Christmas Tree Mobile

The title of Maggie Smith's Christmas With the Mousekins, A Story With Crafts, Recipes, Poems and More! really sums it all up. It is a very homey story about a family, who in this case happen to be mice but could just as easily be human, preparing for Christmas, interspersed with recipes, crafts, and poems fitting into the flow of the narrative.

Nanna Mousekin comes to visit for Christmas, cookies and presents are made, and shared with neighbors, letters are written to Santa Mouse, there's time for board games, and sledding, Christmas trees, and snowmen. All in all it is a very cozy, if secular, picture of a family holiday.

My children are not believers in Santa, but they thought it was nice, that the story ends off the day after Christmas, with one of the mouse children writing a thank you note to the Man in Red. It's a nice touch of gratitude.

The book includes recipes for "Gingerbread Mice", and "Cinnamon Snails" (cookies shaped like snails), and instructions for making paper garlands and hats, a sock puppet, an angel mouse tree topper, and a couple of felt projects - a mitten bookmark, that would make a very nice teacher, or friend gift, and a mobile.

I made the mobile with C (age 5), but out of construction paper, not felt. There is a pattern to trace and cut out in the book.

I did the tracing and cutting...


...and C did the gluing and decorating...








...with a little help from me to keep the pieces straight.


It reminds me of the Calder inspired mobiles we made last Valentine's Day.


It's great to be a homeschooler.