Ideas for a sweet and eco-friendly holiday season

If there is one time of year when our environmental awareness more easily takes a back seat, it is during the holiday season. While this often intense time is meant to be a time for sharing, good times spent with family and friends, and small and big pleasures, it can quickly become a mad race against time to buy countless gifts and search for that rare gem that would please the children we cherish so much. Let's be honest, however: the effect is not always expected and the pleasure is often short-lived. Our find sometimes drowns in the flood of other gifts received and, in the end, we realize that quantity takes precedence over quality and the pleasure of pleasing others. With this in mind, I thought I would share with you some ideas that have proven effective in order to offer gifts that are a little more sustainable and ecological, while transmitting beautiful values ​​to children.

The Advent Calendar of Good Deeds

This year, let's put aside the most famous Advent calendar (the one containing surprises and sweets!) and try to focus on gestures and moments that please others and bring our family members closer together. Altruism and kindness are values ​​that I put a lot of energy and time into in my household, and of course I want my children to be sensitive to the people around them: picking up an object that is not ours on the floor, holding the door, saying thank you and please, smiling at others, encouraging them in their challenges and congratulating them when a good move comes along, etc. So, when December comes around, we use the Advent calendar of good deeds, which encourages each member of the family to show generosity every day through small gestures. For example, we find thank yous to offer (to the mailman, the firefighters, our bus driver or our teacher), easy gestures to accomplish and integrate into our daily lives (smiling at someone, helping parents with a household chore) and other actions that require more goodwill than money to take out of our pocket. This is not the tool that will change the world, but sowing small seeds of kindness and gratitude towards others can certainly lead children to appreciate what surrounds them.

DISCOVER THE CALENDAR OF GOOD ACTIONS

The Advent calendar of sweet moments spent with family

This is a golden opportunity to finally take the time to take the time! We often say that we lack it and that it is urgent and December is the ideal month to stop and spend quality time with our kids. What child would not be happy to play with the musical bed, go for a drive to look at the Christmas lights or call their grandparents to tell them about their best Christmas memory? We bet that these moments when we set aside time as a family will occupy a special place in the hearts of children.

DISCOVER THE CALENDAR OF SWEET FAMILY MOMENTS

An eco-friendly Christmas that’s greener than green

Have you ever thought about giving a gift for a year? Book or magazine subscriptions can be a good idea to encourage reading awareness. In addition, children like to receive something in the mail in their name every month or sporadically. It is a sustainable choice that can last over time, because we come back to it according to the times of the year or the children's tastes. In addition, it is easy to pass on to younger children or to cousins ​​and friends. There are also subscriptions to turnkey craft boxes that we can receive directly at home and which allow us to spend a sweet moment with the children.

To save money and to allow our beautiful planet to breathe a little, classified ads for used objects are also an interesting solution. What you find there is cheaper and the over-packaging of new toys is not there: a nice solution that is very much in tune with the times and which advocates zero waste.

Time as a gift

We are often told that spending quality time with your child is an important part of a child's development. To change things up or to vary the gifts we give, here are some gift ideas that will leave memories of good times spent TOGETHER:

• a night out in town
• a day outdoors with an impromptu picnic
• take a “coffee break” at the local café
• discover a new corner of the countryside
• a trip to the cinema
• go get pampered (beauticians often offer treatments for children)
• eating a cone in the middle of winter
• get out our DIY gear and tinker during a family evening
• go to the museum
• start a new sport
• go to the theater

Passing on the gift of sharing

Helping those less fortunate and less fortunate than oneself during the holiday season and throughout the year also raises awareness among young and old alike of how lucky they are and provides everyone with instant pleasure and a certain reflection. This is the time to dip into our pantry and pharmacy to offer non-perishable foods and various products for those who cannot afford them.

Happy and responsible holidays

For many, Christmas means magic, sharing and family, and I believe it is possible to achieve this without falling into the overconsumption that harms the Earth, clutters our homes and does not necessarily make the youngest happier. It is certainly possible to offer gifts and keep the holiday spirit, while keeping in mind our concern for the preservation of the environment!

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