Family Time
How to make family board games festive and fun
Playing board games at Christmas is as traditional as fairy lights and stockings. We look forward with anticipation to long evenings around the table, mulled wine in hand and carols on the radio. But the reality doesn’t always match our glossy, idyllic Christmas vision. Here are some ideas to help bypass the messy explosions, arguments and tears and to help keep family board gaming positive and harmonious this festive season. Choose the right games. Not all games are created equal. You may inadvertently launch into a game that brings out the worst in your family. If the children are easily upset, look for cooperative games, where everyone plays together to try to beat the game. Avoid long periods of downtime by picking games with quick turns or simultaneous play. If conflict on the table causes conflict between players, opt instead for games where each player is working on their own...
How to make family board games festive and fun
Playing board games at Christmas is as traditional as fairy lights and stockings. We look forward with anticipation to long evenings around the table, mulled wine in hand and carols...
Reconnecting with the joy and magic of the fest...
Sometimes rediscovering the true roots of a festival can help remind us why we are celebrating, readjust our priorities and reconnect with the natural forces evident at a particular time of year. Christmas has been so seized upon as the primary festival we all celebrate in such a homogenous, material way that much of the magic of the season is lost. Rather than resenting the commercial influences which put boxes of Christmas biscuits on supermarkets shelves the day the school supplies come down in September, why not develop your own family traditions, reclaim the festival, and practice celebrating the aspects which really speak to you and your family? If you can make the space and time and find the peace to cultivate the festivals of December with your family, the transition from the old year to the new can be one of restoration for your inner forces. Beginning with Advent...
Reconnecting with the joy and magic of the festive season
Sometimes rediscovering the true roots of a festival can help remind us why we are celebrating, readjust our priorities and reconnect with the natural forces evident at a particular time...
The Magic of Samhain: a journey from autumn to ...
Samhain, from the Gaelic word meaning ‘summer’s end’, is halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is akin to bedtime in the cycle of day and night. In Britain, the clocks go back, and the evenings are dark. It is the turning point when autumn moves towards the cold of winter. Jack Frost visits in the night and, as the sun rises, the world is transformed by the sparkle of crystals. Once again, we wear our hats and gloves and scarves, wrapping up warm. The Forest at Samhain In the woods, the last of the autumn leaves are falling. The growing season has ended. The trees breathe out, shedding their leaves and their seeds. Death and birth nourish life. All over the land, seeds make their journeys to their new homes in the earth, with thanks to the wind, birds and animals. Only a few will survive....
The Magic of Samhain: a journey from autumn to winter
Samhain, from the Gaelic word meaning ‘summer’s end’, is halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is akin to bedtime in the cycle of day and night....
Simple creative ideas to celebrate the rain
Rain Painting Let a shower of rain transform simple pictures into multicoloured masterpieces. To make Draw pictures on plain white kitchen paper, using brightly coloured water-soluble pens. Hang the pictures on a washing line and let the rain mix the colours. Experiment with different papers, inks and paints. Try drawing patterns of dots and lines. What does the rain do to them? Let the pictures dry and then press them flat if need be. Rain Stencils These rain shadows of natural materials won’t last long, so have a camera ready to take a picture before they disappear. You’ll need to prepare before it starts raining. To make Collect leaves of different shapes and sizes. Find a space on a patio or some paving, or put some sand in a tray and level the surface. Arrange leaves or other natural materials into a pattern or a picture in your chosen space....
Simple creative ideas to celebrate the rain
Rain Painting Let a shower of rain transform simple pictures into multicoloured masterpieces. To make Draw pictures on plain white kitchen paper, using brightly coloured water-soluble pens. Hang the pictures...
Outdoor Adventures: how to raise explorers in a...
I remember the olden days. I suspect that many of you will, as well. The primitive times when there were only a couple of hours of children’s telly per day, with a bonus of cartoons and sugar-laden cereal on Saturday mornings. After that there was not much to do but mooch about a bit until you got under Mum’s feet and she booted you outside. And then you were off, roaming, exploring, or just hanging about. Wandering down the road to ask if your friend could come out to play, then climbing trees and riding bikes until teatime hunger drove you back inside in search of food. I look back nostalgically on those days. They certainly contributed strongly to me developing a love of the outdoors and adventure. This led, after training as a teacher, to me jumping on my bike and attempting to cycle round the world. It was...
Outdoor Adventures: how to raise explorers in a digital age
I remember the olden days. I suspect that many of you will, as well. The primitive times when there were only a couple of hours of children’s telly per day,...
