Many winter holidays emphasize kindness and giving. With that in mind we first read the well-known tale of a certain busy red hen.  This version has large, expressive illustrations:

Then we read an old fairy tale about some generous elves that takes place at Christmastime.  Again, beautifully painted illustrations practically tell the story by themselves.

After our stories, we made calendar chains.  We made lots of paper loops that we linked together; each loop stands for a day, and each day you remove one link.  That’s how you know how many days are left before an event you might be waiting for.  For instance, there are 10 days until Christmas…..and 42 days until our next storytime!  Everyone really enjoyed the simple repetition of looping the paper and taping it closed.

We hope you enjoy whichever winter holidays you celebrate, and Happy New Year to all!