The Spirit of Christmas Book and Handprint Tree Memory Craft

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The Spirit of Christmas by Nancy Tillman is beautifully illustrated and wonderfully sweet book. The story is told in first person between The Spirit of Christmas and a parent. While the parent tries to figure out what's missing, the Spirit of Christmas keeps suggesting lots of wonderful holiday activities and sights, then finally says "Remember, this all began with a child. Because it took nothing but love to begin it, it's not really Christmas if love isn't in it." And the parent realizes the child is what's missing. It ends with a very sweet poem to the child telling them to always come home, the best gift is having them home for Christmas.

I have to tell you that I get misty eyed reading this sweet book sometimes. It has quickly become a favorite in our home. And it inspired this handprint Christmas Tree memory craft. This is a mommy craft, too!

What you'll need:

• a Gold Sharpie
• a pencil
• 2 paper plates
• green and brown craft paint
• white or ivory card stock
• paper for backing
• Laminator
• ribbon for ornament

Pour some green paint into one plate and brown paint into the other, or you can brush on the paint so it's less goopy. You may need assistance if you have a little one (like Mr. F) to get a good hand print. First, mom or dad makes the big green hand print for the tree. Then make the trunk with your little one's hand print.

Let those dry and then take your gold Sharpie and make a star or angel on top of your tree. Begin at the top and write at an angle to make a gold "garland" of the special things you love about your little one right now in this season. On their hand print "trunk" write their name, the year and their age.

On the back, if you so choose, use your pencil to write a prayer for your child. Add the colored paper backing and laminate it. If you want to make it into an ornament, cut out the 2 sheets together into the shape you want, then laminate and punch a hole for the ribbon. If you keep the full sheet, use it as decor. They are really pretty and a sweet reminder of all the little things you love about your blessings!

Keep your sweet Memory trees and make a new one each year!

The Berenstain Bears and Toddler Manners

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Click here to check out all our Toddler Manners Posts

For toddlers, stories are how they learn a lot of their behavior. Using stories for different subjects is a great way to reinforce the points you are trying to get across. One of my favorites for manners is The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners . It's such a fun little story and the method Mama Bear uses to teach her family that manners are good is one we can all adapt to our own families.The books is a great resource for story time right before lunch or an outing. Mama Bear gets very upset when Brother and Sister begin to forget their manners. So she devises a plan with consequences. Brother and Sister Bear decide to be so polite to each other that Mama Bear will get sick of the good manners. Can you guess what happens???

Here is the video for a fun few minutes with your little ones.

Here is a little printable you can fill in with your own Manners and what happens if your little ones forget. Don't forget to make the consequences age appropriate. By 2.5 to 3 your little ones should have a good enough grasp on what they know they are expected to do and not that you can make this work for your family.

Some other suggestions for your library of manner helpers are:



365 Manners Kids Should Know is an excellent book. It has daily manners to teach your children, activities, games and is full of both traditional and modern etiquette like properly greeting people and how to use your manners for email. We do utilize this book, but not daily. It would be a perfect daily addition for slightly older children. I cannot tell you what a great resource it is for me, too. I don't always remember my manners either. We all need reminders sometimes.



Manners Time is a sweet little board book for your very young toddlers and little boys and girls. Great for the babies to 4 year old range. It's simple to understand explanations and pictures are wonderful. There are even parent and caregiver tips.



If you never purchase any other manners book, you should purchase Everyday Graces . I cannot sing praises enough.
From the Publisher: "In Everyday Graces: A Child's Book of Good Manners, Karen Santorum has produced for parents and teachers a wonderfully rich and instructive anthology. Her volume speaks to the regrettable fact that the subject of manners is not much discussed anymore, and good manners seem practiced even less. Yet, good manners are a prerequisite for the growth of moral character; they are the habits of conduct and behavior by which we express in the most ordinary circumstances our fundamental respect for others, whether parents, friends, colleagues, or strangers. It is evident, then, that when we fail to instill good manners in our youth we invite a decline of civility and a coarsening of our common life.
Under such headings as "Honor Your Mother and Father," "Please and Thank You," "No Hurtful Words, "Good Behavior in Sport," and "Showing Respect for Country," Mrs. Santorum has arranged a collection of stories and poems that will develop and enrich the moral imagination. Some of her selections are well known; others are forgotten gems that deserve a new hearing. Authors include Hans Christian Anderson, Beatrix Potter, Mark Twain, Frances Hodgson Burnett, M. Montgomery, C. S. Lewis, Max Lucado and Arnold Lobel, to name only a few."

Do you have favorite stories for teaching your children manners? What are they?

View all the Toddler Manners Posts here.

This post is part of:

Must Have Items for Homeschooling a Preschooler with Apraxia

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You can see how we use more toys for speech at home here.

Apraxia Kids website 

*Please note that our "must haves" are not a replacement for good speech therapy with a qualified SLP, just additional helps we have found to work well for us. I am not an SLP, just a mom who loves her little guy and wants to share what has helped us in case it can help you and your little one.*

Here are the links to the apps we love and use often:

Signing Time:

The always useful laminator:

We are linked up here: