Involving Children In Holiday Preparations

by holly {B}

Whether one is a Free Woman or a slave, most of us work diligently in preparing the home for the holidays. Over the years we’ve been inundated with suggestions and advice on how to create the “perfect Christmas” for our loved ones. Sometimes, such projects can leave young children feeling left out. And most children are eager to help in meaningful ways. The recipes and decorating tips below are projects in which children can do just that; create their own gifts and take an active role in holiday preparations. While the level of adult intervention will depend upon their age, these projects are appropriate for children who are at least 3 years old. A child’s greatest motivation is making gifts for others, particularly their family. Helping them to be creative will only enhance their holiday memories.

Best wishes to all for a safe and and happy holiday season!

Recipes:
(1) Holiday Graham Cracker House
(2) Gingerbread House Cut-Outs

Decorating Tips:
(1) Ribbon/Yarn Hangers
(2) Card Making

Holiday Graham Cracker House

While you’ll need to prepare and form the structure of the house, a child will need little help in decorating the house. You might suggest they draw and color a picture of the house beforehand, so they have some idea in their mind of what they’d like the finished project to look like. They can also cut out pictures of gingerbread houses from magazines to get some ideas. Including them in the selection of the candies will help bring out their creativity. This recipe is really about using what you normally have or purchase for the home. And you can certainly make your own frosting by using a standard powdered sugar recipe. The candies listed below are merely this one’s suggestion, and you may find other products to improve upon this project.

Materials:
Paper milk carton (At least quart sized)
One sturdy piece of cardboard as a base
Aluminum foil
Bleach
Masking Tape
Graham crackers (Purchase a large box of generic brand cookies)
Several cans of white, cake frosting
Food Coloring
Marshmallows (miniature and large)
Brown ice-cream cone(s)
Pretzel sticks (thin)
M&M’s
Necco wafers
Chocolate bars (White chocolate Hershey’s bar would be best)
Peppermint barrels
White chocolate Hershey’s kisses
Shredded coconut

Directions:
Rinse the inside of the milk carton and wash the outside in warm, soapy water. Do a double rinse - first with hot water - then in a basin of hot, bleach water. Using the cap from the bleach, dilute one capful of bleach in a basin of hot water. Allow the carton to air dry. Also, wash and soak a pair of sharp scissors in the bleach water. After the carton has dried, cut it down to form the house. Lay the carton on your cutting board and with a sharp knife, cut through the top part of the carton to form the house (cut about 3/4 of the way up from the bottom of your carton). As you cut, leave enough room to shape the top of the house, so your roof will fit over without any empty sides. As you cut down the carton, the last part you’ll want to cut off with your scissors. Even out the carton with your scissors. Then, you’ll need to shape the house in the following manner; cut two diagonal slits starting from the top going down (1-1/2 inches long), on each side of the front and back of the house. The slits will form half-triangles (4 total) which will allow the two adjacent sides of the house to fold into each other. Secure the half-triangles with the masking tape to the inside of the front and back, but tape inside the box, so you don’t compromise the sterilization. You’ll be left with a one-inch, rectangular opening at the top of the house. Using the top of the milk carton, construct a slopping, A-frame roof. Cut off the lid portion until you have the four sides of the top of the carton. Cut off two opposite sides only, but not completely. Leave about a little over half an inch from the cut off sides, on the top, so the other two opposite sides will be connected. Roll up several balls of masking tape and position them on the inside of each side of the roof, as well as the outside of the connectors. Then, fold up the two sides to create a slanting, A-frame roof. Easing over the top for a proper fit, tape each side of the roof to the sides of the house, taping on the inside of the structure and not the outside. You’ll have two, slight eaves and a half inch triangular opening on top of each side of the roof, which can be easily covered with parts of a graham cracker.

Next, cover the cardboard base with aluminum foil and secure the house to the bottom with the icing as your glue. You may wish to do this before shaping the house and adding the roof, so you can push down on the inside of the carton to secure it better. Then, have the kids coat the house with the graham crackers, using the frosting as glue. Instruct them to cover small areas at a time, as frosting can dry out quickly. Small, wooden spoons or small rubber spatulas work best at spreading the frosting. Using the white-chocolate Hershey’s bar, they can glue parts to form the windows & doors. Necco wafers, M&M’s, miniature marshmallows, white chocolate Hershey’s kisses and peppermint barrels can all be used to create shingles. Also, boys might wish to create a log cabin by gluing pretzel sticks horizontally all over the roof and house. M&M’s can be used as cobble stone paths up to the house. You can cover the base with frosting and sprinkle the coconut over as snow. You can reserve a small portion of frosting, mix in some green food coloring and frost a brown, triangular ice-cream cone for a tree. Then stick it down to the base using the frosting. For a log cabin, you could make a mini-forest of trees. Using the large marshmallows, you could make snowmen. The decorating ideas are endless. And the finished project is safe to eat.

