Hi guys! I have been gone awhile, dealing with family issues, and am hoping everyone can help me out with ideas for my EL Xmas countdown project. Things have been so crazy here for Alex and our family that I really do not want our EL to get hijacked as it often does during the month of December with her bday (my baby is turning FOUR!!!) and the Xmas season.
We do not do the whole Santa thing in our house, and likewise, the whole Elf on a Shelf craze would not work. Regardless, I am not a fan of the whole ‘eyes are watching you so adjust your behavior accordingly’ idea. (If you aren’t familiar with the craze/epidemic of EOTS, here is the Amazon link to the book and doll…have a look at the reviews for a different opinion than mine!):
http://www.amazon.com/The-Elf-Shelf-Christmas-Tradition/dp/B000XR6MBQ/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1382325979&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=elf+on+the+shelf
That being said, at least part of the premise of EOTS sounds like a lot of fun! So I have decided to create our own version, combined with the idea of a book tree, to count down the days to the holiday, and to inject a bit of educational holiday fun into the month.
My dd is a bit of a geography/culture nut so that will be the stepping point. I have purchased a stuffed bear that is attired in world traveling gear, and am planning on sending the bear to a different country everyday in December. I will still let her hunt for the bear around the house in the morning: Each day I will have his passport stamped with a different country, give him that countrie’s flag, and any other particular trinkets I can come up with to fit the country of the day.
The holiday aspect will come from the book tree…you know the kind, where a stack of books is wrapped up prettily, arranged in the shape of a ‘tree’ and one is unwrapped and read each evening? I want to coordinate each book (or couple of books for the day) with the country of the day, including non-fiction info for the country and specific holiday stories for that country. It would be lovely to have popular seasonal books from different countries, whether or not they celebrate Xmas, similar, or just a holiday in December.
So any help from the forum? What are your favorite books on Xmas traditions and the like around the world? Any and all thoughts and ideas greatly appreciated as I am only going to have about six weeks to pull it all off!