The countdown is on! Excitement is bubbling in the house, but how do you balance keeping the excitement going with stopping it from bubbling over before the big day even arrives?
There are so many ways to keep the whole family interested in Christmas during the days of advent. Capturing the magic can be done in even the smallest of ways. Whether it’s baby’s first Christmas or you have toddlers, doing Christmas in your own way and creating new traditions is half the fun!
Make your own advent activities calendar
If you’re wanting to avoid giving your little one chocolate every day, or trying to have an eco-friendly Christmas, fill-it-yourself advent calendars are easily available or there are lots of ideas about how to make them online. One idea is to cut out Christmassy shapes from coloured paper (as a template, draw round festive cookie cutters to help you) and then write an activity to do every day on each one and pop it in. You can use the same idea more than once. Think about suggestions like read a Christmas story, decorate the tree, eat a mince pie, make a card, sing a Christmas song or make a decoration. With a bit of thought, you can build the traditions that work for you and your family. And when they’ve outgrown the ideas in a few years’ time, you can repurpose the calendar with chocolate, gifts or jokes.
The magic of stories
Who doesn’t love a bedtime story? Buy books about the magic and of Christmas and keep them tucked away year-round so they only come out at this special time of year. After bath time, tuck your child up and read to them. It’s a calming, special way to end the day and create some special parent/child time.
Christmas movies
We can all get a bit frazzled at this time of year, so curling up with a child-friendly Christmas film can be just what the doctor ordered to give you all a bit of down time. And if the film comes with woolly socks and a hot chocolate, all the better!
Send your cards on time
This year, when it’s harder than usual to get together with family and friends, a thoughtful note handwritten in a card will mean a lot. The Royal Mail have published their last posting dates. It’s 18th December for second class and 21st December for first class.
Whatever Christmas looks like this year, and however you countdown to the big day, we hope you have a peaceful, happy and healthy December.
