Get kids involved with the holidays
The holidays of November and December will be here before you know it! This time of year is filled with family, decorations, food, gifts and, did I mention, food? Sometimes these tasks turn into a huge job instead of being fun. Change that this year! Get the whole family involved in all aspects of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Spending quality time with your loved ones will remind you of one more thing to be thankful for this holiday season.
Decorations have already begun popping up in stores everywhere and soon will begin to appear in yards as well. How can you get your kids involved in the excitement of preparing for the coming season? Thanksgiving could be a time to start getting the kids involved with the food preparation. Sit down together and plan the meals. Let them help make the grocery shopping list. Go down your menu and list everything you will need for each dish, then check to see what you already have and decide what needs to be purchased.
Take the kids to the store and show them how to pick out the ingredients you will use. Let them help with the meal preparation. Remember, the sooner they learn to cook, the sooner you can turn that job over to them! They will, no doubt, feel a sense of accomplishment when they serve a meal that they helped to prepare.
What about family traditions? Does your family have things they do year after year during the holiday time? Traditions can be a source of security for your kids. The fact that they can depend on certain things happening at this time of year gives them a sense of “home.” Explain any family traditions behind the family visits and meals.
While you are at it, try to tie in a healthy eating lesson. Let the kids explore their creativity by coming up with decoration ideas and by making different embellishments for their ideas. When it becomes a hands-on activity, kids want to be involved. You might be surprised at the ideas they can come up with.
To help the kids understand why holidays are important, explain the significance of each one. Start with having them think about things for which they are thankful. They can make a list of those things, draw pictures of them or write a story about why they are thankful. Children, learning at an early age to be appreciative and thankful for what they have, tend to think more of others than of themselves. Give them a little history lesson about the first Thanksgiving.
Teach the kids that, although they are fun, receiving gifts is not the most important part of the holiday season. Help them plan a list of gifts they plan to give to others. The gifts they plan to give can be things they will make for the special people on their list. Spending time with family and friends in face-to-face conversations is quite important, as well.
Cooking, decorating and planning for the holidays can help you stay close to your immediate family as well as extended family members. Plan to spend some quality time around the table with your favorite holiday guests this year. Take time to teach your kids the real meaning of the Christmas season. Let your traditions turn into their traditions.
4-H Club
For information about Garland County 4-H Club membership or program benefits, contact Linda Bates at the Garland County Cooperative Extension office, 236 Woodbine, call 623-6841 or email lbates@uaex.edu.
Master Gardener
Master Gardener meetings are held at 1 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at Lake Valley Community Church. They’re open to the public. For information, call the Extension Office or email Allen Bates at abates@uaex.edu.
EHC
Interested in joining an existing Extension Homemakers Club? EHC is the largest volunteer organization in the state. For information, call Jessica Vincent at 623-6841 or email jvincent@uaex.edu.