Festive seasons of the year are often highly anticipated by adults and children alike. It is a time to get off work or school, visit with family, and have fun. However, a lot of planning often has to go into these events. Especially if there are young children around, there is always the task of making sure they enjoy themselves. The following is some quick and creative ideas for making children friendly holidays for kids of all ages. The kids will love it, and happy kids makes for less stressed adults as well!
Let Them Help Out
Almost all young children are fascinated with being able to help adults out. Of course, adults often do not see their attempts as actually very helpful, but the kids will be be very proud of being able to do something useful. We are all very busy around the holiday season, be it cookie baking for a family get together, wrapping gifts for relatives, or putting up decorations to get ready for guests. While you are doing all this, find ways to allow even the young kids to be involved in all of it. You could let them help cut shapes in cut out cookies, or teach them to put together a paper chain to decorate a section of the house. Your kids will not only have a great time, they will love to show off what they have done.
Organized 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.
Many things can be done to make children friendly holidays that adults can enjoy as well. Don't worry or stress out about everything having to be picture perfect. All you need to do is relax and have fun, and your kids will love it too.
Let Them Help Out
Almost all young children are fascinated with being able to help adults out. Of course, adults often do not see their attempts as actually very helpful, but the kids will be be very proud of being able to do something useful. We are all very busy around the holiday season, be it cookie baking for a family get together, wrapping gifts for relatives, or putting up decorations to get ready for guests. While you are doing all this, find ways to allow even the young kids to be involved in all of it. You could let them help cut shapes in cut out cookies, or teach them to put together a paper chain to decorate a section of the house. Your kids will not only have a great time, they will love to show off what they have done.
Organized 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.
Many things can be done to make children friendly holidays that adults can enjoy as well. Don't worry or stress out about everything having to be picture perfect. All you need to do is relax and have fun, and your kids will love it too.
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Get the low down on creative ideas for making children friendly holidays for kids of all ages now in our overview of everything you need to know about kid friendly holidays
