Entertaining Your Kids in the Busyness of Christmas.

Life for me normally seems pretty busy but that little word takes on a whole new meaning as December approaches and the month becomes a flurry of activity as Christmas quickly approaches. The house is decorated and trimmed with Christmas trees, lights and stockings, Christmas cards are to be made for our family and customers (I run a small craft business called Clever Little Scraps), invites to our church's carol service are to be delivered to the local area...that's a lot of posting, Christmas cake is to be made and decorated, yearly letters are sent to family in Canada (being careful not to miss the last post), presents are to be purchased for family, wrapped, tagged and delivered, 5 birthdays are to be celebrated in our family in the month of December, food shopping always seems to take longer at this time of year and of course food production in my own kitchen ramps up as I aim to prepare the food in advance to allow me to spend time with my children on Christmas day itself.

Happy Little Helpers

With only 2 hands this can often seem a mountainous list to scale. We have normal church activities, schooling and everday chores to do as well. My boys are great little helpers and as they get older they are able to help more and more. So wherever possible I get them involved with chores and food preparation. I've learned never to underestimate children as they can often do a lot more than we think. They can peel vegetables, roll the pigs in blankets, mix up cake recipes, cut out gingerbread and peppermint creams for gifts. They can sweep floors and wipe down surfaces, tidy up their toys and make beds. They can sort through laundry and put their own clothes away. I have taken care to encourage my children to assist me in daily chores that are appropriate to their age and although such a task may not be carried out 100% as I would have done it, I applaud my child's attempt as I gently teach them how to take care of their home and possessions. This gentle teaching is proving to be helpful during the busy months and so through Christmas I do rely on these extra little hands more. These little hands are often willing hands as they have come to understand that their help brings praise but also gives them extra time with their momma as the mountainous list begins to become only hilly as the load is spread amongst us. After each meal of the day I set the timer on my mobile, sometimes 15 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes, and even up to 1 hour if there are big jobs to do and until the bell sounds we work in the house everyone together on our daily chores. It may sound a little regimented but the boys love the competitive edge of what they can achieve in the timed session and they love the reward that awaits afterwards, be that a special drink, a game or a trip to the park or story time.

So my festive tip number one for entertaining children this Christmas is to get them involved even if it is matching socks!

There are some things however that are still beyond the children to do, and I can hardly ask them to buy and wrap their own present! During these times I turn to a few different activities that my children enjoy.

Craft Projects

The children love craft projects and on our home education blog I have posted today about the Christmas crafts I had bought with the children in mind this Christmas. Check it out for some crafty inspiration.

Another easy festive craft is to let the children make snowflakes. This tutorial shows you how to fold and cut snowflakes, children can make their own designs and then you can use fine cotton to string up the snowflakes. For us this may be the closest we get to a white Christmas!

Baking

The other thing they like to do is bake. I try to be prepared and always have the ingredients in for some simple cupcakes or have some gingerbread dough made up in the fridge ready for rolling. In the last month or so I have taught my oldest how to follow a recipe and weigh ingredients so this is a fairly hands off task for me. Once baked even the littlest hands enjoy decorating the baked treats and even more so enjoy eating them. Follow this link for plenty of gingerbread inspiration!

Jelly Telly

I recently signed up for Jelly Telly and the children love it. I am a parent who for a number of reasons does restrict the screen time of my children. But when they are allowed to watch something I have appreciated Jelly Telly, the programmes they have to offer are varied and I do not need to watch what content they are selecting as all the content is suitable for them to watch. They are particularly enjoying the What's in the Bible series.

LEGO

Another entertaining activity is LEGO. I love this stuff, who knew blocks with dots could have taken off the way it has done. We have a variety of models now, bought as birthday and Christmas presents as well as the classic blocks for their own creations. I often set them building challenges to create things like castles, a moving vehicle, a workable invention. You can make the challenges Christmas related and build snowmen, Christmas trees, nativity scenes and really anything that takes your fancy. I have a set of LEGO challenge cards laminated similar to these that are fun and educational. Or for a seasonal take on LEGO challenges you can try out these Christmas creations.

Get Walking

Whilst this suggestion means you can't do tasks within the home, it does mean you can all get some much needed fresh air and you can do it on route to the shops, play dates or doctors or wherever you need to get to throughout the week. Take the children on a nature walk. There are lots of printables you can find across the web for autumn and winter nature walks where children can tick off things they find like a pinecone, nest or berries. Here is a fun winter walk checklist. I did learn of a new way to do a winter nature study this year through following another blog. Here is the explanation for a red, green and white walk where the colours of the walk point towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Follow the link to learn more.

