Twelve Days of Christmas #7 - Traditions

I recently read about these two traditions that other families use for the holidays and I thought they were really neat and that we'd try them at our house next year, since this Christmas is quickly approaching:

Chain of Kindness: On December 1, cut green and red strips from construction paper and put them in special place in your home. Beginning December 1 and continuing the whole month, when a family member does nice, or something special in your house occurs (Christmas program at church, etc.) note it on one of the strips and begin hooking them together to make a chain. You will be amazed how quickly the chain grows. String the chain in a special place.

Read-Aloud Calendar: We all know that kids love to count down the days to Christmas. One fun way to help them is to wrap a certain number of books....some may choose 24, 12, 10, etc. Beginning that many days before Christmas, let you child(ren) choose a book, and then unwrap and read it together. I suggest using Christmas books, or books about the season or winter, but you could also use favorite books on any subject.

Have fun!