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ADVENT ’21 DAY 7: WRITE LETTERS TO SANTA

The kids were thrilled when they learned it was time to write their letters to Santa! As in, danced around the living room thrilled! I provided them with several colors of construction paper, markers, colored pencils, and stickers, and then let their creativity take the lead! ⠀

Having recently spent a day sorting through their room and donating toys, they had a very clear picture of all they already have, so that helped them choose gift requests with more intention and thoughtfulness. Cole is hoping for a LEGO safari truck and more LEGO wheels. Isla asked for books about zoology and training animals (such a girl after my own heart!)

We used the opportunity to review basic letter writing etiquette, taking a moment to ask how Santa was, wish him a Merry Christmas, etc. Isla also included the most heartfelt (and heartbreaking) request on the back of her letter, asking Santa to drop Charlie off at our house if he happened to spot him from his sleigh. Oh, if only we could have that Christmas miracle! Even if it means we then live in this tiny cottage with THREE cats! ⠀

Later that afternoon (once I was sure the mail had already been delivered for the day), we set off on a walk to the mailbox together. The kids proudly dropped their letters, lifted the little flag, and excitedly talked about Santa and Christmas for the remainder of our stroll. I had Isaac swing by and pick up the letters on his way home, so that I could actually mail them to “our” Santa in preparation for the zoom call he has with them next week— just to add a little to the magic! I suspect this is Isla’s last year of wholeheartedly believing in Santa, so I just want to maintain that wonder for her as long as I can.

Posted in Celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Advent Activities, Connecting as a Family, Crafting with Kids, Holidays, Live Creatively, Traditions

ADVENT ’21 DAY 6: MAKE A FORAGED WREATH

Spending our first holiday season at the cottage, and thinking about our favorite pastimes here, has inspired some new advent activities for us to try, like making a foraged wreath!

On Sunday morning we set off on our favorite hillside hike and gathered greenery, branches, moss, and berries.

We made an effort to collect plants we associate with this area, like salal and old man’s beard. Then we came home and built a wreath for our front door. Everyone was involved in the process— even little Auggie!

We absolutely LOVED making this foraged wreath together. It will definitely make it into our regular advent calendar rotation!

Posted in Celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Advent Activities, Connecting as a Family, Crafting with Kids, Holidays, Live Creatively, Traditions

Advent Calendar Tree

The first of December brings the opportunity to transition our Connection Tree into a Christmas Tree– the perfect place to display our daily advent activity ornaments!

Before we make the switch, we always take a few moments to reflect on the colorful thankfulness leaves that filled the tree during the fall, and think about the people, places, and things the kids are most thankful for.

For those interested in how we use our connection tree throughout the year, here are details for all the seasons and activities:

The Winter

The Spring

The Summer + The End of Summer

The Fall

Posted in Celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Advent Activities, Connecting as a Family, Connection Tree, Fall, Fall Leaves, Fall Thankfulness Tree, Holidays, Traditions

ADVENT ’21 DAY 5: SORT AND DONATE TOYS

As we seek to help Isla and Cole grow their awareness and gratitude for all that we have, we focus on opportunities to give to others who are in need. One of the ways we do this is by working with the kids to sort through their toys and clothes, to see if there are items they can share with others. Before we go through their room, we discuss the purpose of the activity, placing emphasis on the following: ⠀

  • we have so much to be thankful for⠀
  • there are others out there who do not have much and would appreciate having more⠀
  • one way we can help is by finding clothes and toys that we no longer use and make them available to someone else who might need and/or enjoy them

We also give the kiddos guidelines to consider when choosing items:⠀

  • you do not HAVE to give anything— only give when your heart feels it is the right thing to do⠀
  • we want to give items that are in good condition⠀
  • it is okay to feel some sadness when parting with a toy that you used to play with a lot, because there are happy memories attached to those items⠀

We were absolutely blown away by the kids’ dedicated participation in this activity! They were thoughtful and intentional in their decision making, and genuinely excited by the opportunity to provide other children with nice toys and cozy clothes. I was not sure whether Cole was going to be able to grasp what we were doing, but he had no trouble identifying which items he wanted to “share with the other kids” and which items he was still playing with— it truly is never too early to start encouraging your children to give to others!⠀

A few additional thoughts about sorting and sharing toys:⠀

  • Each year I plan for this advent activity a day or two before the kids write their letters to Santa. We feel it gives them a refreshed perspective of the types of things they actually play with long-term, and is great reminder of all that they already have.⠀
  • We set up a “maybe” pile for items that the kids still feel some attachment towards. At the end of the sorting, they go back through those items and decide whether they would like to keep or share them.
  • There is no shaming if kids want to keep toys— the choice is theirs.⠀
  • We try to keep the purpose of this activity fresh in the kids’ minds while we work. We ask questions to help them reflect and make their own decisions regarding their toys. “Do you remember when you played with that last? Do you think it is something you will want to play with again? Is that a toy that you will want to use again or do you think it just holds lots of special memories? Is this a toy other children might appreciate more?”⠀
  • This is an excellent opportunity to deep clean and organize your children’s spaces. It is so nice to have a fresh space during the holiday season!⠀
  • It might help younger children to have a specific task during all the cleaning/sorting (otherwise, if they are anything like our Bubs, they just get into everything and add to the mess!). We assigned Cole the role of “garbage collector/worker guy” and he was responsible for throwing bits and pieces away in the garbage, placing old papers in the recycling, running dirty clothes to the laundry room, etc. He loved the responsibility, and it helped keep his busy hands from undoing all our sorting.⠀
Posted in Celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Advent Activities, Connecting as a Family, Meaningful Gifts, Traditions