This year is different. We find ourselves in the midst of a surging pandemic, and it has radically altered everything. Christmas included.
We will not be celebrating the holidays with family or friends, and it feels so strange to isolate during this festive time. This is the season of merriment, of playing games by the fire, and laughing while you wrap last minute gifts.
As a reaction to all this, a little voice popped up inside me that told me I needed to work extra hard to make this season feel special, particularly for Rémy. But I recognized that this voice was leading me into a trap.
For one thing, no amount of cookie baking, or glittery crafting could possibly fill the void that would inevitably be there. I was going to miss my family, and I would just have to sit with that feeling.
And by giving in to the urge to fill every minute with grand holiday creations, I would be veering away from the child led, independent play that is the foundation of what we are doing right now. I didn’t want to do that.
So I tried my best to strike a balance between independent work and guided activities. I kept focus on the skills that he is working on currently, but I gave everything a holiday theme so as to introduce special ideas, and traditions to Rémy.
HOLIDAY THEMED PLAY SHELVES
Here’s all the independent work that sat on our play shelves during the couple weeks leading up to Christmas.
Jingle Bell Pour
Rémy had been practicing pouring water and mud outside for months, and all of a sudden, the temperature dropped, and the water play stopped. Where would he channel all that energy?
We set up a tray with two metal pitchers filled with jingle bells. He practices pouring the bells from one pitcher into the other. Back and forth, till his heart is content.
Cotton Snow Man
This was Rémy’s introduction to tongs. Well, they actually aren’t tongs but something for squeezing out tea bags. I liked the fact that for his first attempts at picking things up, the tool is large.
The tongs sat on a tray with a large number of cotton balls and a mason jar with a frosty face. Once he fills up the jar with cotton, the face is revealed.
Christmas Blocks
Much of his interest lately has been around stacking, so I needed a shelf activity that would fill that need. Enter Christmas blocks.
I pulled out all the green and red blocks from our small Melissa & Doug set, and placed them in a basket. No matter what he does with them, it always looks festive.
Christmas Matching Tray
Another skill he’s been interested in working on as of late is matching. I’ve been creating new matching games almost weekly, and he’s taken to each of them.
For this version I printed out pictures of a small Santa, a Bow, a Christmas ornament, and a pinecone, and placed the pictures onto a tray with the real items. He pulls out the activity a couple times a day to practice matching everything up.
Christmas Matryoshka Dolls
These matryoshka dolls were a gift several Christmases ago, and I set them out when I decorated the tree. He made a beeline for them, and wouldn’t put them down. I decided that the best place for them would be on his shelves.
He enjoys taking them apart and nesting them, but also loves putting other items inside, and using them as little cups.
Christmas Tree Decorating
This was another activity where he hijacked the materials when I decorated the tree. He fell in love with the little woodland creature ornaments that I had hung up, and wanted to play with each furry friend.
So now they live in a little basket on his shelves, beside a small tree picked up at the grocery store. He’s not very good at hanging the ornaments, although he does try to use the string loops. Eventually, he just perches each of the figures in the tree.
Ribbon Pull
This was an activity that he was into six months ago, and I had basically let it go. But then all these bows and ribbons showed up around the house, and Rémy wanted to pull on everything.
To satisfy this desire to pull, I put together a square basket threaded with ribbon. He can pull out each piece of ribbon until the little basket is bare.
Christmas Tree Dowel Stacker
Dowel stackers have sat on his shelves in one form or another for quite a while now. They get a lot of use, and I wanted to give him something similar. What I created with a nice alternative because it added a level of difficulty that was enticing.
I used a small wooden tree that had come in a pack of wooden objects I used for treasure baskets as the dowel. I also had a pack of wood rings that fit over the tree perfectly.
The tree tips over fairly easily, so Rémy has to really concentrate when putting the rings on. He’s been into the challenge!
Napkin Ring Threading
Threading is a new skill we are diving into, and we’ve also been doing quite a lot of work around table setting, so this activity seemed like a nice fit.
I simply placed a Christmas napkin and ring on the shelves. He can practice threading and pulling the napkin through the ring.
GUIDED ACTIVITIES
These are the activities I prepped for, and helped guide him through in one way or another. Much of the time, these activities work on multiple skills he’s already been practicing, or they introduce new ones that are within reach.
