The gift of experiences...
With toys piling up from past Christmas's, birthday parties and periodically throughout the year, , our kids can often become overwhelmed by the number of toys. They want more toys, and yet typically don’t play with everything they have. As we watch our kids quickly get tired of most of their toys, we need to focus on something else. As a parent, I don't even remember what we gave the kids last Christmas and neither do they (except for the Batman cave that still sits in our living room). What I do remember are the activities we did together as a family during throughout theseason - cutting down our Christmas tree, drinking hot chocolate and driving to see Christmas lights, sledding together, movies and popcorn, decorating the tree, and many more. And what strikes me during this season most is that, while our kids still get excited about Christmas and what is on their Santa wish list, what they ask for most is Adventure Santa and the next adventure he will send our family on. This excitement and desire to spend time together, having old and new experiences, is what Adventure Santa is all about. While we do activities and experiences without Adventure Santa throughout the year, he allows us to put a touch of magic into experiences around the holiday season. And as we plan our gifts for this year, we continue this focus on experiences we can together, rather than on gifts alone. We found this blog post that also hits on this very topic and would encourage you to check it out: '5 reasons to give the gift of adventure' Christmas cultures around the world
As we think about our own Christmas experience here and how we celebrate, opening the minds of those special kids in our lives to cultures around the world can build a sense of inclusiveness and openness in them that they can carry with them as they grow older. Below are a few highlights from cultures around the world and we hope you can take some fun aspects from these and pull into your own activities. Ireland Christmas is the largest celebration of the year. Santa Claus, often known in Ireland simply as Santy or Daidí na Nollag in Irish. Along with attending religious services it is a popular event to go to the local pub for "the Christmas drink". In another little Irish twist, they leave a mince pie and a bottle or a glass of Guinness for Santa Claus along with a carrot for Rudolph on Christmas Eve. Germany Santa is not the one to bring presents, it is Christkind (Christ child) that bring them on December 24. Completely invisible he cannot be seen and rings a bell once to let the kids know the presents are there. Japan It is not a national holiday, but it is popular to exchange gifts. Humorously, they have a custom dating back to the 1970's of eating KFC around Christmas. It is so popular that the stores take reservations months in advance! Russia Christmas is celebrated on January 7th! On Christmas eve there is a supper that consists of 12 dishes in honor of the 12 Apostles. Nigeria Similar to the US they go back to their home towns (ancestral villages) and eat traditional meals, They do have an interesting gift giving tradition that involves the more fortunate giving to the less fortunate. South Africa They hold the traditions of the Europeans very close. They have Christmas trees and stockings. Even though South Africa are in the southern hemisphere and in the middle of summer they still maintain a winter motif for the holiday. Guatemala They dress up in an ornamental hat and dance in a line. For more info and fun facts, here are a few more place you can check out: here, here, and here. |
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Adventure Ideas
We will provide you ideas regularly throughout the holiday season to help build out your adventures. Use these or your own but whatever you do, focus on the Fun. Family. Memories you are building!
See our last list of things to do HERE and HERE! Still not enough?! Follow us on Pinterest! See link below. |