Behaviour and Christmas

The whole fam under one roof, Christmas bakes in the oven, winter roaring outside the front door: It doesn’t really get much cozier than Christmas.

Christmas…oh that’s right I mentioned the C word and it's only the start of November! I have Michael Buble de-frosting as we speak and in this weeks blog post I’m going to be sharing my first few ideas with you for supporting behaviour over the festive period. 

Over the last few months we’ve been getting ready for our Christmas training events at KSEY Consultancy and I know that so many of you are super organised (a bit like me!) and want to get things ready early. I always used to use my half term week in October to do the majority of my Christmas shopping and start writing my Christmas cards…a job I really do love doing.

As I said we’ve been planning Christmas for a little while now…we worked with our fabulous photographer back in August to get some great Christmas Product snaps, we’ve booked in our Complimentary Christmas Event for Members at the beautiful Rudding Park Hotel and Spa for December (I can’t wait!) and yesterday we launched our short course’ A Child Led Christmas made easy!’ which is will give you the tools and inspiration you need to let child interests guide your planning, provision and provocations over the Christmas period.

Over the last few months we’ve been getting ready for our Christmas training events at KSEY Consultancy and I know that so many of you are super organised (a bit like me!) and want to get things ready early. I always used to use my half term week in October to do the majority of my Christmas shopping and start writing my Christmas cards…a job I really do love doing.

As I said we’ve been planning Christmas for a little while now…we worked with our fabulous photographer back in August to get some great Christmas Product snaps, we’ve booked in our Complimentary Christmas Event for Members at the beautiful Rudding Park Hotel and Spa for December (I can’t wait!) and yesterday we launched our short course’ A Child Led Christmas made easy!’ which is will give you the tools and inspiration you need to let child interests guide your planning, provision and provocations over the Christmas period.

 Now Christmas is a really wonderful and magical time of the year and a time that most Danes associate with Hygge. It can also be a time when many little ones…and big ones start to feel unsettled. Showing changes in their behaviour and perhaps becoming anxious, overwhelmed or exhausted. Let's unpick why this happens.

Think about what we know about the brain…it loves routine, familiarity and pattern. For most weeks of the year it has this but If we think about all the changes to our timetable on the lead up to Christmas we often change so much! From the Christmas parties, nativity rehearsals, Carol Singing events, watching Christmas shows, Christmas dinner in the hall. Alongside all of this we also have complete sensory overload! Our classrooms and homes are filled with bright, shiny, flashy decorations, loud noises and so many different seasonal smells!

Try and keep some of the calmness and routine during the holiday period. Plan spaces in your provision where children can self-regulate…a cosy quiet nook tucked away for instance. Helping children plan for change as soon as smoothly as possible by using things like a visual timetable or a now and next board so children can see what’s coming and prepare for that. Share stories about Christmas time in schools or settings- make up your own if you have to.

I remember a few years ago in my reception class when I had a little boy that became truly fascinated and overwhelmed with the Christmas tree. His senses were heightened and so the brightness of the lights, the shininess of the baubles and their reflections, the smell of the real tree were all just too much for him. It was a reminder to know our children and think about what they need. In the short online course, I’ve developed around Christmas I share some real examples of how we can create a calming environment, bringing in lots of natural objects, plants, to make sure we support all children. In the example I shared with you with the little boy we realised that he loved the smell of the fir tree, but the shiny baubles were just too much for him. Instead we foraged for pinecones, twigs, leaves outside- decorated some of these, threaded through ribbon and decorated our tree with these. We also went for white lights on the tree that were non flashing as the coloured ones were too much. If you take a look at the Scandi trees…go on google it…you’ll see that these are always natural. They look like they’ve just been chopped down and they are decorated with white lights and sparse natural decorations. They often add sheepskin or woollen rugs around the bottom to add to that cosy feel. We want to give our provision a soft, fuzzy and cosy feel too!

Why not get your children to make their own gift wrap with brown parcel paper and some simple painted sponge prints. Or add a sprig of greenery on top and decorate with rustic garden string.

Consider as well filling your space with lots of warm lights. Replace the big light with warmer table lamps, dot LED Pillar candles around your room, hang a felted home-made garland up

Think about the packaging you add to your home corner; porridge boxes, hot chocolate tins and rice pudding tins would be good enhancements in winter.

• Throws
• Flowers
• Calendars
• Photo albums
• Baking Cupboard
• Recipe Books
• Rug
• Potted Plants
• Old wood burning stove with logs
• Board games and jigsaws
• Wrapping paper
• Christmas cards
• Gift tags
• Christmas TV guide
• Christmas Tree
• Oranges in the fruit bowl
• Christmas apron
• Advent train
• Christmas mugs

To find out how we can plan for a calmer and more magical Child Led Christmas take a look at my new short online course here https://hyggeintheearlyyears.mykajabi.com/store?preview_theme_id=973342