Christmas is coming, and I know the month and a few days until it is here will fly by all too quickly.
Making memories with my children is my daily hope, and yet that desire is even stronger at Christmastime. Because my focus is on memories and not on things, we avoid shopping over the holidays, choosing to order a few books and toys from online retailers after the children are snug in their beds, and instead, spend our days baking cookies, drinking cocoa, and reading beloved stories.
Kim John Payne, in his book, “Simplicity Parenting”, gives me inspiration as I work to keep our Christmas gift choices simplified.
“The toys that are too detailed or complicated—too “fixed”—can rob a child of an imaginative experience. Dear nighttime toys can never disappear. Even if they are totally hideous, dear nighttime toys are nonnegotiable. The remaining toys have to include a mixture of active toys: building, digging, construction toys; and more receptive toys, such as dolls and stuffed animals, toys that just receive. There can also be creative materials, such as paints, crayons, and some modeling substances, such as beeswax or clay. The toys with staying power are usually—not always, but pretty consistently—figures of some sort, either dolls or knights or stuffed animals; building toys; and scenes or dwellings of some sort, into which the child loves to project his or her figures, and thus themselves.” Kim John Payne
Some of our favorite gift choices for young children
Rainbow Wooden Blocks – fifty wooden blocks in various color for endless play. Packed in a thick cotton sack.
Cuddly Doll – like this Eco-friendly doll handmade in Spain from 100% lambswool
Kitchen for Pretended play from Melissa and Doug available at Bee Kids Store
Wooden Blocks – natural wooden eco blocks for endless stacking and play. Free of harmful chemicals. Made in the Beskidy Mountains, Poland
Practical Life Tools – Let’s Play House Dust! Sweep! Mop! 6-Piece Pretend Play Set
Play Silk – Sarah’s Silks Enchanted Playsilk available in Rainbow Starry Night Blossom Fire Sea
Puzzle – recently we are all passionate about puzzles and spending plenty of quality time.
My favorite part of Christmas memory making is definitely the reading aloud however. All the books that we have read not only create plenty of time to cuddle on the couch, but they also give us noble ideas. As we read Little House on the Prairie, we feel more thankful for all that we have, while reading The Bernstein Bears and the Joy of Giving aloud, inspires us to give to others. These stories, whether long or short, warm our hearts and fill us with joy and hope for the future, something that we all need a little more of.
A few favorites:
- The Bernstein Bears and the Joy of Giving – this beautiful book can teach us a very valuable lesson about the joy of giving to others.
- Paddington and the Christmas Surprise – the story of our sweet old Paddington bear in the Christmas setting.
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – A classic – Children ages 3-6 will love to read this Little Golden Book retelling of the classic 1964 holiday TV special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Other Christmas themed books:
- Peter and Lotta’s Christmas
- If You Take a Mouse to the Movies
- The Glorious Impossible
- Bear Stays Up for Christmas
- Good King Wenceslas
Before we know it, the hectic holiday season will be upon us and I’m always afraid to get lost in the to-do’s and should-do’s that I forget about the simpleness of the season. The love, feelings, and memories that are made this time of year.
Having the gifts done before, I found it easier to deal with the whole stress and massive work that expect us in this period of the year. I hope that with these simple gifts ideas I have inspired you in your choices for the Christmas time this year.
Worm wishes,
Joanna
