1ST DECEMBER SACKS

Christmas songs have started on the radio, shops are smelling of cinnamon, the supermarket Christmas ad competition has officially began…Christmas is officially only 33 sleeps away.

We’ve decided to start a little tradition this year of giving ‘1st December sacks’. It includes everything that you might want your children to wear or use in the lead up to Christmas Day. Ours will contain what I have traditionally given them over the month of December, but this year I wanted to sprinkle some extra magic and get them in a festive mood at the beginning of the month. I’m also hoping that it will help encourage Big Bee to get through those last few weeks of her first term at school.

Firstly, I have ordered them a cream sack off Etsy with their first initial embroidered onto the bag in a Liberty festive print. But, if you didn’t want to do this then you, or your child, could perhaps decorate a canvas bag. Alternatively, you could use a cardboard box and wrap it with Christmas wrapping paper, or a wicker basket or crate that you can pick up from a charity shop.

Below are a range of ideas that you could include in your sack or box:

• Colouring/Activity Book - Colouring books are a great activity to do during a very stimulating and busy period. If you want to add a mindful activity to your sack then, The Works and The Range are good places to get affordable Christmas colouring and activity books from.

• Window Stickers - You could pick up some window gel stickers or stickers e.g. 'Santa, please stop here' from a variety of places including Amazon, Ginger Ray, The Works, The Range, and The Card Factory.

• PJs - Gifting Christmas pyjamas at the beginning of the month makes a lot more sense to me, so that they get more wear out of them over the festive period. You can chose some wonderful designs from a whole host of places in the UK e.g. Next, ASDA, H&M, M&S and Sainsbury's.

• Outfits - Whether it's a Christmas jumper, leggings or a top that you would typically buy during this period then it would be a great addition to the sack.

• Socks - Fluffy and cosy Christmas socks are sure to go down a treat, or some animal themed welly socks for the winter months.

• Accessories - Christmas themed hair accessories or a novelty headband are a fun way to get into the festive spirit.

• Stickers - The Bees love using stickers for their Christmas crafting sessions and for making cards, so Christmas stickers are a must in our household.

• Art and Craft Kit - The Bees were bought a craft kit last year and they absolutely loved it. I have found something similar to what they were gifted here. Otherwise, you could pick up some craft supplies from a store like Poundland or Hobbycraft to then create your own cards or decorations with.

• Sticker Book - You could pick something traditional like the Usborne Nativity book to reinforce the meaning of Christmas or a Christmas sticker book.

• Advent Calendar - A classic tradition of marking down the days until Christmas where the joy builds and builds! No 1st December sack/bag would be complete without one. However, if you have decided to go down the road of a homemade calendar with little treats each day, then you could always put the first treat of advent in their 1st of December sack.

• Magazine - If your child loves magazines (or the free gifts!) as much as mine do then adding one to their sack as a special treat is sure to be well received.

• Sweet Treats - You could add some hot chocolate, marshmallows, a gingerbread man or some chocolate coins.

• Event tickets - Have you booked a pantomime, light show, or Father Christmas visit this year? To show what you have in store for them then you could include a homemade personalised ticket.

• Board Game - Add to your board game collection and spend some quality time together during the Christmas period. If you wanted the game to be festive themed, then Orchard Toys do a range of Christmas games.

• Cookie Cutters - Baking cookies together is a fun Christmas activity to do with your children. So, you could include a Christmas related cookie cutter in their sack, or one that matches their current favourite topic e.g dinosaurs.

• Christmas Book - This year we have bought Big Bee a book from the 'Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam' series - 'Santa's Stolen Sleigh', and Little Bee 'The Christmasaurus' by Tom Fletcher. If you are not looking for a specific Christmas book then I would highly recommend visiting a local charity shop for some second hand Christmas books.

• Christmas Bauble - Adding a new decoration to the Christmas tree each year is a great tradition to start. If you wanted a unique personalised one then there are many on Etsy or Not On The Highstreet, or local garden centres often have personalised Christmas decorations.