Toddler Approved Holiday Movies {Create, Watch & Play}

This post is sponsored by NCircle- Entertainment that educates. This post also includes Amazon Affiliate links.

It has been crazy rainy where we live in California for the past two weeks and so although we go and splash in puddles outside, sometimes I just want to cuddle up with the kids and watch holiday movies. This month we've really enjoyed sharing some of our classic favorites with the kids along with some new-to-us movies that the kids have loved too.

Today I'm going to share several holiday movies we've watched recently along with some playful Christmas crafts and activities that you can do along with them! We like to create and play before and after movies!

1. Octonauts The Very Vegimal Christmas features four adventures, including two Christmas themed episodes. These are so nice because they are different than the typical holiday movies that we always watch!

My preschooler and toddler especially loved the Great Christmas Rescue! They got a kick out of the characters and how they figure out how to save Christmas. I also love how they learn a little bit about marine life and protecting habitats at the same time. The two karaoke music videos at the end are great too since my kids love to rock out to music.

If you have a child who loves Octonauts, make sure to scroll down and enter our Holiday movies giveaway.

2. The Original Christmas Classics Collection is another favorite set of holiday movies that our kids are always asking to watch.

My kids especially love to watch Frosty and I love to revisit some favorite movies that I watched when I was little. My favorite show is Rudolph, although my kids sometimes get a little scared by the snow monster.

3. The Yo Gabba Gabba Live Holiday Show gets everyone in our family excited, especially my husband who seriously loves it. The tunes are catchy and they even have a holiday version of our favorite song, "Party in my tummy."

If you haven't watched Yo Gabba Gabba before, try it out. There are so many wonderful concepts that are taught through the songs. I also think it is fun that this version was filmed live in New York City. If you don't have this collection, make sure you scroll down to enter our holiday movie giveaway to win your own copy!

4. Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas is another annual favorite. I think the music is pretty and enjoy just hanging out with our favorite Disney characters.

This movie features five episodes with different Disney characters and reminds everyone that the holiday season is not about selfishness, activities, and gifts, but about family, friends, and giving.

5. Caillou's Holiday Movie is such a sweet show filled with how four-year-old Caillou celebrates the holiday season!

My kids haven't watched very much Caillou, so this was a treat. I think it is neat how the episodes are filled with simple life lessons that little ones can understand. The video also includes some bonus holiday song videos!

Holiday Create & Play Activities!!

Before, after, or even during movie watching kids can get engaged and craft or play together! Here are three activities to make along with these movies.

Create a Sparkly Name Christmas Tree Craft

Cut up some green paper into triangles and make a stump out of brown paper. For younger toddlers just have them build a Christmas tree with the triangles. For older kids, write the letters of their name on their triangles and have them arrange their tree to spell their name.

Once the triangles are glued on, add a star sticker and some sparkles with glue! This is a great activity to help teach kids about shapes and talk about the letters in their name.

Decorate the Christmas Tree with shapes game

For this shape game we gather up some foam shapes (not the sticky type) and put them in bowls. Then we printed off some FREE Christmas Tree printables (one for each person).

Kids took turns each round being the leader and telling everyone what color shape to put on their tree. Sometimes we even tried to trick people by saying, "put a purple shape on your tree" when the trees didn't even have a spot for a purple shape! This activity was great for working on color and shape recognition.

Make a Paper Plate Christmas Tree

We got our idea for making these cute Spiral Christmas trees from Hands On As We Grow. Pop on over there for a full tutorial. We used a paper plate and paint instead of a green piece of paper. The kids really had fun doing this activity!

Holiday Movies Giveaway

I am super excited that NCircle is giving away a set of the following holiday movies to one Toddler Approved reader...

You can check out more from NCircle over on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Giveaway Entry Requirements:

Make sure to fill in the rafflecopter giveaway mandatory comment entry below.
You can get up to three entries by completing all tasks mentioned in the rafflecopter form below, including visiting the NCircle Facebook page and Tweeting your friends about this DVD giveaway.

Entry Guidelines:

This giveaway is open for entry from Thursday December 18th to Monday, December 22nd at 12:00am (PST)
The winning entry will be drawn on Monday, December 22nd. I will notify the winner via email.
The winner will need to reply to me within 72 hours of my email. If there is no response, a new winner will be drawn.
See our Official Giveaway Rules for complete guidelines. US Residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much to NCircle for sponsoring this Toddler Approved Holiday Gift Guide filled with fun holiday DVDs for kids!

Facebook - Pinterest- Twitter