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Holidays

Grow the Grinch’s Heart Science Experiment

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One of the best parts of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is this scene: the Grinch is straining as he holds the sleigh balancing precariously on a mountaintop. He hears singing and then pop, pop, pop, his heart fills with joy.

I love watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas every year and I was dying to do an activity based on this favorite movie. So, we took a classic science experiment, gave it a Christmas-sy twist to get this fun Grow the Grinch’s Heart Science Experiment.

Try some Christmas science with this fun Grow the Grinch's heart science experiment. It's a STEM activity with a Christmas twist.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

Green balloon
Red Sharpie
Empty water bottle
White vinegar
Funnel
Baking Soda

Before you begin your project, you’ll want to make the Grinch’s small heart.

Take a green balloon and use your red Sharpie to draw a simple heart on the balloon.

Give it a minute to dry before you begin your grow the Grinch’s heart science experiment.

Grow the Grinch’s Heart Science Experiment.

For the first step in your experiment, add some vinegar to your empty water bottle. I filled it up to about the second groove from the bottom. Eyeball it. You don’t need to be exact.

Attach your balloon to the bottom of your funnel (like the picture above). Fill the balloon with about two to three spoonfuls of baking soda. You may need to shake it a bit to get all the baking soda into the balloon.

Remove your balloon from the funnel.

Carefully, without dumping any baking soda into your bottle, attach the balloon to the top of the water bottle, like you see illustrated in the photo above.

You’re all set up! Get ready to grow the Grinch’s heart.

Grow the Grinch's heart with this fun Christmas science activity based on this favorite book. It's a STEM activity with a Christmas twist.

Lift the balloon up and shake the baking soda into the bottle. Your balloon will start inflating immediately.

You can let go once the balloon starts filling up and watch the Grinch’s heart grow three sizes (or more).

Why did the Grinch’s heart grow?

The combination of baking soda and vinegar formed a gas called carbon dioxide, which filled your balloon.

This is the same gas that forms the bubbles in your favorite carbonated drink.

Have you watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas yet this year?

When you do, add a little extra fun when you do this grow the Grinch’s heart science experiment.

You may also enjoy one of these winter science activities:

Hot Chocolate Science : How does temperature affect the rate that hot chocolate dissolves?

Snow Science Prediction and Observation: Make some predictions about how quickly snow melts in different conditions.

Hockey Science: Experiment with friction when you do this fun science project inspired by the game of ice hockey.

Christmas Magic Milk Science at Little Bins for Little Hands: Try another classic experiment with a Christmas twist.

Find lots of fun ideas for Christmas Science Experiments for Kids.

My must-have resources for STEM fun:

If you love to have STEM projects on hand, but don’t always have time to prep, why not give a subscription box a chance. I love Green Kid Crafts for this reason. The boxes are packed full of projects that are fun and inviting. You can choose to get a subscription or a one-off box based off of a specific theme.

Here are some of our favorites (you can purchase and  find out more at each link):

Get a monthly subscription.

Kitchen Science Box

Physics Box

Find all their fun STEM boxes here.

Are you looking for more kids activities?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share ideas for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Fun Christmas Snack Crafts for Kids

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Christmas will be here before you know it, in fact, it’s almost a month away!

My kids love getting into the kitchen around the holidays and helping bake or cook meals. Getting your kids involved in cooking while their young can teach them valuable kitchen skills, and even teach them to cook on their own in the future.

Making snack crafts is a fun way to get the little ones interested in cooking, and that’s why I put together 20 Christmas snack crafts that your kids can make. While they need a little parental supervision, most of these recipes can be made without you.

Let the kids get creative in the kitchen this holiday season with these fun Christmas snack crafts that that can make themselves.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Fun Christmas snack crafts for kids

Turn serving cups into a cute Snowman Snack Craft from Natural Beach Living to make any Christmas party more fun.

This sweet and salty Christmas Popcorn from Mom Foodie would be great for a Christmas movie night.