Gingerbread House Cut-Outs

Gingerbread Ingredients:
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening e.g. Crisco
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Icing/Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup powdered/confectioner’s sugar
1 egg white
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
1/3 cup boiling water

Decorating Ingredients:
Food coloring
M&M’s
White chocolate Hershey’s bar
Shredded coconut
Ice cream candy sprinkles

Materials:
1 piece of flat, cardboard
Aluminum foil
Ruler
Pen

Tip:
Depending upon the size of your pattern, each batch can yield about 3 medium sized house fronts. Do not double the recipe if you choose to make more. Single batches are easier to work with when rolling and cutting.

Preparation:
Using your pen and ruler, draw a house pattern. Cut out and wrap with aluminum foil.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small pan; cook the corn syrup, brown sugar and Crisco over medium heat, stirring until smooth. In a large bowl, combine the flour, ginger and cinnamon. Mix well. Add the corn syrup mixture, stirring until the dough becomes smooth. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/2 inch thickness.

Using your house pattern, cut the gingerbread to form the front of a house. Place each house, one inch apart, on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake 10 to 15 minutes. Place sheet(s) on rack(s) and cool slightly. Trim the cookies should you have any uneven sides and cool completely.

For the frosting glue, combine powdered sugar, cream of tartar and egg white. Add the boiling water and beat until icing becomes stiff. Also, you can just purchase a can of cake frosting to save on time. You would decorate in the same manner as the graham cracker house. You can make different house colors by dividing your frosting in several batches and using your food colors. Then, you can “paint” your houses with the different colors.

These make great gifts for Dad or Santa. A child can decorate a white shirt box and line the inside with wax paper. Ball up several pieces of wax paper and stick in each corner and around the sides so the house doesn’t slide around in the box. You’ll want to caution the recipient against shaking the box though, as to prevent any holiday trauma.

Ribbon/Yarn Hangers

Many people with toddlers and pets often choose to eliminate the tree from their holiday decorating. Even if they choose to replace glass ornaments with non-breakable ones, they worry about lights, tinsel and hooks. You certainly have to decide whether lights and tinsel are safe to use, but you can eliminate the hooks by using polyester ribbon or worsted-weight yarn. A girl has found that polyester ribbon and “knitting” yarns are also strong enough to hold glass ornaments.

Cut 12 inch strips of ribbon/yarn and secure to the ornament with a knot. You can tie the ornaments in a bow to each branch and cut away the excess. Or, you can cut the excess down and create a looped, slip knot in which to hang the ornament. This second way is easier for the kids to participate.

Not only does it create an “old-fashioned” look to your tree, but it adds color should you choose to eliminate lights. The ribbon and yarn is really inexpensive. The yarn companies have alot of holiday colors (solid and variegated) and you can use any cheap brand. Some yarns even have gold and silver fibers. You can buy (3) spools of a very popular polyester ribbon (Offray) for $1.00. Each spool has at least 5 yards and the craft section of Wal-Mart is generally a great place to find such products.

Card Making

You can purchase a set of 6, plain white cards and envelopes on which to create your own designs from Jo-Ann Fabrics or Michael’s Arts & Crafts. Generally, they’re no more than $9 a pack and can sometimes go on sale at this time of the year. These can be used for children to create their own gifts for teacher(s), grandparent(s) or parent(s). They can surprise Dad by mailing one to work or leaving it on his car seat.

Cards can be decorated in any fashion; using rubber stamping or painting/drawing. However, you can also create collages by using cookie cutters and pieces of felt.

Purchase small amounts of holiday colored felt by the bolt. The best prices are at Wal-Mart and generally 1/4 of a yard will do for each color. Using plastic holiday cookie cutters for patterns, have a child cut out their own designs. Glue the designs to the outside of the card using tacky glue. Hot glue guns aren't appropriate for felt and can also be dangerous for kids to operate. Regular glue isn’t that good either. You could use fabric glue, but frankly, it’s not worth the extra cost. You can also glue sequins on top of the collages, along with glitter around the edges of the collage for accent.

You can buy glitter pens in holiday colors for children to write their own messages inside.

For kids too young to write, encourage them to draw their own pictures inside. For pre-schoolers and kindergarteners, you can ask them what they’d like to say and print it out for them to copy inside the card. Educators encourage parents to make everyday activities a learning experience, and this is one project in which a parent can do just that.

Happy Holidays!