Santa's Sleigh: An Idea for Kids Under Four

During the cold season, we tend to get a little stir crazy.  It can be tricky to find activities that all three boys can do. And have all the boys get along when doing them.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we started to get a little obsessed over Santa. I admit... it was partly my fault. I tend to skip over Thanksgiving a bit because I just can’t wait to get the tree up and decorate.

This idea started with how some other ideas go. An amazon box. A large amazon box. Perfect. We talked about making a fire truck. We tossed around some ideas. And then they evolved into Santa’s sled. What about the horses (reindeer) we have? The rocking horses I just can’t seem to get rid of from their very first Christmas.

So we decided to make a sled out of the box. We were going to Lowe’s later that day. It turned  into a fun, teachable trip where we talked about supplies. And where to find spray paint. And how to look for colors.

After we found the perfect shade of red, we went back home. I took out some construction paper and had the older boys cut out ornaments. They decorated the ornaments with Christmas stickers. Really... it would be even more fun to use glitter and glue or Pom poms. The possibilities are endless!

That was day one. After preschool on day two (when my toddler was napping) the older boys and I spray painted the box.  Well, I spray painted while the boys watched.  Another good teachable moment talking about safety. 

When it was dry it was time to tape the ornaments to the sled. The older boys helped with this step.

And that’s where I stopped my role as a mommy facilitator and let them take over.

They came up with tape to use for the horses. They connected the horses to the sled.

They came up with the idea to use trash bags to collect toys for the sled. They actually worked together putting the bags in the sled. Although there were some arguments regarding who would drive the horses and who would be in the sled, they had a lot of fun pretending they were delivering presents.

Santa's Sleigh Materials:

• Large box

• Spray paint

• Construction paper

• Stickers, markers, glitter pens (anything to decorate ornaments)

• Rocking horse or anything creative to pull the sleigh. Or make reindeer hats for kids to put on and pretend they are the reindeer pulling the sleigh.

Hope you enjoy this activity! 

Merry Christmas!