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December 1, 2011 | 11 Comments

Santa’s Workshop Pretend Play

christmas pretend play

I love having a project set up for my son when he gets home from school before he gets involved in his own play . Yesterday he arrived home to this simple Santa’s Workshop set up. This wasn’t a long afternoon of play , but it was 30 minutes of smiles and giggles and pretending he was an elf! He also did some crafting, some deep thinking , reading,  a little writing and of course imaginative play. Remember that your set up need not be worthy of a Broadway production, just good enough to support play.

  1. Gather your materials. I made 3 stations in this workshop a building station, a toy testing station and a wrap station.  My materials included paper bag, glue ( I switched it to a glue stick), scissors, wrapping paper, construction paper, markers , plain paper , a clip board and some toys.
  2. For the Duplo Building Station I used black construction paper down the middle of the table to act as a conveyer belt, made simple buildings with the duplo and provided duplicate blocks in containers for my son to build. There is actually a really great lesson in duplication here. Following directions is an important skill and lego type toys are a great way to work on the skills non verbally.
  3. The Wrap Station is our craft component – I provided glue, scissors, markers , snowflake confetti, wraping paper scraps to cut and glue and paper bags.
  4. The Toy Testing Station had some reading for him to do , and questions to answer after he tested the toy. I snuck some circle drawing in too!
  5. Think he was excited to see it? He said to me ” Do I really get to pretend to be an elf? Really?”
  6. Getting into the elf character .Building the duplo !
  7. Making the gift bags.
  8. All wrapped up.
  9. Off to test a toy.
  10. Test results.
  11. Happy, busy and at the North Pole … at least in his imagination!

Santa Book

How Santa Really Works by Alan Snow is a great book to go along with this activity. The book is styled as an expose about how Santa and his many many elves get all the work for Christmas done. I will caution you now that this is a long book, with even longer asides. I made my son head up to bed with me and the book early inorder to get it read and still have time to chat about it after. I love the “insider” feel about this book and so did my son. There were many asides thta made both of us giggle especially the comment about how many requests Santa gets for ponies each year. I loved that it encouraged kids to write to Santa but I have to say I sorta miss that it didn’t include much about magic. Still I can’t tell you how much my son loved this book ( I knew he would) and how impressed I was when he asked me if I thought this was how it worked. That opened a great discussion about how we imagine the North Pole and how stories andmovies are just one person’s imagination and no one knows the truth . This is a completely secular view of Christmas too so if you are looking for a religious book this is not for you but you can try these ones.

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Filed Under: Age Preschool, Christmas, Preschool Activities, Pretend Play, Santa's Workshop | 11 Comments

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11 Comments

  1. Jillian says

    December 1, 2011 at 5:59 am

    Every year we set up a wrapping station for about 2 weeks. I save boxes for M and M to wrap, unwrap and rewrap. I love the extras… the toy testing and building section. I can’t wait to get all set up!

    to Jillian" aria-label='reply to this comment to Jillian'>reply to this comment
  2. Terri says

    December 1, 2011 at 6:59 am

    This is such a great idea! My girls would have a lot of fun with this!!

    to Terri" aria-label='reply to this comment to Terri'>reply to this comment
  3. Alice S says

    December 1, 2011 at 8:44 am

    great idea! i hope to let my kids play this soon.

    to Alice S" aria-label='reply to this comment to Alice S'>reply to this comment
  4. Rebecca says

    December 1, 2011 at 9:50 am

    Wow! I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to enjoy activities like this! How fun, and what a lucky kid to have a mom make such a cool activity for him!

    to Rebecca" aria-label='reply to this comment to Rebecca'>reply to this comment
  5. Caroline says

    December 1, 2011 at 10:50 am

    Bonjour! Je voulais savoir si vous restez dans le Eastside? J’habite à Belllevue, près d’Issaquah…. Bonne journée à vous! Et j’adore ton blog!

    to Caroline" aria-label='reply to this comment to Caroline'>reply to this comment
  6. Natalie says

    December 1, 2011 at 2:38 pm

    Super cute!!! I love this idea! I also love the little desk you have for your son! May I ask where you got it? I’d love something like that for our almost finished playroom. 🙂

    to Natalie" aria-label='reply to this comment to Natalie'>reply to this comment
  7. Brittney says

    December 1, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    I really like this, and I know my 4 (“almost 5” if you ask him) year old will absolutely love it! I will have to set it up during quiet time one day.

    to Brittney" aria-label='reply to this comment to Brittney'>reply to this comment
  8. Natalie says

    December 8, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    What a cute idea! I have to try it here too!

    to Natalie" aria-label='reply to this comment to Natalie'>reply to this comment
  9. Ms. Jessi says

    December 8, 2011 at 9:00 pm

    this is the cutest play station I’ve seen! I love it and i’m installing one in my classroom tomorrow!! As always, thanks for inspiring me!

    to Ms. Jessi" aria-label='reply to this comment to Ms. Jessi'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. Christmas Book Activities for Kids | ABC Creative Learning says:
    November 25, 2014 at 5:29 am

    […] Santa’s Workshop Pretend Play by No Time for Flash Cards […]

    to Christmas Book Activities for Kids | ABC Creative Learning" aria-label='reply to this comment to Christmas Book Activities for Kids | ABC Creative Learning'>reply to this comment
  2. 39 Christmas Activities For 2 and 3 Year Olds. - No Time For Flash Cards says:
    December 9, 2014 at 12:06 am

    […] Elf Houses Santa Star Crafts by Red Ted Art Santa’s Workshop Pretend Play Paper Plate Santa North Pole Play Mat ( a holiday favorite around here! […]

    to 39 Christmas Activities For 2 and 3 Year Olds. - No Time For Flash Cards" aria-label='reply to this comment to 39 Christmas Activities For 2 and 3 Year Olds. - No Time For Flash Cards'>reply to this comment

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