Keep it Christmas!

Christmas is an exciting time of year; particularly for children in the early years; the learning opportunities and experiences are endless and the magic and wonder that can be created for the children are truly heartwarming.

However, the season can also be a particularly challenging time for both practitioners and parents alike; but how much of it is our own doing? Does the festive period need to be a stressful time or are there ways in which we can make it less high-pressured and enjoyable for everyone, particularly the children?

More modern Christmas activities include 'Elf On A Shelf' (Scout Elves are Santa's eyes and ears over the festive period and many cause mischief within the home and communicate messages to children during the countdown to the big day) and 'Santa Cam' (a webcam that provides Santa with a direct insight into your home life - whereby he watches the children to see if they are being 'naughty' or 'nice’.) These are heavily focused on influencing the children's behaviour and generally using Christmas/Santa/Elves/presents as a means by which to coerce children to  behave in a certain way in the run-up to Christmas.