Christmas Party with My Home Daycare!

Every year, we have a Christmas party in my home daycare on the 23rd, or the last weekday before Christmas Eve. We spend the week before making ornaments to give to their parents and the morning of the party decorating cookies (aka. Sucking the frosting out of the tubes). Right after nap, we all change into our party clothes, if the parents sent some. Santa (my hubby) arrives at 3:30 for pictures, a small gift for each child and a gift for the daycare. When Santa leaves, we eat our cookies for snack and the older ones play with fake snow. I invite all of the parents and extended family to our party and most don't want to pass up the opportunity to see their kids with Santa, so most leave early and my holiday gets to start a bit early.

In the past we have made potporri (dried orange peels, cinnamon sticks crushes, and whole cloves)

We have made salt dough ornaments that they can paint with parents

We have made stars with popcycle sticks and the used glue and glitter to decorate.

Candles (they have wax that is little beads the kids can scoop into candle holders)

CaNDY CANES (pipe cleaners and red and white beads)

sun catchers and shrinky dinks,

I was never successful at getting the kids to play games after parents were there. The kids will also need some structure so they know your rules have not changed, (as will parents need to know who is in charge) You could work on a song to sing for the parents, we would make props and glue to pocycle sticks, sometimes do a puppet show (adult led that they could cuddle with parents to watch. We also used to do a dish to pass.

I agree 3 hours is to long. I would do 3:30-5 and just know that someone may linger. This also gives parents time to finish up work.

My daughters preschool is doing guess what is in the parcel - they are wrapping up some obviously shaped toys like balls, and pens, whoever guesses wins.

I have a Christmas party every year for my daughter's friends (they are between 3-7 this year) and we do lots of fun stuff!

You could do gingerbread houses for each kid. That would be really fun and would keep them occupied for a while...plus it's age appropriate for all levels b/c each kid can spend as much or as little time as they want to/are able to on their own house.

I did order some crafts from Oriental Trading Co that are really cute! We are doing picture frames (which would be good parent gifts) and gingerbread placemats.

I also make a few non packaged crafts. This year we're doing candy cane reindeer which are really cute and easy! Plus we are doing Q-Tip snowflakes. You put a blob of glue on a circle of wax paper and alternate between full size q-tips and ones that you have cut in half so it looks like a snow flake. Top with another circle of wax paper and you can even put a small picture of each child.

I've also made a stamp out of round furniture pads. I bought three different sizes of pads and made a snowman shape out of them. I glued it to a piece of cardboard and then the kids dip it in paint and then onto a paper. They turn out really cute!!! You get multiple pads per box so I made a few stamps so more than one kid could do it a time. I took left over pads and cut them up to make a stocking cap stamp and a top hat stamp. I cut small rectangles of felt for the scarves and a pencil eraser dipped in black paint (or a fingertip) for the coal eyes, smile and buttons. They can draw on arms with a brown crayon or colored pencil. You can also make these into cards very easily.

For my Sunday School class I just ordered a Christmas Tree earring kit for my kids to make for their moms and they are really cute! It isn't hard, but smaller kids will need help. Maybe the older kids could help them. The only real tool you'd need is a pair of plyers to crimp the ends when you are done.

A cute food craft idea is to take flour tortillas and fold them and cut them just like a paper snowflake (again older kids can help younger ones and warm them first for easier folding) then put them on a cookie sheet, brush with canola or veg oil, bake for 5-6 minutes then dust with powdered sugar and eat!

Since you are doing it after nap, incorporate a snack (maybe some Christmas Cookies that they can decorate...you can help the smaller ones). You can do candy cane reindeer (candy cane, pipe cleaner antlers, and googly eyes on the short part of the cane). I would read them a Christmas story of some kind. You can take a picture of each child and either print them out leaving room for handprints under it or you can let them decorate a frame to put the picture in. Have Christmas music playing and allow them to dance if they want to.

I would also suggest 2-4 or so...two hours should be plenty.

-We normally bake cookies or at least decorate them and then eat them for snack time.
-We sing Christmas Carols.
-In the past we have made snowflakes, stockings, candy canes with beads or ornaments for the tree...that I date and give to the parents.
-They also love watching a Christmas movie during that time...like Garfield or Charlie Brown...both are only 30 minutes.
-We play pin the nose on Rudolph. We play cold potato. Freeze Dance.
Guess what's in the stocking (put different objects in the stocking and they have to tell you what they are without looking).
-Oh and we have made reindeer food every year...they love it and they get to use it...we use glitter, marshmallows, chocolate chips, bread...basically whatever you have...put it in a baggie and send it home with them.

Hope some of these ideas help!
Merry Christmas!

make it really shorter than that lol. do like the grade schools and stick with closer to a half hour. any longer than that and kids get nuts. A fun thing to do is decorate cookies which you can bake ahead of time. a craft such as making snowmen out of cotton balls, games like pin the star on the christmas tree, snow buckets (think bozo buckets here) and a treat which you don't usually have would all be fun things.