Reading Corner

Create a cosy reading nook with blankets, cushions, lights and a snack box and gather a selection of really good books and let the children snuggle together and read with each other. A new and interesting setting in which children can peruse the books can even make reluctant readers pick up a book.

So there you have it. My suggestions on how to keep the kids entertained throughout the Christmas period. Take what you like and if you have your own suggestions leave a comment with your helpful suggestion. I am always looking for new ways to keep things fresh.

Christmas with all the trimmings

December seems to come around quicker every year and true to form the 1st December 2016 came hurtling into our home. We like to decorate the home early on in the month and my little helpers were eager to trim the tree. Down from the loft came the tree and trimmings and on the first day of December the Christmas music came out and we merry people got busy and transformed our home for the festive period. When we were first married we decided that each year of marriage we would add to our collection of ornaments and trimmings seeing as how expensive this time of year can be. So our very first Christmas we had a real fir tree with some lights on and a few baubles, simplicity was the word. 9 years down the line and our real fir tree turned into a fake one (I love the smell of real trees but the fake one was bought for financial reasons as we were expecting a child, but I hope to return to the real fir trees one day), and a collection of ornaments mainly involving woodland critters are now scattered over our tree. We have a couple of wreaths and some robbins and pine cones are scattered over our windowsill.

Christmas growing up was always eagerly anticipated. I loved helping my mum trim the tree. She gave me the job of hanging the snowflakes throughout the branches. I took great care in my assigned role, making sure they were evenly spaced. The snowflakes themselves were beautifully shimmery and glistened from the Christmas lights. My dad and brothers would be sitting watching a Christmas film drinking shandys and there would undoubtedly be some kind of Christmas foodie treat, normally homebaked. As a child I saw our Christmas tree go through various colourful transformations as my mum searched to find the perfect tree and trimmings, but those snowflakes and an owl (which my oldest brother had the honour of placing each year) were constant amongst the ever changing decorations.

Christmas as a child was fun and exciting with a little stress thrown in as my mum frantically tried to get everything in place for the big day, and as a child I never knew something was missing, because something was missing. None of us knew. We had presents and food, family games and films, chocolate and laughter...but there was a hole in our Christmas that no amount of money or time could fill. You see I grew up in a family who didn't know Christ. There was no Christ in our Christmas. To us it was a time to be with family, take a break and eat good food. My mum's Christmas dinner was epic! I mean 3 courses of tantalizingly mouth-watering food. Some years my parents would drop in at a carol service or a christingle service, no matter how many santas and reindeers you see in the shops, angels and babies in mangers are scattered through shelves of Christmas decorations. No matter how hard retailers and shoppers try to push Christ away, the image of new life resting quietly in the manger can still be found on Christmas cards, in Christmas baubles and in nativity scenes. People may try to close their eyes to what they see and close their ears to the words of the Christmas carols but Christ can not be erased from Christmas.

The children at my church are learning a song for their yearly Christmas performance. Here are the words:

Unto Us A Child Is Born

(CHORUS)

Unto us a child is born, 

Unto us a son is given. 

He shall reign in all the earth, 

He will be called Emmanuel!

Angel voices sing, 

Hallelujahs ring, 

For today in Bethlehem the love of God has come to men, 

The Saviour of the world is Christ the King! 

CHORUS
 

Leave your cares aside, 

Seek and you will find, 

For today in Bethlehem the love of God has come to men, 

The Saviour of the world is Jesus Christ! 

CHORUS

Come let us adore, 

Now and evermore. 

For today in Bethlehem the love of God has come to men, 

The Saviour of the world is Christ the Lord! 

CHORUS

There is a catchy tune to go with this song. My children are singing it, I'm singing it. I'm thankful that from young ages my home will speak of Christ not only throughout the festive season but throughout the year as well. I did not grow up with this priviledge but God is full of grace and mercy. It is with great joy that I tell you that my parents are now able to rejoice in the good news of Jesus Christ. They have left their cares aside, they sought for a saviour and they have found Christ the Lord. Together we can raise our voices with the angels and sing our hallelujahs. A few months ago I watched my parents publically declare their faith and belief in Jesus as they were baptised. Now this Christmas their home will be one where Jesus is loved. I know my mum and there will still be a feast on the table, there will still be those shimmering snowflakes and perfectly placed decorations, there will still be games and laughter, but best of all there will be Christ!