December is the darkest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and that is why so many faiths and cultures have brought light into their celebrations. As the lights of Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas and Kwanzaa are glowing in your home, take a moment to think of those people living in darkness. It is my hope that the lights of the season will inspire you to be a light for yourself and others this month.
On the Kids in Service site this month we have lots of ideas to help you celebrate the season, learn about other December holidays, take care of yourselves and give back to others. December is a busy month and it will be over before you know it. I hope that you and your family take some time to focus on self-care, kindness and giving.
CELEBRATING ADVENT & CHRISTMAS
We started celebrating the full 12 days of Christmas a few years back and it has stopped the “After Christmas Blues” from coming to town. Check out the simple ways we celebrate this festival.
This is my FAVORITE holiday present EVER and I have my children start work on it in mid-November. This is a wonderful and inexpensive gift for your children to make to show someone in their life how much they mean to them. You could also make this a Hanukkah or Solstice present.
There are so many fun ways to count down to Christmas and here are a few of our favorites.
Holiday Kindness
Here are 10 projects that can help your children focus on kindness this holiday season.
For years we have been following Passionate Penny Pincher’s Reverse Advent Calendar. This year I was inspired to create two new giving calendars for Hanukkah and Solstice to encourage EVERYONE to participate in Season’s Giving.
This list has books for Advent, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas and Kwanzaa. Many of the books have YouTube read aloud links, so you can enjoy them today.
CELEBRATING HANUKKAH, SOLSTICE & KWANZAA
In this post we are share our 8 favorite books for the festival of lights (with YouTube read aloud links). We also have some kindness project ideas and a fun, kid-friendly video, from actress Mayim Bialik, all about Hanukkah (if you want to learn about this festival)!
Winter Solstice is on December 21st this year. We have some books (with YouTube read aloud links) and ideas for you to celebrate the shortest day of the year with your family!
The 7 day festival of Kwanzaa begins on December 26th. We have a post with books and information that will help you teach your kids all about Kwanza.
Ramadan Sometimes Begins in December
Ramadan begins some years in spring and others in winter, it all depends on the lunar calendar. You can check out when Ramadan is happening this year by clicking here. This calendar has the dates up until the year 2032. If Ramadan or Eid Al-Fitr are happening this month, check out our special book list.
Holiday Family Self-Care
NEW YEAR’S POSTS
The start of a new year can be so exciting and a great chance to dream and plan with your kids.
This is a tradition we started years ago and keep all our past interviews in a folder to reflect upon each year during New Year’s Day breakfast.
Here is an easy and fun project you and your kids can do together after Christmas. St. Judes Children’s Ranch collects the fronts of Christmas cards so that the teens in their program can turn them into new cards to sell.
Kids in Service 