For this post, we would like to welcome Valerie! Valerie is a Preschool teacher at The Learning Experience Gurnee! She is a momma to three kiddos ages 9-13 and has found many ways to occupy them throughout this crazy pandemic! We are fortunate that she shared her tricks to a COVID friendly holiday celebration for her kiddos! :-) Check it out!
Hey everybody! I am excited to be here and share my tricks for COVID friendly holiday! This year I tried to focus on finding ways to make Christmas fun and special for the kids even with COVID limitations. While some of our normal traditions have been put on hold I am trying to help shift the perspective this year into something 'fun and different' instead of just sadness about what is being missed. While some of these are specific to the north suburbs of Chicago, I am sure many other areas have options very similar, you may just have to do a google search for them!
1. The Thrifty stay in the car option-
We searched for a local light show, they are everywhere this year. We did one at the lake county fair grounds https://santasrocknlights.com/ for $25 a car. It took almost 40 minutes to drive though the whole event. We brought hot cocoa in car safe travel cups and holiday treats. Even if COVID goes away the kids are sold already to do this again next year.
2. The Splurge-
We stole this idea from friends of ours that apparently do this every year. We were unaware that most farms and apple orchard we go to in fall also offer sleigh rides in the winter! We looked up our local farm and have reservations upcoming https://www.appleholler.com/sleigh-rides/ They offer hot coca, apple cider and s’mores at a campfire after. They even said you can bring fresh carrots to feed the horses after the ride. It is fairly pricey though $100-$200 most places i called depending on how many passengers.
3. The cooking option Grandma will love-
Thanksgiving this year we did a FaceTime pumpkin pie with grandma. We printed the recipe and made sure we all had the same ingredients so the kids could “cook with grandma”. We are doing a repeat for Christmas with a sugar cookie recipe. If your not a fan of FaceTime or what more people on cooking a Zoom call would work as well! We might try to do it with more family members this year and take a break to decorate. Then go back on the call to vote a cookie decorating winner! For reference this is the recipe we printed for everyone to follow https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10402/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/
4. You have been Elf-ed- My kids had so much fun at Halloween with the you have been “ghosted” craze of leaving treats on neighbors door steps we decided to jump on board for Christmas. They have been missing all the neighborhood kids so much with COVID that they could not wait to make Christmas bags to leave at friends doorsteps. We bought a pack of bags on Amazon like these then filled them with assorted candy, squishes and other Christmas goodies. They are prepped and ready to go for the big day.
While this year may be different from most as far as the holidays we can still make it fun and memorable for our children. Make this the year to start a new family tradition to carry on for years to come!
-Ms. Valerie
PreSchool Teacher at The Learning Experience Gurnee
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