Read these 10 Holidays & Events Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Toddler tips and hundreds of other topics.
Simplify your traditions so that the toddler can feel a part of it. Children often feel left out at large gathering and events.
Establishing uplifting family traditions will help promote love and kindness in our families. When choosing a new tradition, try to pick something that will be edifying and enjoyable for the family. The purpose of the tradition could be just for "family fun." New traditions could also be educational, enlightening, and inspiring with the purpose of reinforcing family values.
Traditions are patterns of behavior often passed down from generation to generation or started anew with our own families. Family traditions can remind us of our ancestors, reinforce principles, create good family memories, help give family members a sense of belonging, and bond our families together. We should try to start family traditions when our children are young toddlers.
Holiday Tradition Ideas
*Plan a service project in December before Christmas.
*Read the Christmas story from the Bible in Luke II on Christmas eve.
*Write a family newsletter with each person contributing a story or a picture.
*Prepare your favorite food together and share some with friends.
*Play charades on Christmas eve using Christmas as a theme.
*Participate in a recreational activity. Go ice skating, skiing, or sledding together.
*Decorate your home in a special way.
*Make homemade decorations for the Christmas tree.
*Make homemade Christmas cards to send to friends.
*Make a family video of everyone sharing a good memory of the past year.
*Hang Christmas stocking up on Christmas eve.
*Secretly do something nice for your neighbors.
*Celebrate the new year with a family dance or special music.
*Watch home movies on New Years eve.
*Stay up late on Christmas eve waiting for Santa to come or have a slumber party by the Christmas tree.
Toddlers like routines. They like knowing what to expect. Holidays can be tiring and overwhelming for toddlers. Try to stick to a normal eating, sleeping, and napping schedule. Talk to your toddler and give them simple explanation of what is taking place and why.
Take time out from visiting with relatives and friends to listen and spend some quiet time with your toddler.
Family Tradition Ideas
*If relatives live far away, have an Internet chat once a month.
*Visit the library monthly and choose a book to read together as a family.
*Go for family walks in your neighborhood.
*Take pictures of the children on the first day of each school year.
*Go out for ice cream on the last day of the school year.
*Go camping or take a trip together each summer.
*Each month visit an art gallery, museum, or educational exhibit.
*Host a pot luck dinner with your family or neighbors at the end of each summer.
*Help clean up your neighborhood each spring.
*Have a picnic in a park on the 4th of July.
*Celebrate birthdays by allowing the birthday person to choose the meal and activity.
*Celebrate the little things in life. Bake a cake or order pizza when a child receives an award.
*Plan a monthly recreational activity.
*Celebrate an ancestor's birthday.
*Celebrate the first day of each new season with a different activity. Example: spring–go to a show, summer--go swimming, fall–rake leaves together, winter–go ice skating or build a snowman together.
Family traditions are important to the strength of the family. These traditions which vary widely from family to family help remind us to take time for our family and to do something together. Some traditions are carried out daily, while other traditions take place only once a year. Reading bedtime stories and saying bedtime prayers are daily traditions of many families. Many family traditions are built around holiday celebrations.
Choose an activity that the whole family can plan and participate in. The tradition may need to be adapted as the age, ability, and interest of family members change, so that each family member feels important and included. Choose a time and place for the activity.
Always being told you can't touch is very frustration for a toddler. Make sure your holiday decorations include items a toddler can touch and feel. Let the toddler be involved in some of the decorating.
Guru Spotlight |
Lynda Moultry |