For more information: Christina Finzel, Public Relations Office 601-974-1034 or [email protected]
Jackson, MISS. - So the kids are getting out of school for the holidays, and you don't know how to keep them busy while you finish your own holiday preparations? Education students at Millsaps College have come up with some fun activities to not only entertain children, but also help everyone get into the holiday spirit!
Marcie Williams, a junior education student, says one of her favorite holiday traditions is the cookie party she and her mother throw every year. They bake cookies for the children at her mother's preschool, and the children decorate them with icing and various candies. "It's fun for the kids, because they are free to be as creative as they want to be. And we have other activities available, so kids of different ages, and those with different interests, can all have a good time."
Other fun holiday activities Millsaps students suggest include:
Designing holiday cards - Cards can be made out of construction paper and decorated with crayons, paints, glitter and other arts & crafts materials. They make perfect gifts for friends, family or even Santa!
Creating a "coupon book" - This is a great activity for all ages and makes a wonderful stocking stuffer for parents or grandparents. Gather some index cards, and have kids make coupons for "free hug" or "wash dishes." You can buy a spiral bound "book" of index cards, or bind them together yourself with string or ribbon.
Making tree ornaments - Kids can construct their own ornaments out of self-hardening clay. Another old favorite is to make your own garland out of candy, popcorn, beads, ribbon or construction paper. For the tried-and-true construction paper garlands, form circles with strips of red and green construction paper, and slide each piece through the loop of the one before. Fasten the loops with glue, tape or staples.
Decorating stockings - You don't even have to buy a stocking to be creative! You can make one by sewing felt together, or just use a sock. Kids decorate them with markers, glitter, sequins and other fun materials.
Making gifts - One cute gift item kids can create is a mosaic picture frame or flower pot. Spread tile grout over the surface, and simply place ceramic tiles, beads, marbles, shells and other small items on it.
Crafting holiday designs - Kids can make bells, reindeer, menorah, Santa and other designs by using holiday cookie cutters on Play Doh or cutting their own cardboard shapes and drawing on them with markers, crayons or fabric paints. Children can also paint and decorate wooden ornaments.
"Building" a gingerbread house - You can either buy a kit at the store or make one with graham crackers, icing that hardens and various candies. Kids will have a great time decorating the house, and everyone can enjoy eating it too!
Making household decorations - Use one of these ideas, or let kids come up with their own. They can make Christmas wreaths, fashion reindeer out of clothespins (with markers, beaded eyes and cigar pipecleaners for antlers) or make a small tree out of styrofoam and attach candy and other items to it with toothpicks.
Most activities can be tailored for kids of all ages, explains Joy Metcalf, also a junior education student at Millsaps. Metcalf has assisted in 3rd, 5th and 6th grade classrooms and explains that "with a good project, kids can be as creative as they want to be. It doesn't matter how old or young they are."
Millsaps College is a privately supported college founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Millsaps is one of only four liberal arts colleges in the United States to hold both a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and accreditation by AACSB - The International Association for Management Education of the undergraduate (BBA) and graduate (MBA) programs in business. The only national liberal arts college in Mississippi, Millsaps ranks in the top half of all national liberal arts colleges in the U.S. and rates 6th in value among national liberal arts institutions according to U.S. News and World Report, Aug. 1998). The College also ranks 67th in the nation among national colleges and universities and 11th among traditional liberal arts colleges with enrollments of less than 1,600 students on Money Magazine's Best College Buy list (Sept. 1997).
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