Family Fun At Christmas – Back To Tradition by Scott Hindmarsh

Christmas is a time for the full family to make memories, have fun and even start some new traditions that can be passed down the generation to keep the magic alive.

For a child, Christmas can be the best time of the year. Everyone is in high spirits, feeling festive and looking to make good memories. In the Family Learning Team, we believe that there’s lots of Family Fun that can be had around the holidays with ‘low to no cost’ activities for everyone to take part.

Below, I’ve put in some ideas of how you and your family can have some Christmas themed fun!

Christmas Traditions

My earliest memory of Christmas is ‘Christmas Tree Spotting’ with my Mum, Dad and siblings. We simply took to the streets and went a drive or walk around the local area to see how many Christmas Tree’s we could spot. This quickly became competitive and we looked to see who could find the most. It’s a memory I will always remember and brings a smile to my face. As a family we still speak about it to this day. Over the years this became a tradition and a game the full family looked forward to. This has now been passed through the generations to our family’s grandchildren. This game still takes place 30 years down the line and is still a hit.

There’s lots of ‘Christmas Traditions’ that can be fun for the full family. Below is my list in no particular order (excluding my favourite, Christmas Tree Spotting) that your family can make great memories doing.

Christmas Coin Hunt

his is a simple but lots of fun. All we do is hide chocolate coins around the house for the little ones to try and find. This can be done all at once, maybe one for each day in December or even as a scavenger hunt with some clues. Kids love chocolate so pairing it with the anticipation of Christmas is lots of fun for them.

Christmas Quiz

A simple Christmas Quiz can be a full night of fun for a child! There’s lots of benefits in this from an educational point but as a Christmas activity it can be a barrel of laughs and lots of fun (especially if there’s prizes). There’s lots of themes you could add into each round such as Christmas movies, songs, characters, anagrams and more! It’s always good to add some prizes or forfeits.

Movie Night

A movie night is always a favourite no matter how old you are! All you need to do is find the best Christmas Movie (ELF), grab a few blankets and goodies and you have a full night of activities at a low cost! Children love sitting down and watching a movie with the adults in their life. Making time for them to have a Christmas themed movie will go a long way and be another easy, fun activity.

Crafts

Arts and crafts are fun all year round but making it a Christmas theme is another way to build up excitement in the little ones and create something that can be gifted to loved ones or kept for years to come.

Children enjoy it when they make things and they are kept and displayed such as things they create at school or in their spare time so why not make traditions and create something together that can be cherished and displayed for everyone to see?

There are lots of ideas out there that could be highlighted and shared so below I’ve chosen my favourite five that can be easily replicated and I’ll attach some links at the bottom with extra ideas.

Snowball Catapult

This craft has been adapted from one of our ‘STEM’ experiments. We’re using some household materials to make a fun and safe catapult that can fire some snowball looking items.

What you’ll need:

• Toilet roll tube
• Balloon
• Cotton ball
• Paper
• Tape

All we do is cut the trunk of the balloon off. We then stretch the circle part of the balloon over one end of the toilet roll tube. We then put white paper around the tube and decorate it however you like. The children can now enjoy firing snowballs (cotton) around the house (you will be surprised how long they will do this). You can even turn this into challenges where they get rewards.

Classic Christmas Card

Creating Christmas cards can be lots of fun. For the little ones it’s a fun activity where they can be let loose with their creativity. This is also a nice opportunity for them to make personal cards for their loved ones that can be cherished for years to come! This can be done using basic pencils and paper but if you want to get crafty (and messy), you can bring out the paints, glitter and sequins that can be purchased at a low cost.

Once these have been created it’s always nice to have them on display to celebrate the hard work that the child has done. This goes a long way for the little one and can put a smile on their face!

DIY Christmas Bauble/Ornament

I like to do this activity as a recycling project. Any old or unwanted baubles can quickly be decorated and given a new look. The simplest way I think this can be done is to simply paint an old bauble with a base layer, let it dry and then give your child the opportunity to decorate it in their own way. You’ll be surprised how exciting this can be for children! You can then let them hang it on the tree or gift it to someone else.

Christmas in the Kitchen

1. Decorating Biscuits

A simple activity that can be done in the kitchen at a low cost is decorating biscuits! It’s a really easy activity and all you require is biscuits and icing with some treats to put on them.

Add your icing and then let your child decorate the night away! You can then either have these as a snack or give them to your loved ones.

2. Hot Chocolate

Making a hot chocolate is another simple activity at a low cost! Children love hot chocolate and they love Christmas so putting them together is a winner. This activity can be paired up with a movie night to make the experience even better.

3. Christmas Baking

This is a slightly more difficult activity but baking is a great skill for a child to learn at a young age and can be the start of something they are passionate about. Again, having this themed around Christmas is a way to make being in the kitchen fun at Christmas. You can make cakes, biscuits or anything else that can be baked!

