Spend TIME, not money on children this holiday

The most important part of early childhood is connecting and building relationships with caregivers, siblings and friends. It enables the child to discover its own identity, skills and passions in a supportive environment. It will help her to understand the world around her as well as building her confidence and empathy. Maintaining and building a strong bond with your child is the best way to support her mental health in the future.

So please, spend time with your child this holiday. Happiness can only be realized, not bought.

I will be posting some fun ideas for families to spend time on. It is all about the moment and the process, not about achieving any specific thing. To begin with, remember to SLOW DOWN. Be realistic in what you “need” to get done. Keep calm and enjoy your family.

Simple paper decoration I made with Heiða (7) the other day

 1# Make things together

Creating something together is precious. Creating something on your own is even more precious for a young child. It can be anything – making holiday decorations out of paper, baking cookies or crafting different things. Pinterest is a great resource for ideas if you are inexperienced!

My craft shelves! Lots of open ended resources :)

Try to use as open ended materials as possible and see what the child comes up with. I usually just offer a lot of resources and work on my own thing while the children do theirs. If you liberate yourself from the end result, enjoy the process and only offer help when they ask for it you will end up with children that understand how to work and create independently. They won’t experience the pressure of making a specific object. They will just remember the joy of the process. They might need help from time to time, but try not to offer it unless they ask (this can be very difficult for adults!).

This will support their development of problem solving skills, creative vision as well as persistence. The best lessons come from hard work and it takes patience to build great skills. Enable your child to feel complete ownership in the accomplishment.

Have fun!
Hulda