How to have a mindful Christmas?
A mindful Christmas
At The Curiosity Approach, we encourage educators, parents to be mindful during their practice and daily lives. As Christmas fast approaches and the excitement builds, this can become difficult with children slowly becoming more and more wound up by the anticipation and build up of the big day.
It is our responsibility to continually help our little ones to be mindful too, to not get swept along by the consumerism of this magical time. To slow things down and appreciate the experiences rather than the mountain of plastic toys that are on a smorgasbord of temptation.
When the children are being dragged from shopping centre to shopping centre, with an attack on their senses. The excitement of the big day and the anticipation of the man in red. When TV screens bombard our children with the latest must-have gadget or designer item. Lets slow things down and be mindful at this festive time.
Give Back
At this time of year, it’s so very easy to be swept up with materialism and to be sucked into the advertisement that bombards us 24/7. Therefore it is up to us adults to encourage our children to find the joy of giving rather than receiving, to find the pure essence of Christmas which is about togetherness.
Encourage our children to remember children/people less privileged than ourselves. Those people less fortunate than ourselves, perhaps the homeless or those living in poverty.
‘A staggering fourteen million people live in poverty* in the UK. This time of year puts, even more, demands on finances. With cupboards almost bare, many will be faced with rationing the last of their food supplies over the festive period. With nothing left to pay for even the essential groceries, a modest Christmas dinner is out of the question, leaving no choice but to make up a meal from the basics they have left. Yes, something like beans on toast may be tasty, nutritious and affordable, and can even be a little treat when you don’t want to cook a big meal, but it’s hardly a Christmas dinner you’d want to remember.’ https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-involved/christmas-appeal/
One great idea that you could introduce at home or within your education establishment is to create a ‘Reverse Advent Calendar’ – To do this, every day on the run-up to Christmas, instead of opening the door to a chocolate, encourage children to put a food item aside into a box that can be delivered at this difficult time. The food bank is a great place to start, however, there are many worthwhile charities
This will help children learn another perspective and give them a warm glow and the joy of giving.
What to collect for your reverse advent calendar:
Different charities will ask for different kinds of contributions but generally speaking, you should be collecting either clothes and toiletries, toys and entertainment or food. Here are some suggestions to fill your reverse advent calendar with:
- Dolls, teddy bears, figurines
- Pencils, crayons, paper, colouring books
- Hats, gloves, scarves
- Makeup, toiletries
- Baby clothes
- T-shirts, jumpers
- Arts and crafts, jigsaws
- Bath towels, hand towels, blankets
- Tinned goods such as fruit, tuna, baked beans, chopped tomatoes and rice pudding
- Cans or (plastic) bottles of fizzy or still drinks
- Chocolate and sweets
- Biscuits and crackers
- Crisps and savoury snacks
We hope you enjoy getting involved and the children spend each day on the run-up to Christmas thinking about people less fortunate than themselves. Slow things down and be mindful of the world around us and our local community.
The Curiosity Approach
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