I hope you have found some useful activities in my list of Christmas traditions. No matter how basic some of these activities may be they will make amazing memories for the children and can lead to tradition and excitement for years to come!

Building On Positive Relationships by Laura McCulloch

Welcome to this month’s Family Learning blog. I wanted to use this blog as a chance to share an insight into other aspects of support delivered by the Family Learning Team. As well as the programmes we delivery across both primary and secondary schools, we also support delivery of the Building on Positive Relationships parenting programme. I hope to explain what the programme is, provide an overview of key approaches covered in the programme, and hopefully include some helpful strategies which you will be able to take away and use within your own family.

What is Building on Positive Relationships (BPR)?

Building on Positive Relationships (BPR) is a new approach which builds on existing relational and nurturing approaches across North Ayrshire’s educational establishments.

BPR uses the principles of Non-Violent Resistance Approach (NVR), to help families where there are challenges that impact on the family dynamics. It is a 10-week programme that offers an alternative to families who are feeling helpless when using traditional strategies, such as rewards and sanctions and provides families with a support network to help them rebuild relationships, in a supportive and non-judgemental environment.

Four Elements to Building on Positive Relationship (BPR)

There are four key elements to Building on Positive Relationships which are explored during the 10-week programme.

What do we mean by these 4 elements?

RESIST – This is about taking a firm and calm stand, showing your strength and positive values by resisting unacceptable behaviour. We look to de-escalate conflicts by using practical, practised strategies.

PERSIST – Look to create small reconciliation gestures and tokens of care that increase positive interactions with the young person, despite ongoing unacceptable behaviours.

UNITE – The importance of recruiting and utilising supporters is key in ensuing no one feels alone. We look to identify a specific way in which they can help you and the young person.

REPAIR – Look to increase your physical and emotional presence and make rebuilding relationships a priority.

Techniques of Building on Positive Relationship (BPR)

I am going to try my hardest to provide an overview of the key areas covered during the 10 weeks parenting programne, hopefully providing an insight into the main approaches and strategies which may provide you with new ways of dealing with behaviours or situations at home.

1. Self-Care

Each week we stress the need to take care of ourselves – we talk about “you cannot pour from an empty jug”. Self-care can be a variety of activities – from taking time out to read a book, to putting on your trainers and going for a nice walk. We are very aware there are barriers to self-care, such as time, lack of support, or feelings of guilt. However, the benefits of taking care of ourselves massively outweigh the barriers. Have a look at the self-care image above and see if any of the ideas jump out at you. Remember these are just suggestions, feel free to create your own list of self-care ideas.

2. De-escalation

Have a look at the image above and see if any of the de-escalation techniques sound familiar to you. You might not call them the same thing, but you may recognise techniques you already use. There might be suggestions that are new to you or have made you think about things slightly differently. Let’s take “strike while the iron is COLD”. It can be so helpful to take some time after an incident to allow things to calm down before trying to talk about what happened. This time is important for everyone involved and hopefully allows things to be discussed when everyone feels more able to express their thoughts and emotions.

3. Parental Presence and Relational Gestures

When children are growing up, parents/carers are there to tell them what is right and what is wrong, and how they should behave. Over time children learn what their parents would think even when they are not around. This helps children know how to behave when their parents are not there. This is what we call ‘parental presence’ because the parent is present in the child’s mind.

When a child or young person behaves in a way that is seen as wrong, then it could be said that ‘parental presence’ has been lost, meaning the influence of parents/carers is no longer strong enough to help the child know how to behave. We look at ways to re-establish parental presence to remind your child that you love them and will be there for them no matter what, however you will resist their unacceptable behaviour.

How can you get parental presence back?

What are Relational Gestures?

Relational Gestures can also be known as ‘love gestures’ or ‘small acts of botherdness’ carried out by parents/carers. They are an important part of rebuilding the relationship with your child and can raise parental presence. They are not rewards and are separate from your child’s behaviour.

The image above gives a couple of suggestions, from making their favourite dinner as a surprise or sending them a text during the day to let them know you are thinking of them. I am sure you will be able to create a list of many different ideas unique to your child.

4. Prioritising Behaviours

It is impossible to address everything at the one time, so deciding where to begin is important. Parents/Carers often find this part difficult as it involves agreeing on what to tackle first and how to do this.

Have a look at the image above. Baskets can be used to help prioritise the behaviours you wish to focus on. You might feel like you have a long list of behaviours that you would like to change. Start by putting your list of behaviours onto paper – try and be specific, for example ‘hitting out at their sibling’. You are listing the behaviour as well as who the behaviour is aimed at. Once you have your list, you can start organising them into baskets. The rainbow basket is there to remind you of their positive qualities, or things they are good at. Once you have the behaviours sorted into baskets, you can see what behaviours you will be focusing on first.

