• Christmas memories can be shared in bookschristmas lights image by Tonda from Fotolia.com
  
  For children of preschool age, Christmas projects and activities allow them to explore the symbolism, meanings and stories surrounding the holiday. You can help them make Christmas memories last by creating home made books for them to keep. This pre-reading stage of life calls for the use of pictures and illustrations more than words.
  
  

My First Christmas

• Most children cannot remember their first Christmas. Helping them create a book with the assistance of their parents or grandparents can bring this interesting piece of their past back to life. Ask the parents to email pictures to be printed out for use in the books. Or, simply ask for copies of the favorites they have from the child's first Christmas. They may need to help the child identify certain people in the pictures or pets that have since passed on. Gluing the pictures to pages can help build motor skills. Hole-punch the pages before the children glue.
  
  Let the children describe each picture. This will encourage their verbal and description processes. Label the pictures for them word for word, so they can look back in years to come at how they viewed the world as a child. Let the children create their own art work for the front page and let them tie the books together with yarn or ribbon for creative and motor skill work.
  
  

Wish Book

• Every year children get anxious about Santa coming and bringing them the gifts they desire most. Let the children create a book about their wishes for the upcoming holiday. Retail stores send out fliers for their big Christmas sales. Allowing the children to cut out the pictures of their desired toys will hone their cutting and perception skills. Any toy or item that cannot be found may be printed off the Internet or a picture can be brought from home. Only allow the children a specific number of items to work on the early number concepts. Let the children straighten their books and use the stapler with assistance.
  
  

This Year

• Creating a personalized book for the upcoming holiday events will act as a special memory book in years to come. Each child's family will celebrate Christmas with slightly different traditions. You might ask the parents of your students to tell them the plans for this year's season. The children can then find or draw pictures of what is to come. Pictures of relatives coming to visit or their house decorated with lights can be used to assist you in evaluating their social, emotional and mental development. They may want to bring in pictures of their Christmas tree or decorations if they have them already set up in the home. Showing off these pictures can help a child's self-esteem.