Most children are familiar with the story of Corduroy and will be delighted with this Christmas story and activity. Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise is a beautiful tale by Don Freeman of a teddy bear named Corduroy and all of the adventures he enjoys during the holiday season. Enjoy Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise Story & Sensory with your child, then try the enrichment activities below to keep the learning going!

Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise Story & Sensory

Christmas is coming, and Corduroy has a list of gifts he’d like from Santa until he discovers the true meaning of Christmas is not about train sets and ice skates, but about good friends. Celebrate the season with Corduroy in this Christmas story that is sure to be a holiday read-aloud favorite.

Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise Story & Sensory

Story time and sensory play always go together! Read the story for some quiet restful time first.

Taste Safe Cloud Dough Pretend Cookies

Children will be excited to try making their own cookies after reading about Corduroy.

Corduroy's Christmas Story & Sensory Activity for Preschoolers

Whip up some taste-safe cloud dough pretend cookies for the littles to play with while you prepare for the holidays. These cookies are similar to the cookies pictured in Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise.

Are you looking for additional ideas to complete a full day of activities? Or a week of preschool activities based on Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise? Here’s a couple more to get you started.

Taste Safe Cloud Dough Sensory Pretend Cookie Dough

Ingredients

1 cup of cornstarch
3 cups of whipped cream topping
1 tablespoon of cooking oil (optional)
candy sprinkles
cookie cutters

Instructions

Mix the cornstarch and whipped cream in the bowl. Mix until dough consistency forms.

If the dough is too crumbly, add in a tablespoon of cooking oil and continue to mix until firm. If too sticky, add an additional teaspoon of cornstarch at a time until it's a firm dough.

Sprinkle some cornstarch on the work surface.

Flatten out the cloud dough with your hand or a rolling pin.

Use a cookie cutter to cut out cookie shapes.

Sprinkle candy sprinkles on top of the cloud dough pretend cookies.

Signs of Christmas Book Scavenger Hunt

This activity takes children through the text and leads them on a hunt for the signs of the holidays!

All you need for this activity is the book, Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise by Don Freeman, and some small Post It Notes.

First, talk about the signs and symbols of Christmas. Some examples include lights, a tree, cookies, ribbons, gifts, bows, and ornaments.

Take a walk through the book Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise. Look for these signs of Christmas in the book. As you find them, mark the picture with a sticky note. See how many examples you can find!

Compare and Contrast Bears

Preschoolers can determine what’s real and what’s not. How is Corduroy like other real-life bears? How is he different? In this activity, we will compare and contrast.

Supplies needed for this activity include Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise book, Nonfiction books about bears, pencil/markers, and paper.

Directions for the Compare and Contrast Activity:

1. Make two columns on your poster board. One column will be similar comparisons, and the second column will be for contrasting attributes.
2. Take some time to look through the books. Look at how Corduroy is like other bears (he has fur, paws, eats, likes to explore) and how he is different. Some examples of this might include he wears clothes, walks upright.
3. Make a list of similarities and differences between real bears and Corduroy.

More Holiday Books

Some of our favorite children’s Christmas stories are Bear Stays Up for Christmas, Little Blue Truck’s Christmas, Mr. Willoby’s Christmas Tree, and The Christmas Wish. These books make great gifts or additions to the classroom.

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