Everyone at TLE wishes you a very joyous holiday season! We hope your holiday season is full of peace, joy, and happiness.
Tag Archives: Holidays
Try this fun Family Literacy idea to countdown the days to Christmas!
With a Christmas book countdown to Christmas calendar, instead of a piece of candy or chocolate, your child opens a Christmas picture book every day. What a great way to count the days to the holidays!!
What you need:
So how many books will you need? If you want to start your calendar December 1st you will need to decide if you countdown to Christmas Eve or Christmas day. That’s 24 or 25 books total. You can borrow storybooks from the library, gather favourite stories from around the house or from friends and family, and maybe add a few new titles.
Wrap Your Books
Wrap enough Christmas and winter-themed books for every day of your calendar and add a numbered tag to each one. Next, unwrap books daily as a family event and have fun reading! The “togetherness” is part of the joy of this engaging holiday activity. *Tip: Rewrap after the holidays for your next countdown to Christmas!
Use Your Imagination
Here’s a chance to be creative and start your family tradition!
- Stack your books from largest to smallest to create the shape of a Christmas tree.
- Stack your books to resemble a snowman
- Put all of the books in a basket or pail
- Display the books on the mantle place
- Hide your books each day for a fun twist
Other Holiday Book Traditions You Can Start
- Start a “12 Days of Christmas” tradition with a different theme for each day. Have books to read, crafts to create, and movies or special foods to enjoy.
- Keep a basket of Christmas and winter-themed books under the tree to read aloud during the holiday season.
- Use a mixture of books and movies to create your countdown calendar!
- Go outdoors to read your books about snow.
- Wrap a new book for each child to put on their beds after they fall asleep on Christmas Eve.
- Keep a collection of Christmas books that stay in a special basket during Advent.
Welcome to The Learning Exchange (TLE) Winter and Holiday Activities page. Here you will find fun and exciting ideas and activities for all ages and members of the family to do! Visit this page for new activities & resources and look for new additions over the holidays.
LET IT SNOW!
These snowman activities and recipes are engaging, fun, and full of literacy skills, math skills, and STEM skills! Children learn to count, follow directions, read, problem solve and experiment or to just have fun being creative!
ONLINE STORIES
Books introduce children to the exciting world of stories and help them learn to express their own thoughts and emotions. Find favourites on these free online story sites.
| Free Children’s Stories | Storyberries | Storybooks and games |
| Stories to Grow By | Storyline Online | Free Kid Books |
| TLE Reading Events in 2023: | ||
| Barbara Reid I Love You More event |
MUSIC, SONG & DANCE
Music stimulates all the senses, helping children learn to recognize patterns and sequence. Early music exposure helps children learn by promoting language, creativity, coordination, social interaction, self-esteem and memory.
| Winter Hokey Pokey | Winter Songs for Kids | The Kiboomers | Winter Snowman Dance | Wintertime is Here Song | The Kiboomers |
HOLIDAY & WINTER ACTIVITIES
Spending time with family helps create a better life for your kids. Have fun together with these activities.
DECEMBER HOLIDAYS IN CANADA + AROUND THE WORLD | ACTIVITIES
Few months present as many multicultural celebrations as December. From Christmas to Kwanzaa, the last month of the year is a “world of holidays.” Click on the links below for lots of fun family-friendly activities related to some of December’s holidays around the world.
| Holidays and Observances Around the World | Canada Calendar | Boxing Day in Canada |
| CHRISTMAS | HANUKKAH | KWANZAA |
| NEW YEAR’S | Jan. 2 in Quebec |
Please contact TLEliteracy@yahoo.ca for any comments, suggestions or if there is a December or holiday celebration you would like to see included in this section!
TLE FAMILY LITERACY SERIES
Use TLE’s Family Literacy Series videos to help instil a love of reading in your child or family member.
| How to Raise-a-Reader | How Reading Helps Kids Grow | Ways to Help Kids Love Reading |
| Learning Through Creative Play | Family Literacy Inside and Outside the Home |
This project is made possible thanks to the financial participation of the regroupement lavallois pour la réussite éducative RLPRE as part of an agreement with the Ministry of Education:
If you celebrate Kwanzaa or just want to learn about the traditions, use these resource links to have fun!
Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration that honors African heritage in African-American culture. Kwanzaa is a holiday that was first started by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966, who was looking for a way to bring together African Americans as a community. He took traditions from the African harvest or ‘first fruit’ celebrations and highlighted seven symbols that represent values and concepts reflective of African culture. Kwanzaa is observed from December 26th to January 1st, and culminates in gift giving and a big feast.
THE SEVEN VALUES OF KWANZAA
Kwanzaa is a celebration of family, community and culture.
- Unity (Umoja),
- Collective Work & Responsibility (Ujima),
- Self-determination (Kujichagulia),
- Purpose (Nia),
- Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa),
- Faith (Imani), and
- Creativity (Kuumba).
The seven symbols of those values are Fruits, Nuts, & Vegetables for the crops (Mazao), the Place Mat (Mkeka), an Ear of Corn (Vibunzi). The Seven Candles (Mishumaa Saba), The Unity Cup (Kikombe Cha Umoja), Gifts (Zawadi), and The Candleholder (Kinara).
KWANZAA ACTIVITY IDEAS
ONLINE STORIES
Enjoy these online stories about Kwanzaa with the family.
| Little Rabbit’s Kwanzaa | Kwanzaa: What It Is and How we Celebrate It! | Together for Kwanzaa |
| My First Kwanzaa by Karen Katz | Kevin’s Kwanzaa | Kwanzaa Stories |
This project is made possible thanks to the financial participation of the regroupement lavallois pour la réussite éducative RLPRE as part of an agreement with the Ministry of Education:
If you celebrate Hanukkah or just want to learn about the traditions, use these resource links to have fun!
Hanukkah is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods.
FAMILY ACTIVITIES
These Hanukkah activities are wonderful for kids and families of all ages to learn about the holiday and celebrate in a respectful, fun way.
ONLINE STORIES
Lots of great Hanukkah stories to read and listen to as a family.
| Clifford Celebrates Hanukkah Read Aloud | Hanukkah in Alaska | Shmelf The Hanukkah Elf by Greg Wolfe Read Aloud |
| Hanukkah Bear by Eric A. Kimmel Read Aloud | ||
This project is made possible thanks to the financial participation of the regroupement lavallois pour la réussite éducative RLPRE as part of an agreement with the Ministry of Education:
If you celebrate Christmas or just want to learn about Christmas traditions, use these resource links to have fun!
CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES
Christmas is a special time of the year that helps bring family, friends, and loved ones together.
CHRISTMAS SONGS
Create unforgettable moments with your friends and family this holiday season while enjoying these Christmas songs.
ONLINE STORIES
Start a family tradition of reading a favourite story together.
This project is made possible thanks to the financial participation of the regroupement lavallois pour la réussite éducative RLPRE as part of an agreement with the Ministry of Education:
If you celebrate Diwali or just want to learn about the traditions, use these resource links to have fun!
Diwali, also known as Divali or Deepawali, is a major festival celebrated over five days in many parts of India by people of different faiths including many Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims and some Buddhists. It is sometimes referred to as “the festival of lights.”
| Colorful Diwali Paper Diya Craft | Easy “DOODH PEDA:” Indian No-Bake Sweets for Diwali | Happy Diwali | Diwali Video Story For Kids |
This project is made possible thanks to the financial participation of the regroupement lavallois pour la réussite éducative RLPRE as part of an agreement with the Ministry of Education:
Learn about and celebrate New Year’s Eve as a family with these great activity ideas.
ACTIVITY IDEAS
This project is made possible thanks to the financial participation of the regroupement lavallois pour la réussite éducative RLPRE as part of an agreement with the Ministry of Education:
Canadian Thanksgiving takes place on the second Monday of October. The public holiday calls for a long weekend in every province. Here are some ideas for the long weekend in Montreal.
Vocabulary
Below are some common vocabulary words related to the holiday:
Click on the word for the definition.
Click on the speaker to hear the pronunciation.
Click the “learn to pronounce” (when available) to see a demonstration of how to say the word.
- Thanksgiving
- statutory
- holiday
- season
- autumn
- autumnal
- traditional
- celebrate
- harvest
- feast
- pumpkin
- cranberries
- turkey
- stuffing
- corn
- yam
