Pregnancy And Baby Care Articles General Articles

• Tweet
• 

• Homemade decorations - creating Christmas decorations will teach your child the meaning of Christmas and will make her feel helpful and included in the celebrations. Two great decorations that your child can make are:
• Christmas cookie cutter painting - cookie cutters make great stencils for painting and will help your child identify shapes. You can give your child a paintbrush and have her paint over the edges of the cookie cutter and place the painted edges on a canvas.
  
  
  Have her paint the edges of different shapes of cookie cutters, that way she will have many shapes on her canvas. You can then have this creation framed and placed in her room as a Christmas memory.
• Potato paintings - take 2 to 3 potatoes, cut each into half. Carve some typical Christmas symbols like stars or holly leaves. Get your child to dip her fingers into some paint and spread over the carved potatoes. Imprint these on canvas. Frame and hang near the Christmas tree. Or cut out the stars and holly leaves from the canvas, punch a hole in each cutting, place a ribbon through it and hang it on a wall.
• Play dough - get play dough in different colors and have your child make little snowmen, baubles, stars, and little Christmas trees. You can add some sequins or paint them over with gold and silver paint to give it a shiny Christmas look and place it on the mantle.
• Christmas hand wreath - ask your child to hold her hands down on a sheet of paper. Then trace out your toddler's hands, and cut the hands of from the paper. Use these hands to now cut 16 hands out. Now give your child some paint and ask her to use her fingers to make some designs of her choice on her hand cut-outs. Stick the hands together in a wreath type formation and hang it on the wall.
• Making Christmas sweets - you can include your toddler in the making of Christmas sweets and cookies, especially gingerbread cookies. Let your child help you in mixing, measuring, and stirring and using cookie cutters to cut out gingerbread men. You can ask for your tot's help in baking small Christmas cakes.
• Volunteering - there are many charities that people can volunteer at, especially during Christmas. You can make some sandwiches or meal packets and hand them out at homeless shelters, or help out at soup kitchens. Enlisting your child as your little helper will teach her the importance of helping out others who are not as fortunate. It would be even better to make it a Christmas tradition by continuing the good work every year after. You can do some research about the local charities in your area to find charities that are close to your heart.
• Putting bows and ribbons on Christmas decorations - children love to help out with anything to do with gifts. You can have them stick on the ribbons on presents. You can wrap the gifts up and ask your child to do a small dry run for you where they learn to pull of the adhesive strip at the back of the ribbon and learn to stick at the place they think it looks the best. Encourage them to be creative and give them the opportunity to pick out their own colors and shapes.
• Put up a little skit - you can ask your child to prepare a short little narrative or a Christmas carol performance for Christmas dinner. Or if you have a large family, you can include the other children in and give them the responsibility of entertainment during the family dinner. This will teach them how to get rid of their shyness, stimulate creativity and make them learn planning without knowing that they are actually learning it. Always remember to praise your child and give her positive reinforcement for the job they have done, even if they were to forget their lines or get stage-fright.

Reference
http://www.charitywatch.org/azlist.html

Read more articles from the General Articles Category.