It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! (with a giveaway!)

Hi y'all!  I have been a bad blogger. :( My excuses are many and varied, involving a busy birthday weekend, horrible sickness, exhaustion and the general end of school year frantic workload.  I heard a quote at our Year 12 graduation assembly on Friday that really hit home this week: "A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself in order to light the way for others."  So true, especially at this time of the year.  So, what's to be done when there's so much school work it's almost overwhelming?  Procrastinate, of course!!

Yesterday I enjoyed a stormy Saturday watching Love Actually and setting up my Christmas decorations.  I pretended that it was snowing outside and I was wearing cozy winter clothes - as much as I love being back in Australia I do miss the Canadian snow.  And if there's one thing North Americans do well - it's Christmas!  I'll still enjoy my Christmas by the beach, though. :)

Because we finish school such a long time before Christmas Day (my Preppies have their last day of school on the 3rd December) we have to get our Christmassy vibe on early in the term.  We've enjoyed a few weeks of seasonal activities so far (our History unit is based on Christmas celebrations) and I am so looking forward to more fun in the 2 weeks we have left.  I've got a few products in my TpT store that I'm planning to use - they might be helpful if you are also getting resources ready for the Christmas season. :)

Rockin' Around the Playdough Tub! Christmas Themed Playdough Mats, Numbers 1-10.  

Help Santa and his elves get ready for Christmas by making the matching number of items.  Each mat has a picture clue, so your kidlets don't need to be readers to successfully complete this activity! So much fun... with a little number recognition, counting practice and fine motor development thrown in.

Deck the Halls with number lines!  Simply print and slice the number line cards to use as a hands-on manipulative (perfect for pocket charts, too!). Count in skips of 1, 2, 5 and 10.  Worksheets provided include missing number lines - forward and backward; and numbers before/after.  They are in full colour to use as write'n'wipe resources, or blackline to use as individual student worksheets.

Tis the Season to Roll and Cover! Roll and recognise, roll and add, roll and subtract to either cover (on the full colour mats) or colour (on the blackline copies).  A very quick and easy way to add some Christmas cheer to your maths work this December!

As everybody knows, the best way of spreading Christmas cheer is by having a giveaway.  Leave me a comment and I'll choose a winner Tuesday evening who can have all 3 of these products as an early Christmas present. :)

Lauren