up, "Father Christmas Goes on Holiday". I mean, just stop to think for a moment. Have you ever thought what Father Christmas does for the 364 days after Christmas? What a fantastic theme to explore with your kids! No-one needs a holiday more than Father Christmas, but where can such a well-known and easily recognized person go? In this book, Father Christmas sets off in search of his ideal holiday spot!

I have spent the last few days working on a pack of activities and centers that can be used to carry on the Christmas spirit into the New Year. Tonight I finally finished it. It's taken me longer than usual because it includes so much. I had a lot of fun pulling it together and I hope you'll enjoy using it with your kids. It's a huge 46 pages of activities and centre ideas. Also included is a neat unit planner so you can teach a block of lessons, or extract just one or two if you prefer. The activities include:

•                    Unit Planner

•                    Can You Judge a Book By Its Cover? Activities for before reading

•                    Discussion prompt cards

•                    Editing sentences

•                    Alphabet sort

•                    Find the Phonemes

•                    Syllable Search

•                    Word Wall Cards

•                    Story Map

•                    Story Sequencing Strips

•                    Story Cartoon Strip

•                    Feelings Graph

•                    What Type of Character is Santa?

•                    Postcard from Father Christmas

•                    Book v Movie Comparison

•                    Location, Location

•                    Location Poster Report

•                    Design a Location Poster

•                    If I was Father Christmas

•                    Holiday Snaps

•                    Hit the Road

•                    World Buffet

Take a look and see what you think! This would make a wonderful start to the new term for your kids, and develop their thinking and communication skills as well as their reading and writing skills, geography and awareness of the world and other cultures. Clicking the buttons will take you to my TN or TPT shops.