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The Organized Mom Life

The Organized Mom Life

Simple organization for busy moms

The Nutcracker: Preschool Activities

Several mornings a week, I do a little preschool-at-home routine with my 4 and 2 year olds.

It’s really nice to have a little bit of structured, fun activity time each morning to look forward to. (You can check out the printable preschool planner I use here.)

To keep things interesting, we like to explore a different theme each week. Now that it’s the Christmas season, we decided to check out some Nutcracker preschool activities!

Our preschool-at-home routine

Each day during the week, we follow the same basic routine:

  • We start with music (a song or dance)
  • Then we read a story
  • Do a craft
  • End with an extra activity (usually movement or play-based)

It’s nothing too complicated, but we have so much fun that I wanted to share our plans with you. The activities you’ll find here are each tested and approved- mostly by my 4 year old- but sometimes by my 7 and 2 year olds as well. 😉

Download the plans here

You’ll get an overview page with links to all the videos, books, crafts, and activities for this unit, along with a supply list for the week.

get the plans

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Planning for the week

Before we jump into it, here are 3 things for you to do before you start your Nutcracker preschool activities:

  1. Check out 5 Nutcracker books from the library. Or buy them on Amazon if you’d rather have them shipped right to your home. 🙂 These can be any Nutcracker-themed books. If you’re not sure which ones to get, check out the ones I recommend in the supply list.
  2. Browse the supply list. Make note of anything you want to use that you don’t already have at home. Add them to your shopping list or buy them on Amazon now.
  3. Print out the craft templates that you’ll need. All the links are on the supply list.

That’s it! If you do these 3 things now, you’ll be ready to go. 🙂

Nutcracker Music & Movement

Each day we started our preschool time with some music. Some days we just watched a specific dance from the Nutcracker ballet. Other days, we did a movement activity. We often went back and repeated what we did the day before, because a little repetition is great for preschoolers. 😉

Day 1: Watch the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

YouTube video player

Day 2: Sugar Plum Fairy: Scarf Movement Routine

YouTube video player

Day 3: Nutcracker Suite Creative Movement Activity

YouTube video player

Day 4: Watch the Russian Dance

YouTube video player

Day 5: Scarf Activity for the Trepak dance

YouTube video player

Nutcracker Stories

You can read any Nutcracker-themed stories that you want for this unit. But here are the five that we used:

The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers

Preview Product Price
The Nutcracker: A Christmas Holiday Book... The Nutcracker: A Christmas Holiday Book… $10.99Amazon Prime Buy on Amazon

Mary Engelbreit’s Nutcracker

Preview Product Price
Mary Engelbreit's Nutcracker: A... Mary Engelbreit’s Nutcracker: A… $6.40Amazon Prime Buy on Amazon

Waltz of the Snowflakes by Elly MacKay

Preview Product Price
Waltz of the Snowflakes Waltz of the Snowflakes $14.40Amazon Prime Buy on Amazon

Jan Brett’s the Nutcracker

Preview Product Price
Jan Brett's The Nutcracker Jan Brett’s The Nutcracker $9.49Amazon Prime Buy on Amazon

The Nutcracker’s Night Before Christmas by Keith Brockett

Preview Product Price
The Nutcracker's Night Before Christmas The Nutcracker’s Night Before Christmas $17.99Amazon Prime Buy on Amazon

Nutcracker Crafts & Activities

After our music and story time, we do 2 activities each day. The first is usually more craft-focused, and the second is movement or play-based.

DAY 1 Craft: Make Nutcracker puppets

You can create an entire puppet show stage out of cardstock, or just print the characters and attach them to popsicle sticks.

Source: Marcie in Mommyland

DAY 1 Activity: Nutcracker puppet show

Kids can play with the puppets, acting out the story however they want to. You can also let them use the stories for this week and they can act out the stories while looking at the pictures for reference.

DAY 2 Craft: Make a sugar plum fairy wand

Source: Playground Park Bench

DAY 2 Activity: Learn to dance like the sugar plum fairy

Time to put that new wand to good use!

YouTube video player

DAY 3 Craft: Make paper snowflakes

Have fun showing your little one how to create their own paper snowflakes!

DAY 3 Activity: Listen to the Dance of the Snowflakes, and dance with your paper snowflake

YouTube video player

DAY 4 Craft: Decorate ballerina paper dolls

You can use anything you want to decorate your dolls: Sequins, glitter glue, scraps of fabric or paper, etc.

Source: Beyond Mommying

DAY 4 Activity: Nutcracker lacing (Pg. 32 of the Nutcracker Tot Pack, here.)

Source: 3 Dinosaurs

DAY 5 Craft: Make a paper plate tambourine

Source: Kids Craft Room

DAY 5 Activity: Watch a few minutes of the Nutcracker orchestra. Play along with your tambourine!

YouTube video player

I hope you have as much fun doing Nutcracker preschool activities as we did. Thanks for reading!

-Laura

Pin The Nutcracker Preschool Activities

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Welcome!

Hi! My name is Laura. I'm a wife, a mom of 4, a lover of coffee, to-do lists, and all things organizing. I created this blog to help you navigate the chaos of life as a mom in a (somewhat!) organized fashion. Find out more about me here...

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Welcome!

Hi! My name is Laura. I'm a wife, a mom of 4, a lover of coffee, to-do lists, and all things organizing. I created this blog to help you navigate the chaos of life as a mom in a (somewhat!) organized fashion. Find out more about me here...

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

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