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You’ve got one hundred and one things to organise in time for Christmas
and excited kids that want to get involved as much as they can, so how
is it possible to keep the children happy whilst you concentrate on the
perfect family Christmas?
If you try some of the
ideas listed below – I’m sure that you’ll have some happy hearts and
faces!
The Christmas Pudding
If you are not of the ‘nip to the shops
and buy one’ school (as I myself am) then you will find a very willing
kitchen hand in the form of your child. A great big bowl, full of gooey
pudding and a wooden spoon for stirring, will keep most children happy
for ages. Your child will most likely be more than happy to sit and stir
the pudding whilst you wash up the rest of the cooking utensils. As a
child, there is something so rewarding about spending time in the
kitchen with mum and even if you prefer to buy your pudding, why not
pick up some mince pies for the children to decorate with icing pens or
fondant figures.
Wrapping Presents
This can be approached in different
ways. If you don’t have much time, then you will most likely find that
your child will be more than happy to help with the lend of a finger
whilst you grapple with the sellotape. Also, if they are able to, let
them wrap some themselves – it might not look perfect, but people love
to receive a gift that was ‘specially’ wrapped for them by the children.
If you have a little more
time, then it’s nice to be able to decorate presents with bows, cut out
pictures for tags or even design some wrapping paper. A plain piece of
paper with a potato print works very well. A word of warning though –
children find it very hard to keep a secret – so best not to let on who
the present is for if they are likely to see them before Christmas!!
Christmas Cards
This is an excellent way to get the
children involved. They love nothing more than gluing bits of shiny
paper or material on to paper and this can be done on the front of some
folded card to make Christmas cards. If you don’t want to go down that
particular route, then you could always let them practice their writing
on the inside of some cards to their friends. If you do some of the
writing for them, in the form of dots, they can join them up with their
pencil. This is excellent for writing skills and also very enjoyable.
Decorations
There are endless different types of
decorations that you and your child/children can make together, from
paper chains to napkin rings. Here are just a few ideas to get you
started:
Napkin rings
– If you save the tube from a kitchen
roll and divide it into four equal pieces, this will make a good base
for your rings. To make them more hardy, coat them thoroughly in 1 part
PVA glue to 1 part water and let them dry over night (if you want them
coloured – paint them prior to the PVA solution). When they are dry,
they can be decorated with stick on jewels, gold-sprayed ivy or even use
them as a place cards with peoples names on them. It’s quite a nice
keepsake for your guests to take with them.
Tree Decorations
– To make some
simple tree decorations that can be used year after year (I’ve had mine
for 4 yrs now), mix two parts salt to one part flour and one part water.
Roll the mixture out and use cake cutters or a knife to cut out some
festive shapes (don’t forget to use a skewer or knitting needle to make
a small hole in the top of your decoration for the ribbon to go
through). Put them on some greaseproof paper and bake them on very low
(Gas 1-2) for about two hours. When they have cooled you can spray or
paint them. Once dried, give them a coat of varnish (or the PVA
solution), tie some pretty ribbon through the hole and let the children
hang them on the tree.
Advent Diary –
This is quite a nice way for the
children to be able to look back over their previous Christmas’s as they
grow up. You simply buy a cheap scrapbook and date each page from the 1st
to 25th of December. Each day your child can stick in
Christmas cards they may have received from friends, write down any
additional bits they have thought of for their Christmas list or jot
down what they will be doing that day. If they have an advent calendar,
then they could stick the little door in their book too. Finally, the
children can decorate the inside and cover with drawings and glitter
etc. When Christmas is over, you can put the scrapbook away and continue
it the following year. It’s a lovely keepsake to look back on in years
to come.
These are just a few ideas
but there are hundreds more. Children are easily pleased when it comes
to making things and will be especially proud of themselves when they
see their decoration hanging from the tree or their card displayed in
nanny and granddads house. Above all they’ll be pleased that they
created all this with the one person who they really love spending time
with!
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