How to prepare and enjoy night-time family adve...
Kith Homestead is our happy place. I’m sure you have one too. A place you return to time and time again, in all seasons and in all weathers. A place you take your family, friends and loved ones – the special people in your life. It’s these places you don’t tell ‘just anyone’ about, for the need to preserve them. These spaces aren’t your home though; they’re somewhere you can escape to, while still feeling the same comfort and safety. Recently we’ve begun exploring the Homestead in the veil of darkness again. With the seasonal change, the shorter days give us a wonderful opportunity to head out in the magical golden hour and beyond. When we first talked about going out in the darkness, there was never an element of worry or anxiety, because we knew exactly where we were adventuring. We know the Homestead inside out: every root, undulation...
How to prepare and enjoy night-time family adventures
Kith Homestead is our happy place. I’m sure you have one too. A place you return to time and time again, in all seasons and in all weathers. A place...
The Tooth Ceremony: a special rite of passage
Inspired by Jackie Singer’s Coming of Age article in issue 27 of JUNO (Spring 2012), Vicky Sherrard shares a special family celebration My youngest child is so excited, because she has her first wobbly tooth. Yes, of course the Tooth Fairy will come, and that will be fun, but she is also excited because she knows she will at last qualify for a Tooth Ceremony. In our house we have a ceremony and party to celebrate this important event. I want to spread the word about Tooth Ceremonies, because to me, losing the first tooth is the beginning of a new stage of life for our children, and I want to mark it with them. I believe in the importance of marking our milestones with rituals, making them memorable and special. The more I think about it, the more I come to see that celebrating rites of passage throughout our...
The Tooth Ceremony: a special rite of passage
Inspired by Jackie Singer’s Coming of Age article in issue 27 of JUNO (Spring 2012), Vicky Sherrard shares a special family celebration My youngest child is so excited, because she...
Nature Activities: meet a tree
This game is for groups of at least two. Pair off. Blindfold your partner and lead them through the forest to any tree that attracts you. (How far will depend on your partner’s age and orientation ability. For all but very young children, a distance of 20-30 yards usually isn’t too far.) Help the blindfolded child to explore the chosen tree and to feel its uniqueness. I find that specific suggestions are best. For example, if you tell children to “Feel the tree”, they won’t respond with as much interest as if you say, “Rub your cheek on the bark.” Instead of, “Explore your tree,” be specific: “Is this tree alive?... Can you put your arms around it? ... Is the tree older than you are? ... Can you find plants growing on it? ... Animal signs? ... Lichens?” When your partner has finished exploring, lead them back to where...
Nature Activities: meet a tree
This game is for groups of at least two. Pair off. Blindfold your partner and lead them through the forest to any tree that attracts you. (How far will depend...
Creative ideas for long summer days
Pebble games Our holidays usually involve packing up warm fleeces, a flask of hot tea and a tub of flapjack and heading off for a chilly beach, usually British, occasionally French, but most importantly well strewn with plenty of interesting stones and shells to pick through. Beach pebbles look so pretty when they are wet and shiny, and we are soon happily filling our little plastic buckets. These games and activities have been inspired by many such long days and iffy weather. Please remember when collecting stones from a beach to do so responsibly: some of our beaches need all the sea defences they have to save them from further erosion. Pebble lotto On a large, sturdy piece of card draw some shape outlines, such as a square, circle, heart or oval. Make the shapes different sizes and round off the corners and edges. Leave a space to add in...
Creative ideas for long summer days
Pebble games Our holidays usually involve packing up warm fleeces, a flask of hot tea and a tub of flapjack and heading off for a chilly beach, usually British, occasionally...
Family Camper Van: Claire Thomson shares what s...
It is a remarkable feeling to take to the road with ample provisions, shrugging off the day-to-day and household responsibilities, in search of high adventures and a need to reconnect with the world beyond our front door. We are creatures who have roamed for millennia, after all, and deep in our collective make-up is a need to look up at the stars in the sky – or rather, and perhaps a more current phenomenon (certainly for me), a need to switch off from work and spend quality time with my family. Camping offers a more hand-to-mouth existence and, even if you are staunchly the sort of person who requires running water and electricity to enjoy yourself, living outside, whether for a night, a week or more, allows for a different sort of reality. Freer, certainly; more weathered, definitely, with the rhythm of your day then subject to more base conditions...
Family Camper Van: Claire Thomson shares what she loves about getting away from it all
It is a remarkable feeling to take to the road with ample provisions, shrugging off the day-to-day and household responsibilities, in search of high adventures and a need to reconnect...