Festive times of year are generally an exciting thing to look forward to for people of all ages. Kids get time off school, adults get time off work, and everyone gets a chance to visit with family and just have fun. But usually there is a lot of planning that takes place. One concern for adults is making sure young children stay happy and well behaved. Below are some easy and creative ways to make children friendly holidays for any age child. Young ones will love it, and if the kids are happy the adults are happy!
Let Them Help Out
Children almost universally love to be able to help adults out. As adults, we often don't really want their version of help, but to a child feeling useful is something to be very proud of, and will make them very happy. We are usually very busy when holidays start coming up, as we cook and bake and wrap gifts and decorate, or whatever else we need to do. As you do this, try to allow the kids to help as much as possible in fun ways. A child may not be thrilled about asking to mop a floor before guests arrive, but he or she will be thrilled to help cut out shapes in cut out cookies, or be taught how to make a paper chain to hang up as part of your decorations. And just as exciting for them will be the opportunity to show off their work to everyone.
Organize Activities
Many people consider holidays a time to relax the rules and go wild. When children do this they may have a great time, but rest assured the adults will not. To help save your stress level and make sure the kids have just as much fun, come up with activities they can all enjoy. This is especially helpful if you are at a large family gathering with many children of similar ages. Traditional examples include an Easter egg hunt or Secret Santa, but you can create something for any holiday! Make a scavenger hunt with a holiday theme, or put some icing tubes out by some cookies and let them decorate them as they eat. (If they stay in the kitchen!)
Teaching the Joy of Giving
One thing about holidays that is great for parents is they provide a good opportunity to teach lessons about giving. Show a child how rewarding it can be to share their great holiday experience with others. You will find that many children really enjoy this, and are very proud of doing so. Simply ways to do this might be allowing them to pick out a present of their choosing for a younger relative, and using their own allowance to buy it, or decorating a home made card for an elderly grandparent. If you wish to extend this beyond family, many non profit organizations have holiday charities where your child could decorate a goodies box for a less fortunate child, or something similar. This will be especially rewarding if the child is able to see just who is receiving their present.
Children friendly holidays are not that difficult to come up with, and can be done in many ways. Don't stress out or panic about making a picture perfect day. Just enjoy yourself, have fun, and your kids will have a lot of fun too.
Let Them Help Out
Children almost universally love to be able to help adults out. As adults, we often don't really want their version of help, but to a child feeling useful is something to be very proud of, and will make them very happy. We are usually very busy when holidays start coming up, as we cook and bake and wrap gifts and decorate, or whatever else we need to do. As you do this, try to allow the kids to help as much as possible in fun ways. A child may not be thrilled about asking to mop a floor before guests arrive, but he or she will be thrilled to help cut out shapes in cut out cookies, or be taught how to make a paper chain to hang up as part of your decorations. And just as exciting for them will be the opportunity to show off their work to everyone.
Organize Activities
Many people consider holidays a time to relax the rules and go wild. When children do this they may have a great time, but rest assured the adults will not. To help save your stress level and make sure the kids have just as much fun, come up with activities they can all enjoy. This is especially helpful if you are at a large family gathering with many children of similar ages. Traditional examples include an Easter egg hunt or Secret Santa, but you can create something for any holiday! Make a scavenger hunt with a holiday theme, or put some icing tubes out by some cookies and let them decorate them as they eat. (If they stay in the kitchen!)
Teaching the Joy of Giving
One thing about holidays that is great for parents is they provide a good opportunity to teach lessons about giving. Show a child how rewarding it can be to share their great holiday experience with others. You will find that many children really enjoy this, and are very proud of doing so. Simply ways to do this might be allowing them to pick out a present of their choosing for a younger relative, and using their own allowance to buy it, or decorating a home made card for an elderly grandparent. If you wish to extend this beyond family, many non profit organizations have holiday charities where your child could decorate a goodies box for a less fortunate child, or something similar. This will be especially rewarding if the child is able to see just who is receiving their present.
Children friendly holidays are not that difficult to come up with, and can be done in many ways. Don't stress out or panic about making a picture perfect day. Just enjoy yourself, have fun, and your kids will have a lot of fun too.
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