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Kids learn by example from their parents. The holidays are the time of year when everything is heightened, including the messages and traditions that parents pass on to their children. The methods to achieve this should be simple, as they set children's behaviors and attitudes on the path to becoming healthy, happy and well-adjusted kids.
Sometimes in the holiday craze, those fine intentions we hold the rest of the year, get tossed out the window. Kids catch the, "I want..." and "Can I have..." vibe.
Below are 3 reasons to make the tradition of giving and making handmade gifts with and for kids, the culture in your home. This holiday tone will have lasting memories for years to come.
Why make holiday gifts with and for kids? 1. It encourages creativity. 2. It saves money. 3. It's fun.
Watch this living green with kids video.
Indulge the kids in making these fun handmade holiday gifts for all the children on your list.
Make: Felted Monsters
Where The Wild Things Are may be the hottest kid movie this year and those cute Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters are causing quite a stir are hot. But, you won't have to trample anyone at Toys 'R Us to get the materials to make these huggable felt mini-monsters.
Feltmaking is an ancient carft that requires minimal materials: wool, hot water and your hands. Check out this felt-making tutorial to learn how to felt. To make the little creatures above, Made By Moxie provides some amazing felting inspiration.
Play: Concentration Game
Match the graphics on his beautiful vintage inspired custom-made concentration game board, made by Cathe Holden. This concentration game that Cathe created, is sure to become an heirloom, as it helps to improve your kids memory.
Create: Playdough
Fact: Playdough has been around in one form or another for probably a century or two. It was once called bread dough.
For kids, work is play. Kids can't wait to get their hands into this healthy mushy mess. Ecobites playdough smells better, lasts longer and is much more pliable than the commercial kind.
Playdough Recipe
What you need:
2 cups organic flour
2 cups warm water/apple juice
2 tablespoons organic coconut oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 cup organic sea salt
Natural color
What to do:
1. Place the ingredients, in the order listed, into a large pot over a gentle flame and mix each well.
2. Keep mixing until it has a heavy consistency.
3. Remove to a bowl and knead and punch it a bit.
4. For coloring add: Beet Juice - Pink, Spinach Juice or Parsley Powder - Green, Carrot Juice or Paprika Powder - Orange, Turmeric Powder - Yellow
Read I'm Dreaming Of A Green Christmas
When asked, "How does your book help to teach your kids to be green?" Anna Getty replies:
"This book is about creating family traditions. This book is about being more green during a very wasteful time of year. If we incorporate our children into these new traditions of crafting with what we already have, making gifts and not buying gifts, we help our children become more green and more conscientious about respecting the planet. Children learn through example. If we make changes with our own wasteful habits, our children will adopt these changes as their own."
