We love this blog from Maggie Dent about remembering that Christmas is about connection and sharing some ideas for buying gifts for children.
Remember those moments when the kids have opened up their expensive plastic presents and spent the rest of the day playing with the boxes! When the new fridge or washing machine got delivered and the large box became their house for the next few weeks. Remember the time that the big trees in the backyard were pruned and the branches became the platform for battles, villages and magical kingdoms for the next few weeks.
Gifts that allow our children a chance to use their imagination, ones that don’t require a power point or batteries. Gifts that encourage sharing, collaboration and last more than 10 minutes. Gifts that help children practice patience, persistence and care. Gifts that offer more than one idea, that can be used in different ways.
So head down to your local shopping centre and ask them if you can raid their big cardboard box skip bin, bundle up those prunings and allow them to hang around your backyard for the rest of the school holidays. Go through that linen closet and tear up some of those old ratty sheets, take a deep breath and accept the fact that your living room might be a cubby house village for a couple of weeks!!! Remember – simple is often the best option! Oh and don’t forget the humble picture book too! You can never have enough books.
Daniel Burton