Holidays are upon us and experiencing them through the eyes of a child will help you and your family find joy during this time! Remember when you couldn’t wait for the lights and the frenzied excitement and buzz that surrounded the holiday time? Remember how you could barely sleep because this time was so much fun? Holding onto our own child-like wonder and excitement will help us be less stressed around our kids, and allow us to enjoy the ride that much more. Here are some tips to help us look through the eyes of a child and help our kids from being over-stimulated during the holiday season.
Plan ahead and slow down
As hard as that sounds, this will go a long way in making us calmer, overall. If we slow down, our kids will too, which will help us all take in the positive and enjoy the holidays. Maybe make paper rings and take one away for each day in December to count down to the holidays. Perhaps create a small ritual of a family dinner every Sunday to talk, eat together, and cherish the moments before the holidays.
Give kids a part to play in the festivities
Can they help set the table? Help prepare their favorite dish? Choose a small gift for their siblings and wrap it? Maybe their job is to take the coats when people come over? Or maybe they are the photographers and take pictures? Giving kids a special task will help them focus their energy which helps them not to be over stimulated.
“When something is new, talk about what you’ll do”
As the TV show character Daniel Tiger would say, talking about the holidays and what to expect will do wonders to calm the over-stimulation for our little ones. Talk about the simple things—who will come over? Will we sit in the dining room and all eat together? What’s your favorite part of the day? Will I play music? Will we show gratitude for presents? Will we play some games? Have your kids get a mental picture of what is going to happen—or even draw their favorite part. It’s exciting to talk about, and at the same time, it helps to prepare our kids for what’s to come.
Be early
Having control over an environment and feeling comfortable before there are a lot of people at an event will help ground our little ones. Whether it’s a school concert or a holiday gathering, arriving early will give kids their bearings before all of the people, music and chatter rise to a high level.
Know that emotions are inevitable
We all get overstimulated, so knowing that sugar, loud noises, lots of people, lots of lights and the pure joy and excitement can take anyone over the edge. Knowing that this may happen will help you take it in stride and show our kids we respect their emotions and that all emotions are okay.
About Angela C. Santomero
Described by Joanne Rogers as “a modern day Fred Rogers,” Angela Santomero is the co-creator of Blue’s Clues and the creator of Super Why!, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Creative Galaxy and Wishenproof. Her work has been cited in numerous publications including Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller, The Tipping Point.
Santomero earned her master’s degree in child developmental psychology and instructional technology and media from Columbia University–Teacher’s College. She has spent more than two decades creating, developing, and writing shows for kids that are based on the essential clues for child development.
Santomero’s goal is to create media that will empower, challenge and build the self-worth of preschoolers while making them laugh. After working with children for more than 30 years, she has learned that kids’ media can and should be a bonding experience to bring families together to laugh, love and play.
Written by Angela C. Santomero with Christy Hinko