Turn simple pretzels into fun Grinch Snacks from Wondermom Wannabe. (You can find the fun food markers here!)

Take an Oreo and turn into a cute Christmas Reindeer snack from Childhood 101.

A simple Snack Filled Ornament from Busy Creating Memories would make a great party favor or a simple gift for friends. 

This Gingerbread Christmas Tree from Busy Mommy Media is simple enough for even your littlest kids to make. 

Rudolph Christmas Snacks from Rainy Day Mum would make a fun after school snack.

Christmas Strawberries from Wondermom Wannabe turn simple strawberries into sparkly Christmas lights. Fun!

Turn pretzel sticks into fun Rudolph Treats likes these from Masshole Mommy. You can find similar candy eyes here.

A Rainbow Cookie Gift Jar from Red Ted Art makes a fun kid-made Christmas gifts. And, they’re also fun for the kids to make!

Serve any of these treats on these fun Christmas paper plates for kids to make them even more festive!

Let the kids get creative in the kitchen this holiday season with these fun Christmas snack crafts that that can make themselves.

More fun Christmas snacks for kids

These fruit Christmas Kabobs from Suburban Simplicity are a fun and healthy snack.

Fudge can actually be a very easy Christmas treat to make and this Easy Christmas Fudge from Tweenhood is the perfect recipe for your kids to try themselves.

I’ve never met a kid that hasn’t had fun turning an ice cream cone into a fun Waffle Cone Christmas Trees like these from Somewhat Simple.

Make a store-bought snack special by turning it into a Reindeer Granola Bar with this package decoration idea from A Night Owl Blog.

Use celery sticks to make this Healthy Christmas Tree Snack from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Turn store-bought Jello cups into a fun Christmas Tree Snack from Craft Create Cook.

Build a Santa Candy Sleigh from Red Ted Art out of your Christmas candy. This would also make a fun gift for your friends!

These Wreath Chocolate Covered Oreos from Heartbeats Soul Stains would make a fun addition to the cookie tray. 

Make these Celery Reindeer Snacks from Wondermom Wannabe for fun and healthy after school snack.

Kids will love to make their own Christmas candy when they make these Chocolate Rudolph Bites from Chocolate and Wine, I’ll Be Fine.

Which of these fun Christmas snack crafts are you going to make with your kids?

Let the kids get creative in the kitchen this holiday season with these fun Christmas snack crafts that that can make themselves.

Our recommended Christmas snack craft resources:

You can make your Christmas snack crafts festive with some fun holiday-themed dishes and serving ware. Grab some cute paper plates for serving or display your fun creations on a pretty Christmas platter. Here are some of our favorite choices. 

You may also like one of these fun Christmas Activities for Kids

Gingerbread Man Paper Doll Decoration

Paper Plate Christmas Tree

Santa Hat Christmas Ornament

Salt Dough Candy Cane Ornament

Healthy Christmas Treats for School

Are you looking for more kids activities?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share idea for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Fun Christmas Math Activities for Kids

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I don’t know about you, but I love to get a little festive this time of year with everyday things – like math practice.

So let’s practice counting, counting, patterns, symmetry, addition and more while getting in the Christmas spirit. We’ll use candy canes, reindeer, and make Christmas trees.

You’ll love all of these Christmas Math Activities. They’re so much fun and perfect for learning during the holiday season.

Make math fun this holiday season with one of these Christmas math activities for kids. You'll find activities for both preschoolers and elementary kids.

Whether you’re looking for ideas for your preschoolers or your elementary kids, you’ll find something fun here. I found great counting games, fun geometry games, addition practice and more.

Keep reading for all the fun Christmas math activities.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Preschool Christmas Math Activities

Get a little fine motor practice while using a hole punch to do this simple Christmas Tree counting activity from Sugar Aunts.

Practice counting with this Gingerbread Cookies Counting Tray from Teach Me Mommy.

