CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS--Manufacturing Memories

Written by Teresa Hansen


What are your favorite memories ofrepparttar holidays as a child?

More than likely those memories include family traditions from,repparttar 110733 day you choose to decorate your tree, torepparttar 110734 kinds of food you eat atrepparttar 110735 holidays.

Remember that you and your husband came from separate families with different customs and traditions.

When creating a legacy for your children, it is appropriate to use a couple traditions from each of your families and come up with some new ones for your own family. Don’t try to do them all or you’ll end up feeling overwhelmed rather than enriched. Here are some ideas.

Kick offrepparttar 110736 holiday season by attending an event every year. Some suggestions are: The Festival of Trees, attend a play such as A Christmas Carol, or a Christmas concert.

Together, bake a cake on Christmas Eve for Jesus to remind you whose birthday you are really celebrating. Light a candle and even sing “Happy Birthday” to Him.

Sound, smells and tastes can certainly bring back fond memories of past Christmases. The sound that is Christmas to me is Johnny Mathis’s Christmas album, which my mother played each year and I still adore now.

The food that means “holiday” to me is a Frozen Fruit Salad recipe. We had it almost every holiday season. What arerepparttar 110737 sounds, smells and tastes that evoke your Christmas memories? Include those as part of your family’s traditions.

This tradition was submitted by Marilyn Brina: On Christmas morning,repparttar 110738 youngest child goes in and opens his stocking. Therepparttar 110739 other children go in and open their stockings all while Dad is taking movies of us. Then Dad hands out each gift and we all watch as each gift is opened. Then afterrepparttar 110740 gifts are opened, we eat scrambled eggs, sweet rolls and hot chocolate for breakfast.

There are several books of compiled Christmas short stories available in bookstores and libraries. Read to your family each night before bedtime.

Onrepparttar 110741 first day of December read to your family “The Giving Tree”, by Shel Silverstein. As a family, make an advent calendar inrepparttar 110742 shape of a tree and determine 25 “gifts” you can share with neighbors, relative, teachers, and friends. The gifts could be things such as shoveling snow from a neighbor’s walk, visiting a widow, taking homemade bread to someone. Write each gift on a separate “leaf” and attach it torepparttar 110743 tree. Numberrepparttar 110744 leaves from 1 to 25. Each day during December, turn overrepparttar 110745 corresponding leaf onrepparttar 110746 calendar and give whatever “gift” is listed there.

Nurturing Play

Written by Vicki Durr


It’s a constant endeavor to try to keep kids busy and interested in daily activities. Nurturing play such as jigsaw puzzles, scavenger-treasure hunt games, camping, healthy cooking, educational toys, or kids crafts are a great way to spur their imagination, keep them busy and interested in a specific task and help them learn great skills and family values. Jigsaw puzzles have for years been enchanting both children and adults alike and providing hours of fun. Jigsaw puzzles originated inrepparttar 1760’s by European mapmakers and is a key element in building strong family relationships as well as: ·Developing concentration & memory skills ·Fostering fine motor skills ·Increasing your child's self-esteem ·Encouraging matching & sorting skills ·Teaching team-work ·Re-enforcing your child's education ·Stimulating discussion & language development Scavenger-treasure hunt games have become an integral part of our pastimes and continue to be an exciting family tradition. The scavenger minded people are energetic when searching for unique items that will earnrepparttar 110732 greatest point potential for their team beforerepparttar 110733 clock runs out. Whereasrepparttar 110734 treasure minded people appreciaterepparttar 110735 challenge of solving mysteries by decoding clues that lead them to a precious, valuable treasure. We use scavenger-treasure hunt games for entertainment at parties and other family get-togethers. Family camping trips are excellent opportunities to spend together as a family. You learn how to work together as you forget allrepparttar 110736 cares of your everyday life and atrepparttar 110737 same time discover Mother Nature’s beauties. You won't have allrepparttar 110738 luxuries of home, but camping provides unique lifelong experiences that you don't find at home, such as...

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