Christmas Tree Pancakes
We have pancakes a few times a week, and he’s most of the time, he’s up in his kitchen tower helping me create the batter. So cooking up some pancakes isn’t necessarily the special event it was when I was growing up.
But add in some green food coloring to mix in, and you definitely have Rémy’s attention. He enjoyed watching the color swirls in the batter almost as much as he enjoyed scarfing up the final product.
Christmas Cards
He may only be able to scribble, but Rémy is already capable of helping me make adorable handmade Christmas cards for his friends. The trick is to harness all that scribbling energy, and turn it into part of the design.
You can do this by taping off a shape onto a blank watercolor card. In this case, I taped off a Christmas tree. I then had him help create red ornaments using watercolor, before letting him scribble away. Check out the process and the end results on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100793295285744/videos/393463401759761
Start a New Tradition
In Los Angeles, our Christmas doesn’t look like a winter fairytale. There are no snow covered fir trees in our neighborhood, but there are a lot of parrots perched in palm trees.
I felt it was important to honor this different kind of Christmas. A uniquely LA Christmas. So we started a new tradition: decorating our succulents.
I’m not recommending that everyone go out and get an aloe plant to cover in ornaments. But I am advocating for you and your little one to think about how Christmas can be celebrated in a way that reflects where you are, your special interests, and your beliefs.
Grinch Table Scape
Sitting on our shelves is a copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss. We’ve pulled it out for read aloud most days. I really wanted to take it up a notch and celebrate this classic.
We put together a Grinch feast that allowed him to practice many of the practical life skills he’s been working on. This one activity may look like silly fun, and it is, but it is also requires flower arranging, laying a table cloth, napkin threading, setting the table, and serving. Well worth the effort!
Frosty Fashion
On my very first Christmas, a family friend gave us a giant Frosty. He has been a valued member of the family ever since. I was honored when Grandma and Grandpa dropped off Frosty on our doorstep for Rémy to love on.
One of my favorite activities growing up was dressing up Frosty in different hats and scarves. This year we put a big basket of hats and scarves next to Frosty, so that Rémy could practice dressing him.
Admittedly, this activity requires some kind of large creature to dress up, but it also is one that could be great at any time of the year. Some holiday friendly fashion contenders that I found:
Giant Penguin: https://amzn.to/37My7pd
Giant Polar Bear: https://amzn.to/3pkO3VJ
Giant Teddy Bear: https://amzn.to/2JjaZ8z
You may watch Frosty Fashion on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100793295285744/videos/1275742796117468
Keith Haring Ornaments
Stick around long enough and you’ll notice a trend… I’ll be sneaking art history, and famous art inspired learning activities into everything. I’m obsessed.
Christmas is no exception. There’s so many interesting, museum inspired ideas to use when decorating for the holidays.
This year we made Keith Haring inspired Christmas tree ornaments out of salt dough. They are a colorful, fun alternative to that traditional Christmas look. They also let us practice baking and painting.
2 cups of flour, ½ cup salt, ¾ cup water. That’s all you need to create the dough. Then cut out some dancing Keith Haring figures to paint. Rémy applied the first coat with a safe paint, and I applied the second coat with acrylics. Seal with Modge Podge and you’ve got yourself a little festive fun.
Christmas Carol Dance Party
For me, a lot of the holiday magic is tied to music. All the songs I grew up singing and dancing to as I played around the Christmas tree are the ones I still play today. Each song takes me back.
I hope to pass these songs along. In future Christmases, Rémy can learn how to sing carols, or play them out on an instrument. For now, I’m just happy to introduce the music. Dance parties are commonplace in the house, but these ones seem special.
Christmas Parade
Every year, I like to go check out Christmas lights. Sometimes we drive around neighborhoods that go all out. Other times we visit public places that have splashy displays.
I’m also a fan of Christmas parades, and the Rose Parade. These aren’t really on the table this year. Unless, of course, the parade has only one household in it.
On Christmas Eve, after dinner, we loaded up Rémy and his stuffed friends into our big wagon strung with solar LED lights. We then had our own parade around the neighborhood. He had so much fun, as soon as we got back to the house, he wanted to go out again.
Comentarios