Explore patterns with this simple Candy Cane Pattern activity from This Reading Mama (comes with a free printable).

Have some sweet counting fun with this simple M&M Christmas tree counting activity from Umbrella Tree Cafe.

Practice counting and ordering with this Evergreen Tree Math Game from Mom Inspired Life.

Count and have fun with this two-player Jingle Bell Math Game from Fun-A-Day.

Do some simple adding and counting while you build a snowman with this fun activity from And Next Comes L.

Use Christmas bows to practice sorting by size with this simple measurement activity from Learning 4 Kids.

Practice number matching and counting with this Christmas Tree counting activity (that would make a great busy bag) from Mom Inspired Life.

Play with a fun Christmas tree geoboard. Fun-A-Day shows you how to make and use this simple foam tree geoboard.

Elementary Christmas Math Activities

Use candy canes to practice symmetry with this fun activity from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Have you heard of Pascal’s Triangle? Explore this pattern activity with this fun Christmas tree activity from Teach Beside Me.

Create a Christmas tree out of Sierpinski fractal triangles with this STEAM activity at What Do We Do All Day.

Explore tally marks with this fun Candy Cane math game from JDaniel4’s Mom.

Practice your estimation skills with this simple LEGO math activity from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Explore tangrams with this fun (and yummy) Christmas Cookie Tangram activity from Left Brain Craft Brain.

Learn about fractions with this Snowman Fractions game from Teach Beside Me.

Explore a hundred chart and practice simple addition while playing Jingle All the Way to 100 from Simply Kinder.

Practice circular measurement, pattern making, and more with this beautiful STEAM Math Stars activity at Nurture Store.

Race your reindeer along a number line with this fun and simple Racing Reindeer game from Mom Inspired Life.

Hope you have a festive and fun time with all these Christmas math activities!

You may also like one of these fun Christmas Activities:

Christmas Science: Grow the Grinch’s Heart

Printable Family Activities Advent Calendar

Paper Plate Christmas Tree Kids Craft

The Best Salt Dough Ornaments for Kids

Christmas Science Experiments for Kids

Christmas Tree Crafts for Kids

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I just love making fun Christmas crafts! Do you?

If your looking for some fun ideas, you’ll love these fun Christmas tree crafts for kids. They’re so much fun and all would make great decorations, either as ornaments or on display elsewhere.

Get into the holiday spirit while creating with your kids when you make these fun and pretty Christmas tree crafts for kids.

You’ll find ideas that are appropriate for kids of all ages. Toddlers would love making Spin Art Trees and preschoolers will love the Sparkly Tree Banner. Or, gather the whole family to make a Family Hand Print Tree.

Let’s gather some supplies and start crafting!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Get into the holiday spirit while creating with your kids when you make these fun and pretty Christmas tree crafts for kids.

Fun Christmas Tree Crafts for Kids

Our fun Paper Plate Christmas Tree makes a fun and colorful decoration.

Decorate your windows with our pretty Sparkly Christmas Tree Banner.

Learn how to quill when you make this pretty Quilled Christmas Tree Card from Red Ted Art.

Get into the holiday spirit while creating with your kids when you make these fun and pretty Christmas tree crafts for kids.

Create a fun keepsake when you make this Family Hand Print Christmas Tree from Mama Smiles.

Use pom poms to make a cute Christmas Tree Ornament from Preschool Inspirations.

Decorate a tree with stickers with this fine motor Christmas craft from Hands On As We Grow.

Get into the holiday spirit while creating with your kids when you make these fun and pretty Christmas tree crafts for kids.

Work together to create a Christmas tree out of a pine cone with this craft from Crystal & Co.

Use a few simple supplies to make this fun Craft Stick Christmas Tree from Easy Peasy and Fun.

This Pipecleaner Christmas Tree Ornament from Red Ted Art is fun to make and will look great on your tree. 

Get into the holiday spirit while creating with your kids when you make these fun and pretty Christmas tree crafts for kids.

