Waiting

Patience is a hard thing to teach. This time of year especially, there is quite a bit to get ready for, things to wait for and look forward to! But there are teachable moments no matter what holidays your kids are celebrating! Counting down the days with an advent calendar is a time honored tradition for those who celebrate Christmas. Here are some ways to twist this tradition slightly to create some great memories and teach some lessons to your kids!

1. A waiting chain! We used paper strips cut about 1 1/2 inches wide in alternating colors (red and green, blue and white) to count the days until the holiday! It can also be used to count down days to a birthday or other big event. Make one strip for each day from now until the big day and make a simple paper chain. Each day you can rip off one of the links. This is a great visual way to show the passage of time and to build and manage excitement. Want to make it even more meaningful? Try writing a little something for the family to do on each link before connecting them. Things like:

• sing a carol or other happy song out loud
• clean your room to get ready
• clean out the toy room and donate old toys to a shelter
• make a bird feeder to give back to nature
• do something nice for someone today without being asked 
• tell someone today a nice compliment
• write a note to someone you have not seen in a long time
• bake cookies
• try a new holiday craft today
• jump up and down and yell hooray to celebrate another day closer
• hug someone every hour today
• call someone who lives far away from you and have a chat

You get the idea and you can modify and think of more things to do to get ready for the holidays! 

2. Have a jar of jobs. Want some things done around the house before the holidays. Create a job jar and have the kids choose a job from the jar each day. Fill a jar with slips of paper that have the jobs written on them- things like cleaning their rooms, helping with baking, wrapping gifts or whatever. On the other side of the jobs, you can write an amount that the job is worth. Then as the kids earn money they can make a gift list of family to buy for. They will really think very hard about what to give people when they are earning the money themselves! Or if you want have another treat on the other side of their job, things like watching a holiday video, getting computer time or having a holiday treat! 

3. Put a white piece of paper up on the wall in the kitchen- poster size! Grab some markers and each morning have the kids write something they are thankful for, or some achievement or moment from the last year that they want to highlight! Try to fill the paper up before January 1st! Then use the paper to cut up and make New Year's confetti! This is a great way to focus on accomplishments and celebrations from the past year! 

There are hundreds of ideas of activities for this time of year.... feel free to share your own ideas!!!