A wonderful song from “Sound of Music” reminds us about a few of Julie Andrews’ favorite things ... rainbows, kittens, raindrops, etc. We all are reminded as Christmas approaches about our favorite things; if we look closely at these memories, most involve people we love doing with us things we enjoyed, taking time to be with us. Happy remembrances are what add to our sense of wellbeing, contribute to our feeling of being loved and cared for, and help us understand just how special we are. Children need to have memories of Christmas smells and “cooking” with Mom or making holiday treats with the special people in their lives is a great way to make memories. Each generation must create for the next these special times and feelings that will be treasured memories, but where is the time to come from with so many parents working and so little time?
The answer could be shortcut strategies and using prepared materials from which to create novel and fun projects is the method! What follows are several activities adults can do with even young children ... and older children may well enjoy them ... without taking much preparation or making much of a mess. Best of all, these are projects even tiny hands can really do, so adults, PLEASE resist the temptation to help “too much” because of mess or time concerns. Remember how important it is for children to feel a sense of accomplishment!
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer: Spread a graham square with peanut butter, stick on several pretzel sticks for antlers, add colored candy eyes and a red nose ... presto, a reindeer! You can make these individually or have your child help make party treats!
Gingerbread House: Use graham crackers for walls and roof; stick together with plain vanilla frosting (you really should use Royal Frosting, but it isn’t worth the extra effort). You can use squares, for small houses, or combine squares and whole crackers for rectangle houses. Use a toothpick to poke a line of holes diagonally across a square and then carefully break into triangular pieces to use for the gable ends of the roof. Smear plenty of icing on and cover liberally with small candles such as cinnamon, gum drops, chocolate chips and tiny marshmallows. These won’t last long, and most of the fun is in the tasting of the ingredients as you go along! Build this on a paper plate to easily move it. If it is hard to keep your house from collapsing, use frosting to glue the grahams to the sides of a small box or milk carton. A small plastic sandwich bag with the corner snipped off becomes a disposable pastry bag. Fill it with frosting, squeeze gently, and the frosting comes out in a narrow line for outlining “doors” and “windows” on the houses.
Gingerbread Men: Almost any grocery store has bags of gingerbread men! Try covering them with ready-made frosting and then stick on candies to decorate or sprinkle them with powdered sugar. If you combine this activity with reading the story about the gingerbread man, your child will always remember the story and you spending the time “making gingerbread men”!
Gingerbread Men Skaters: Use frosting to stick the feet of gingerbread men onto a graham square covered with blue frosting, decorate around with green gum drops to look like bushes around a pond. A magical “Christmas Village” could be made from the gingerbread houses and skaters, using a cookie sheet for the village base.
Remember to do all of these more than once! Children, like adults, enjoy repeating what they love doing. The memory of these times spent with their favorite people, their parents and other special adults will become a cherished part of their treasures in time that they take with them into their future lives to share with the next generation to do this.