Create pretty Christmas trees with this fun Spin Art Tree Art Project from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds.

Make a Beaded Tissue Paper Tree from Happy Hooligans and get a little fine motor practice too.

Use clay to make a pretty Christmas Tree Pinch Pot from The Imagination Tree.

Which of these Christmas tree crafts for kids do you want to make with?

Get into the holiday spirit while creating with your kids when you make these fun and pretty Christmas tree crafts for kids.

You may also like these fun Christmas activities for kids:

Salt Dough Candy Cane Ornaments

Stained Glass Window Ornament Christmas Craft

Stained Glass Star Suncatcher

Joy to the World Christmas Ornament

Christmas Science Activities for Kids

Acorn Gratitude Banner Craft for Kids

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How often do you talk about gratitude with your kids?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t do it often enough.

Every November, it hits me. We need to talk about gratitude. I don’t focus enough on it the rest of the year. It’s time to get on it.

This Acorn Gratitude Banner was really simple to create. It got us all thinking about the things we are thankful for that we often take for granted. Plus, it turns into a cute decoration perfect for the Thanksgiving season.

And, since I know you’ll want to make even more holiday crafts, check out all of our Thanksgiving crafts for kids at this link.

This simple Acorn Gratitude Banner craft for kids is a great Thanksgiving craft to help you reflect on all that you are thankful for.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Make Your Acorns for Your Banner

We started with a pile of acorns. I used brown construction paper and drew some simple acorn shapes. I was able to get four acorns per sheet of paper.

Once I had my acorns drawn, I traced each one with a black Sharpie to help the details stand out.

If you aren’t confident in your drawing ability, there are plenty of examples online. Print out an acorn coloring sheet and use it as a template for your acorns. (This simple acorn coloring page would be perfect.)

We’ll be using these acorns to make our simple gratitude banner.

Create your gratitude banner

I gave my girls an equal number of acorns and asked them to write something they were thankful for on each each acorn.They thought for a while, consulted each other, and finally chose the things they wanted to write.

They were incredibly practical and listed such things as shelter, clothing, and beds. It makes me feel good to see that they realized these things that we so often take for granted and things to be grateful for.

Once they were done, I clipped out acorns to a piece of twine with a few simple clothes pin. Make sure to use something sturdy like twine or rope because the clothespin will weigh things down a bit.

I love the way our acorn gratitude banner turned out and I love that we can keep adding acorns to the banner as the month goes along.

This was a great way to start that conversation about gratitude that I had been hoping for.

This simple Acorn Gratitude Banner craft for kids is a great Thanksgiving craft to help you reflect on all that you are thankful for.

More Thanksgiving Activities to Try

You can continue the gratitude conversation with these printable Gratitude Conversation Starters.

Make a cute Turkey Suncatcher Thanksgiving craft.

Decorate the table with Cardboard Tube Pilgrim Hats.

Check out the rest of the 2nd Grade Team for some more great acorn and squirrel themed ideas:

Acorn Arrays for Building Number Facts from Rainy Day Mum
Acorn Addition with Hundreds Chart from Life Over C’s
Squirrels Copywork from Sallie Borrink Learning
Fall Acorn Themed Vocabulary Activity from Sugar Aunts
Math for Fast Finishers: Squirrels and Acorns from Planet Smarty Pants

Recommended Resources for Thanksgiving Crafts

If you’re looking for easy crafts, I love the limited addition Thanksgiving Box from Green Kid Crafts. It comes with all the supplies and instructions you need to make some cute Thanksgiving Crafts. We’re big fans of Green Kid Crafts boxes. They’re fun, easy, and contain only natural and sustainable materials. And, if you’re not interested in their Thanksgiving Box, there are plenty of other art and STEM boxes (including a monthly subscription) to choose from.

Find the Thanksgiving Box here.

Check out all the other boxes here.

Are you looking for more activities?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share idea for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.