Ride into the Holidays with the Polar Express!

Posted by Nov 25, 2016 Book Based Activities, Books, Christmas

Do you have a story from your childhood that brings back memories or feelings of a special time? There are lots of fantastic Christmas books out there which take me right back to my childhood Christmases. Today’s book is one of my favorites!

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The Polar Express: A Caldecott Award Winner by Chris Van Allsburg book reviews | GoodreadsThe Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg is a Christmas classic and a personal favorite of mine. It tells the story of a young boy who isn’t quite sure if he still believes in Santa, until he sees a mysterious train appear on his street on Christmas Eve. He jumps aboard the Polar Express and learns about the spirit of Christmas. This is a great story to share with kids around the holidays and remind them to believe in the magic of Christmas. The story is accompanied by beautiful illustrations which will draw kids into the North Pole. There are many ways to make the magic of this story come to life while also embracing learning opportunities.

Jingle Bell Sensory Table

Jingle bells provide a fun sensory experience for kids. Give them an opportunity to explore them, play with them and scoop them with containers. Show them how to make them jingle and how they can’t jingle if they hold them tightly. My daughter loves shaking them in a recycled plastic container.

 

Jingle Bell Fine Motor Skills

Kids can also practice their fine motor skills using jingle bells. Give kids a set of tongs and have them pick up jingle bells and place them into a container. For younger kids, you can let them use their hands if they are not ready for tongs. My daughter loved adding to the container, then shaking it and dumping them back out. You can also have kids thread jingle bells onto string or pipe cleaners. Threading the bells gives them great fine motor practice and they can create a necklace or bracelets that they can wear and jingle! I made my daughter a bracelet out of pipe cleaners and bells and she loves shaking it along to the Christmas music.


Movie Night

After reading the story to your kids, get into pajamas, make some hot chocolate and gather some Christmas cookies for a viewing of the Tom Hanks’ movie version of The Polar Express. It is a tradition in our house to watch it every year and I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to enjoy it. The movie does a remarkable job of translating Chris Van Allsburg’s beautiful illustrations to the screen.

Hot Chocolate Math

The kids in the story enjoy hot chocolate while riding to the North Pole. Print out or draw mugs of hot chocolate and give kids cotton balls and a set of tongs or spoons. For younger kids, have them practice their fine motor skills by placing cotton ball “marshmallows” onto the mugs. For older kids, write out numbers on the mugs, or easy math equations and have them use the tongs or spoon to put the right number of “marshmallows” onto the mugs.

Our hot chocolate mugs

Ride the Polar Express

This is a fun surprise for kids that could become a beloved tradition! Print out tickets to the Polar Express for your kids and place them on their pillows. Prepare some popcorn and have it ready to go in individual portions. When the kids are getting ready for bed and find their tickets, tell them that the Polar Express is waiting outside to take them on a Christmas adventure! Get everyone into the car and munch on popcorn and listen to Christmas music as you drive around your neighborhood looking at Christmas lights! You can even make it a scavenger hunt to find houses decorated with certain decorations (a Santa inflatable, icicle lights, candy canes, etc).

Does your family have any traditions around The Polar Express? Share in the comments!

34 comments on “Ride into the Holidays with the Polar Express!”

  2. I love this idea! We have always wanted to take our son on a Polar Express Train Ride for Christmas but the tickets can be so expensive. I love the idea of making your own Polar Express Ride from home. Thanks for sharing.

    • Thanks! I’ve always wanted to go on one of those too! My husband and I have been driving around and looking at the lights every year since we started dating so I’m excited to turn it into a fun tradition with my daughter now too!

  3. wow such amazing ideas to try with kids to help with fine motor skills! I especially liked the marshmallows in hot chocolate idea. My Son is still too young for this I think but hopefully by this time next year he’ll have it down! Love polar express by the way, classic for sure!

    • Thanks! My daughter is a little young too and mostly enjoyed pretending to drink out of the paper mugs! Hopefully by next year we will be able to do it.

    • Me too! I know some people are against screen time but everything in moderation! Plus you can have some great conversation with kids comparing and contrasting them.

    • I agree the animation has some downsides to it. I’m not a huge fan of the style. But I love that some of my favorite illustrations in the book made it into the movie. The last shot especially gives me chills! And, I just love Tom Hanks!

  8. These are all great! I’ve actually never read the book or watched the movie but now it may just have to become a new tradition here too! Love all the activities you listed as well!

  10. I love the activities you made for this great children’s book, especially the hot chocolate. We were lucky enough to ride the Polar Express one year and it was a magical experience.

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