It’s December. The blissful and busy season of summer. It’s the beginning of chocolate first thing in the morning as kids devour their advent calendars and the countdown to Christmas begins.
I love seeing the joy on children faces with Christmas is in the air. Decorations scattered around homes, trees showing off the latest handmade decoration which is usually from school. Christmas with children is a time of anticipation and excitement. It is a special time of year that reminds us to marvel at the smallest of things and live with the expectation of what is to come. Cherish these moments and the young creative minds in your midst and watch them grow and get lost in the wonder of it all.
It’s such a busy time of year and preparation for the festive season with little ones tagging along in the mayhem of shopping centres is not the easiest of tasks, especially when kids are jazzed up on sugar, excitement and little rest. Today, I thought I would share a few suggestions o how to reduce the time spent out in the chaos and confusion helping to (hopefully) create more blissful experiences.
GOING SHOPPING
- To reduce time spent at the shops, ask your children to write their own list. For the little ones you’ll need to give them a helping hand or maybe the older ones can pitch in.
- Make a small list of presents you plan to buy for a few treasured friends.
- Have the promise of a Christmas movie, or Christmas soundtrack or a new Christmas book to read upon returning home from a successful trip. You can usually string that promise out for a couple of hours and knock over more than you expect at the shops.
- If you have a gaggle of little ones grab a smooth rolling trolley and stack them in.
- Find the play centre at the shops and use it as a ‘break time’. Grab yourself a coffee, meet up with a friend and let the kids blow some steam off before part 2 or 3 of the shopping excursion.
WRITE A LETTER TO SANTA
A beautiful but simple activity, and one that keeps the kids busy and their imagination active is taking time to write their letters to Santa. And, why not add a bit of colour to the letter by printing out some Christmas colouring pages, and help them to decorate with some paper craft ideas. To carry on with the craft and letter writing, there are more ideas here including some fun cooking ideas.
CHRISTMAS MOVIES
Movies that celebrate Christmas can often share the different cultural experiences of Christmas around the world – particularly in Europe or America because in Australia there is no such thing as snow for Christmas! Some of these movies celebrate the traditions of Christmas while also being very fun and entertaining for the whole family. Maybe choose one every weekend to watch and sit together as a family. Here are a few of the holiday favourites;
- Elf
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- The Polar Express
- The Santa Clause
- Christmas with the Kranks
- Home Alone 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
I hope and pray that this festive and beautiful season to celebrate love is how you choose to experience December with your friends, family, the strangers waiting in line with you in the shopping queues, and your children. Blessings to you all for the new year and of course Christmas Day.
Much Love,
Susanna
