A house full of rubbish or riches?

It is two months to Christmas and I am wondering what Christmas gifts to get the little ones. There is so much that they have already. Do I want to add to that or enrich them in some other way?

Episode 1

L1's September show-and-tell at school was to showcase "Something recycled". Being the totally pragmatic non-artistic me, I decided we would do a simple "drum" using an empty tissue box and some straws. Simple! But obviously my hubby would not allow it. He loves model building so he stayed up the night before and made a cement-mixer truck for our little boy to show case in school. Given all the effort, I reminded my husband not to expect it to come home in one piece. And obviously my sharp-eyed boy was fast enough to spot it and started playing with it in the morning before leaving for school.

Episode 2

After watching Disney's Wall-E the movie, L1 used his Yakult bottles and wanted to be a robot too. His own initiative. His own creativity.

Episode 3

At 3 years old, L1 loves craft and especially likes cutting. Sometimes, just to keep him occupied, we let him use his own kid's scissors to cut unwanted paper or materials. It is a simply sensory motor development activity which he enjoys. We remind him to keep the rubbish in the box. So it is part of character development as well.

Episode 4

Although L1 does not like to eat eggs, he loves to shell eggs for us. A simple sensory activity that we don't think much of.

On Pinterest/Facebook/Instagram, there are so many moms who are keen to share printables or activity ideas using the "rubbish" that we have. Many of the boxes or recyclable materials that we have, we now make it a point to give it to his school since they have so many fantastic ideas for craft. Often as parents, we are concerned about the cleanliness of the items and would prefer our children play with toys instead. But to the child, everything is a toy or something to explore. So let's now deprive them of that unless the child's safety is compromised. Just this morning, L1 was having an imaginery cooking session using a blue basin, spoon and a single chopstick.

So this Christmas, I am thinking about how to ensure my gift allows the child to spend time with their parents/family and develops their character instead. It is amazing how rich our families/children are these days (yes with so much rubbish to try out) and also with shops like Daiso where there are all types of craft materials/toys going for $2 (e.g. whiteboards, bubbles, sand toys, crayons, stickers, origami paper). How can I get my kids to treasure the good gifts that they have and optimise them instead?

#FirstTimeParent #Holidays