Christmas Crafts to Do With Kids

If you like Christmas crafts there is no shortage of directions for how-to projects both on and online. On the Internet there is lots of inspiration for crafts. Do a little surfing and you will find do it yourself projects for every type of craft imaginable. Women's magazines are also full of ideas for projects you at this time of the year.
I like to keep it simple. Try baking your own shortbread cookies, decorating them with colored icing and decorative silver balls and stringing them on shiny ribbon or fish line. I let the kids cut out the shapes.
One good shortbread recipe can provide you with loads of cheap and creative looking cookie Christmas tree decorations. You can buy shapes like Christmas trees, Christmas balls, snowmen and angels as cookie cutters from a store. Even the youngest of kids can do this. Perhaps the easiest shape to make out of shortbread is the Christmas ball. Simply cut the ball shape out of the dough with the rim of a glass and lavishly decorate it with candy glitter.
You can also make your own Christmas tree garlands. This is one of those ancient crafts that can be a group activity for you and your family. Simply stringing popcorn on a string makes very attractive garlands. You can also try stringing nuts or cranberries on string as well (but make sure your kid is old enough to handle that needle. Garlands can also be made out of gold or aluminum foil that is cut up and twisted in loops that hook into each other.
It is also fun to make your own Christmas tree decorations. These types of crafts can be made from almost anything including Styrofoam, play dough, cookin' crystals and ribbons. One clever idea is to buy a box of plain glass balls and then make patterns with glue on their sides. The idea is that you then roll them in glitter to create a sparkling yet merry pattern.
If you are really ambitious you can also try making your own Christmas candles. One of the simplest ways is to buy sheets of beeswax and then roll them up to create unique one of a kind candle centerpieces. You can also melt wax in a double boiler and make your own candles. There are commercial scents such as pine and cinnamon available on the market that is specifically created for making these types of Christmas crafts smell nice. You can also buy Christmas candle molds in the shapes of popular holiday motifs such as evergreen trees, snowmen and stars.
Sitting around with your family to make Christmas crafts together, even it if it is as simple as handmade Christmas cards is a great way to strengthen your loving bonds with each other at holiday time.

Parenting Tips
, , , , , ,

Why You Should Give Your Kids A Massage

Giving your kids a massage is more than just a way of expressing affection. Rubbing your child's skin and manipulating his or her muscles has many benefits.
With massage, you can include all of the following positives:
Massage is deeply relaxing for the recipient;
• It is a holistic form of treatment that treats every part of the being, including the physical body, the mind and the soul;
• It relieves tension, stress and anxiety, as well as encouraging relaxed muscles;
• It increases your awareness of and respect for your own body, which in itself has significant health benefits;
• It helps to improve blood flow and assists your body in its efforts to detoxify itself
• It helps promote speedier repair of damaged tissues and of course alleviates the pain that these damaged parts can cause;
• It aids digestion and strengthens your immune system;
• It imparts a general sense of heightened well being and above all else, there is very little that I know of that makes you or your child feel better than a good massage!
As you have just read, there are many physical benefits that you can enjoy as a result of a good massage but there are some additional, less obvious benefits that are specifically appropriate to those in a relationship too.
The fact is, massage can play a vital role in pulling two partners ever closer together primarily because massage (from the point of view of the partner providing the massage) is all about giving love and approval.
Massage is a superbly effective method of non-verbal communication that allows each person to get to know, understand and appreciate their partner far more intimately on a physical level, way beyond anything that they might ever know about one another without massage. I have found it useful for when my teenage daughter has decided to be all non-verbal and difficult. Sometimes the literal pat on the shoulder means so much to her I can see the tears in her eyes.
Therapists often report that people get more in a confessional mode when they are being massaged. This to me means that my child is more inclined to tell me the truth about what is going on her life because she is all relaxed and loosened up.
Furthermore, you do not have to be a world class massage practitioner for you and your child to gain huge benefits from the use of massage in your relationship either. Almost by definition, if you practice massage with your kid on a daily basis, you will become the best massage therapist they have ever had without ever really trying simply because you know better than anyone else ever could do.

Parenting Tips
, , , , , , , ,