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The seven days from December 26 to January 1, is celebrated as Kwanzaa by the African-American community to celebrate both their heritage and shared community values. Each day a principle is upheld and celebrated. These seven principles include: Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. Clearly, these are universal values that all children can learn from during the holiday season.
Each day discuss the principle and what it means for your family and children. You can also have some fun with the celebration by doing activities that embrace these principles, i.e. write a story about being determined, make a poster that shows ways of being responsible in your neighborhood, feed the homeless one day, set up a small business to earn money, e.g. sell hot chocolate! Each day a new activity can be done to embrace the principles. The kids can even determine their own activities after you have discussed the principle.
Although my birthday falls in the middle of summer, I always felt bad for my friends born around the big holiday season. We all know these are the kids who generally have to either have a holiday birthday party, or just sort of get “overlooked” with all of the holiday shuffle. Their birthday gifts mingle with the Christmas ones, and there really is no unique birthday celebration.
Your baby is about to turn one in the middle of these cold, wintry days! Never fear, there are some darling themes you can choose from that match the season perfectly. One of them is the quintessential snowman. If you live in a snowy area this may particularly appeal to you, especially the story of Frosty the Snowman, who, when he comes to life, exclaims each time, “Happy Birthday!”