Hopefully my BPR blog has provided an insight into some of the main approaches covered during the 10-week programme and has given you some new strategies to take away and try. The programme is delivered across North Ayrshire in schools as well as in community spaces, throughout the school year. After reading my blog, if you feel you would like to discuss the programme further, or ask any questions please feel free to email the Family Learning Team at familylearningteam@north-ayrshire.gov.uk

Welcome to October by Linda Mahood

As we all know, the month of October is best known for Halloween. However, other things happen in October that you might not be aware of. Such as:

• ADHD Awareness Month
• LGBTQ+ History Month
• Breast Cancer Awareness
• National Book Month
• Black History Month
• National Poetry Day
• National Curry Week

These are just a few of the various days people across the UK take part in. October is deemed the second month of Autumn and as the clocks go back on the 30^th to mark the end of British Summer, we gain an extra hour in bed.

The 31^{st of} October is,  of course, Halloween and if you are anything like me, you will love the decorating and scary costumes. I always say it’s the only night I can legally scare other people’s children.

In the UK, Halloween is seen as a scary night when children dress up and go out “guising”.

Halloween in Scotland comes from the word “All-Hallows-Eve” and has roots in the Gaelic festival of Samhuinn which was a night marking the end of summer and the coming of winter; the dying of the light and the coming of the dark. “Guising” comes from the word disguise, as children and adults alike dress up turning into someone or something else.

The ancient Scottish tribes known as Clans believed Samhain marked the weakening of the barrier between our world and the spirit world. They believed this posed a very real threat of ghosts and demons to people and their land.

Orange and black are prominent colours of Halloween; orange being the symbol of life and the warmth of harvest season, while black represents the bitter cold winter and death of the land.

DID YOU KNOW?

Scottish Traditions at Halloween

In the past, Scottish people would light large bonfires on the boundary of their land as they believed this would keep away evil spirits. People who did not have any land would carve out a turnip (neep) with a grotesque face and burn a lump of coal inside to keep demons from the door and ghouls from wandering in the witching hours. Thanks to America we now carve pumpkins, which are much easier to carve than neeps!

A tradition described in the Burns poem “Halloween” details an engaged couple each placing a nut on a fire. If the nut burned quietly then the marriage would be happy, if the nut spat and hissed then the marriage would be stormy.

People on Hallows Eve would wait until dark, go into their gardens and pull the stalks of the kale plant. It had to be dark outside, and your eyes had to be closed. The idea was that if you pulled out a long  straight stalk, this would indicate how long and problem free your future would be. If the stalk has soil on the root, this indicated wealth. It was also a custom to pick a cabbage, turn it three times and then stare at it to see the face of your future husband or wife!  Or if a girl walked down the stairs with a dim candle, she would see her future husband in the mirror.

Dooking for Apples – this is an ancient Celtic tradition. Apples are placed in a bucket of water and people have to try and grab the apples with their gnashers (teeth). This is a firm favourite at Halloween parties, just watch your make up!

Hinging Treacle Scones – Baked scones would be dipped in treacle then hung in a line with string. Without using your hands, you had to take as many bites as you could while someone counted to 20.

“Guising”– Children would dress in ghost, demon, witch or spirit costumes and people believed the children would blend in with the real spirits and ghouls. The children would chap the door and the occupants would open the door to the children dancing, singing, or telling a joke. They would then give the children a sweet treat and shoo them away.

Scottish Halloween Cake (Soul Cake) – This cake would be eaten in a group and was made to predict the future of the people eating it. Hidden inside the cake would be three items; a button, a coin, and a ring. Whoever got the coin would see great riches and good fortune, the ring would mean you would be the first to wed, the button would mean you would never marry.

Pumpkin Carving Ideas

Here are some pumpkin carving ideas from pumpkins I carved last year; you can get various carving tools cheaply in supermarkets. I drew them freehand, however you can trace the pictures and transfer onto your pumpkin. Most supermarkets and online shops have them or you can get free printable stencils online.

Here are some Makaton signs for Halloween

Although Halloween traditions are different all over the world, they all seem to represent the same thing; helping spirits and ghosts get to a better place or keeping evil away from your home. Either way, Halloween can be great fun for all the family. I may get to scare you all sooooooooonnnnn!

Here are some Halloween links to add fright to your night!

25 Healthy Halloween Recipes

78 Easy Pumpkin Carving Ideas

115 Easy DIY and Homemade Halloween Costumes

65+ Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

50 Cheap & Easy DIY Outdoor Halloween Decorations

60 Easy Halloween Face Paint Idea