“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a
happy family all wrapped up in each other.”
Burton Hillis
A Message From Lindsay
I've added so much to the website over the past few weeks that once
again I've found it hard to find time to write a newsletter. But I
wanted to let you know about everything new at Activity Village (see
below) and also to remind everyone that it's the family that matters
over the next fortnight! The holidays put so much pressure on us all as
we try to do everything perfectly: be the perfect relations, give the
perfect gifts, cook the perfect food, serve the perfect wine, present
the perfect house, put up the perfect decorations and tree, cram in all
the "right" Christmas activities...
My advice is to slow down, take a deep breath and decide what is
really important to you and your family, and make time for
that - even if it means that you don't conform to somebody else's vision
of a perfect Christmas. And get the camera out and charged and ready to
take some super holiday photos, because that is one thing that you will
be glad you made time to do!
One other small tip, while I'm in the mood! 4 year's ago, when I had
family staying over and was determined to enjoy a stress-free Christmas
day, I made myself a schedule for everything that needed to be done,
delegating a time and member of the family to do it, and I posted it on
the fridge. Even the youngest visitor had a "job" and took pride in
watching the clock and making sure it was done promptly and well. At the
end of the Christmas week, I sat down quietly and made some notes to
myself about what had worked well; what I would change; what size turkey
and ham we had bought and whether it was sufficient; what recipes we had
particularly enjoyed etc. I felt a little silly doing it, because of
course I thought I would remember. But the following years it was a real
joy to get the notes out, remind myself about past Christmas's by
reading through them, decide very quickly on what we needed to buy, and
revamp the original Christmas Day schedule. This year planning our
Christmas Day has taken me all of 5 minutes and a few clicks of the
printer button!
(Incidentally, my father-in-law thinks my fridge-list is very funny
and delights in teasing me about it. But over the years he has appointed
himself "master of the list" and stands in the kitchen, calling to the
children to remind them that "their time is up" and making sure that
everything goes smoothly and that our Christmas lunch is on the table,
piping hot, ready to be enjoyed, at exactly the right time!)
Right - on with the newsletter...
"As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is."
Eric Sevareid
Don't forget to have a look at our other site,
www.ChristmasIsComing.co.uk for more Christmas inspiration! We've got lots
new there, too!
If you or your child has made use of our craft ideas or printables, we'd
love to share the results here! Drop me a line by emailing editor-at-activityvillage.co.uk
(replace -at- with @).
"Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so
intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia.
Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of
remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved."
Augusta E Rundell
Competition for crafty kids!
2010 New Year collage competition - open to children under 12! We
need to replace our 2009 collage with one for this year... Have a look
at our collages for 2008 and 2009, try your hand at creating your own
for 2010, then send us a photo. We'll feature the best at Activity
Village and even send a £30 Amazon gift voucher (or the equivalent at
your local Amazon) for the best entry! Details here: New Year collage competition
What's New At Activity Village?
We have so much new this month! Scroll down to see...
First I want to tell you about our new Doodle Fun books - which
encourage children to sketch, fill in and, most of all, use their
imagination to create wonderful pages that everyone will be proud of!
Each of our Doodle Fun books contains at least 24 original illustrations
done by Adina, who is responsible for many of the lovely new colouring
pages at Activity Village. Find out more about
them:
And, brand new today, we have Sleepover Party Doodle Fun
- perfect for girls who like to plan, draw, colour, play and enjoy
their friends!
What's New For Christmas:
We've got lots of new Christmas crafts to keep you busy during the holidays and
get you all in the mood! You could make a Christmas pudding beanbag, print and
fold some Christmas present decorations, make a gingerbread house without having
to do any baking, make elf shoes or two new angels, and lots, lots more! We've
got over 60 Christmas craft ideas now, and we are still adding more every day! Christmas crafts for kids
If you need to find something to keep the kids busy for a moment or two while
you get on with something else, have a look at our Christmas games collection.
We've tested lots of games and brought together the best so that you don't have
to trawl the net looking for them yourselves. Please bear in mind, though, that
most of these games are outside Activity Village, so we can't be absolutely sure
what will happen if you click on the links. We are still adding to the page, so
keep coming back for more! Online Christmas games
Printables are the most popular activities at Activity Village, so we've
made sure that there are lots of new printables for Christmas this year. We've
got new printable Christmas jigsaw puzzles, posters, scrapbook paper, gift
envelopes, templates, writing paper, printable games, mobiles, booklets,
organisers, angels - in fact, far too much to list here! Christmas printables
And, last but not least, we have some lovely new Christmas colouring pages
and colouring cards by Adina, too. Christmas colouring pages
Looking forward to 2010:
Try some New Year printables - great for keeping kids busy during the long wait
until midnight. You'll find jigsaws to print, some of our little origami
booklets (perfect for New Year's resolutions!), bookmarks to use as is or to
colour, 3 new designs of writing paper. New Year printables
For a day by day listing of everything new at Activity Village, bookmark our
What's New page or subscribe to the feed
“I will honour
Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
Charles Dickens
"Christmas!
The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the
rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and
given - when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we
had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes."
Joan Winmill Brown
Videos To Enjoy With The Kids..
NB: Children should not browse video sharing sites unsupervised
Love this season's Christmas Gap Ad!
And love the new Christmas Gap Kids campaign, too!
Something To Think About..
"Christmasgift suggestions: To your
enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect."
Oren Arnold
"I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the
Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness
and peace to this world." Norman Vincent Peale
Explore The
International Children's Library - "The ICDL Foundation's goal is to
build a collection of books that represents outstanding historical and
contemporary books from throughout the world. Ultimately, the Foundation
aspires to have every culture and language represented so that every
child can know and appreciate the riches of children's literature from
the world community."
