What to watch: Klaus
Where to find it: Netflix
Run time: 1 hr 37 min
Rating: PG
Best for ages: 5 and up
Why We Recommend Klaus
Klaus is a beautifully animated Netflix original film that was released in 2019. A friend recommended this to me this year and I honestly cannot believe that it took an entire year for this to get on my radar. It is such a fun holiday film with a truly wonderful message. Klaus is a clever Santa Claus origin story told from the perspective of Jesper, a lazy postman who, for selfish reasons, encourages the kids in the town of Smeerensburg to write letters to the old woodworker who lives in the nearby woods, Klaus, asking for his handmade toys. Klaus forces Jesper to join him as he starts delivering the toys to the kids in the town, allowing both men to witness the joy these gifts bring to the children. As more kids request and receive toys, we see a change in Klaus, Jesper, and the people in the town. Klaus's saddened heart softens, Jesper learns selflessness, and peace begins to settle in among the two town's warring families. All because, as Klaus says in the film "a true selfless act always sparks another." Throughout this journey, we learn how Santa came to drive a sleigh pulled by reindeer, wear a red suit, and get help in his workshop from elves.
Although I watched this with my four-year-old daughter, Everly, I am recommending this for ages 5 and up. She had a little bit of a hard time following the story in the first 30-45 minutes and, as a result, lost interest a bit here and there. Klaus is also portrayed as dark and cold at first, which may be scary for younger kids.
Reindeer Craft and Game
Since one of Everly's favorite scenes in this movie involved Jesper getting tossed around by a reindeer, we were inspired down that path. We decided to create our own reindeer game.
Estimated activity time: 30 minutes to create the game. Play for as long as your kids want!
Materials needed:
1 small to medium brown box (no smaller than a shoebox)
Piece of styrofoam
2 sticks
Black or dark brown marker
Pipe cleaners in various colors
Felt, white paper, or googly eyes
Glue or tape
Step 1: Go on a walk to find some sticks that your child thinks resemble reindeer antlers. You may need to prune them a little to make them work for this game.
Step 2: Cut your styrofoam to fit tightly in the bottom of the box. Place it in the box and tape it shut.
Step 3: Poke your "antlers" through the top of the box, through to the styrofoam, which will help them stay in place.
Step 4: Make your reindeer eyes out of whatever material you have on hand. We used our black marker to draw circles on white pieces of felt and glued them on. We also had a red felt circle that we used as a nose (a pom-pom would work great for this as well). Everly wanted me to draw the mouth while she started working with the pipe cleaners.
Step 5: If you and your child are content with keeping this as a fun Christmas decoration and do not want to make a game out of it, then skip to step 7. Otherwise, start twisting two pipe cleaners together to make a ring about the size of a grapefruit. We decided to make three for our game.
Step 6: Begin wrapping pipe cleaners around the tops of your branches. Depending on how many branches you have, use two or three different colors.
Step 7: Add your finishing touches to make your reindeer extra festive. We added some tinsel garland to the base of our antlers.
I really loved Klaus' quote "a true selfless act always sparks another." With all the focus on presents this time of year, I wanted to reiterate this with Everly. Here are some discussion questions to ask your child while you are building your reindeer:
What are some of the kind things that the kids did in the movie?
How did the kids' kindness change the grownups in the town?
What are some kind things that you can do for someone that you know today?
What are some kind things that we can do for someone that we don't know today?
Reindeer Game Rules - Basic Version:
Place the reindeer on the floor and place a piece of tape about 4 feet away (closer for younger kids, farther for older kids).
Standing behind the tape, toss your pipe cleaner rings, one at a time, trying to catch them on the antlers.
Assign point values to each of the different colors of pipe cleaners that are wrapped around the branches. For example, green = 1 point, red = 2.
Practice basic adding skills by helping your child add up the point values after each turn. For younger child, use tally marks for points that they can count at the end.
Reindeer Game Rules - Fitness Option:
It's getting pretty cold where we live now so we are always looking for creative gross motor activities that we can do in the house.
Instead of assigning point values, assign an activity to each branch color. For example, green = 5 froggy jumps, red = hold a yoga pose for 5 seconds.
Assign an activity for each ring that hits the floor. We made the mistake of doing 5 jumping jacks for this one and let me tell you...we did A LOT of jumping jacks.
Change up the activities each round to keep it fun.
Share the fun you are having with us on Social Media! Tag us @curiouscouchpotatoes when you try any of our activities.
Jeanette's Educational Insights:
This activity offers several educational opportunities that can be adjusted by age. For younger children:
Putting together the reindeer will help develop fine motor skills through cutting, coloring, and twisting the pipe cleaners. The action of twisting and wrapping the pipe cleaners will be challenging, but a good exercise to develop fine motor and integration of the left and right brain.
Counting each score develops 1:1 correspondence.
Making tallies helps early elementary children learn to bundle and count by 5s.
For older children:
Keeping score allows for multiple levels of math thinking. Mental math can be used with older children to keep a running score.
Regardless of age:
The ring toss provides a fun activity to develop eye-hand coordination.
The fitness option is a great way to get kids moving and discovering their bodies, balance, and coordination.