Christmas with a little one - 10 FREE ways!!

With a 21month old in the house this Christmas 2012, here are 10 free ways we'll enjoy the season together...

1. Sing! (Carols, maybe even 'Carols By Candlelight', dance/party music ...)

2. Dance! (Bells, shakers, scarves, tinsel, barefoot, dress ups, follow the leader's dance moves...dance like nobody's watching!!)

3. Bake! (gingerbread, shortbread, cupcakes, slices, bread, scones, plain biscuits, (or just good old play doh)... cookie cutters, rolling pins, ... get those little hands/fingers working!!

4. Decorate! (Tinsel, tree, tinsel, cards, tinsel, art and craft activities - so so many ideas out there, ornaments/balloons/streamers/lights... whatever your thing is!!)

5. Go for a walk! (Check out the neighbour's decorations, walk off all the extra food!!)

6. Depending on which part of the world you live in & what the weather decides to do...play in the snow - make a snowman, have a snowball fight, 'snow angel', footprints, ...  OR play on the sand  - we'll be on the beach this year :-) yeee! - throw the ball around, sand castles, collect shells etc, run/jump/crawl, bury feet/hands, paddle in the water... OR the park, forest, farm - whatever your environment is, try to get in amongst it!

7. Cuddle! (Give your babe some love! I'm pretty sure little kids get more out of your time, attention, and bear hugs/kisses then any other bought gift!)

8. Laugh! (About what? I don't care! ... Find something silly to laugh at - really seriously belly laugh at! For our little one - it can be as simple and stupid as 'silly walks', hide and seek, chasing each other as puppy dogs, tickling - "Round and round the garden" and "This little piggy", and  - this is the most hilarious - apparently - pressing each other's nose and seeing what sound the person makes when their nose is pressed!!)

9. Photo shoot! (Look back and talk about photos from the past year and earlier, take a family snap maybe even an 'Awkward Family Photo' or two, make a collage of photos from the year, write a list/ make a collection of photos celebrating all the new things or 'firsts' (words, skills, outings...) from the year gone by)

10. Make memories! (What makes this time of year special for you? What did you used to do when you were a kid? What traditions are important to keep? - and which might you discard in favour of your own new ones?!  - every family has their own ideas about what is important. So, tell stories, read books, show your kids and involve them in your traditions.)

For our part... we're doing our best to keep things simple, and turn the severe commercialisation of the Christmas/New Year season on it's head.

 

The most important thing is that we get together with the family, have a lovely, relaxed dinner (24th) and lunch (25th) and whilst there will be gifts - we'll keep it as low key as possible, focusing more on enjoying the concept of gift exchanging and the sensory fun of the gift wrappings, bon bons and ridiculous coloured paper crowns! 

What other 'free' activities can you add to this list, which you'll be doing with your little ones this year?

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to check out: Christmas Fun For Toddlers 

Thanks for stopping by Kids' Play Space!

Until soon,

Happy Playing!

Anna :-)

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