4 Ways to stay true to your philosophy during the festive season
This is a repost from a blog post I wrote six years ago... but the sentiment is still very relevant
Well, it is December. The Christmas season is well and truly underway and social media is filled with photos of very clever Christmas craft, decorated rooms and ideas for embracing the festive season with children. Let me begin this post with a disclaimer (probably never a good sign) that I love Christmas and think that it can be a really exciting time for children. I have great memories of looking at Christmas lights with my family and doing lots of fun Christmas experiences.
What bothers me though is that in our attempts to fully embrace the festive spirit, some services and educators appear to lose sight of their philosophies and subsequently, children’s rights.
Services who usually wouldn’t allow a stencil to make it’s way in the front gate all of a sudden have Christmas crafts where every child makes an identical footprint reindeer.
Services who usually encourage children to make choices about their play are suddenly urging them to “come and make a present for Mummy”.
Services who usually embrace casual, relaxed group times are working hard on Christmas concerts where all of the children are expected to perform. (I recently wrote about this HERE)
The big question…why?
Why do we let the festive season take over our services? Is it not possible to celebrate Christmas in meaningful ways that actually link in with our philosophies?
Don’t get me wrong – I know this is not happening in every service. Some services are doing truly meaningful things with their children and families and should be applauded for this, but the influx of images on social media suggests that as a sector, we still have a long way to go.
I looked back at some photographs of myself at age 4 at our annual Christmas Concert. There I was lined up with 20 other children, all with identical Santa beards and hats we had made with paper and cotton balls, singing my heart out. Sure, I was having a great time. But just down from me was a child who clearly was not having a great time, in fact he was miserable.
Looking at the photo I do remember this child refusing to sing Christmas songs at preschool and being told he had to join in the concert weather he liked it or not. I like to think we have come a long way in almost 30 years… but have we? I am still seeing children making identical Christmas craft and being coerced into Christmas concerts.
Quite a number of years ago I think there was a swing the other way – in an effort to be inclusive of multicultural beliefs, many services abandoned the celebration of Christmas. And while I am not advocating for that, I think there is middle ground to be found.
We made lots of materials available and if children wanted to make something they could, if they didn’t – not a problem! Naturally many children came in wanting to make, create, sing and do all things Christmas and as with any other interest, we allowed the children to lead us where they wished to go, providing provocations, materials and support as needed. We opened up a meaningful dialogue with families about our choices and how doing specific craft experiences and forcing children to make gifts really didn’t sit in line with our philosophy nor did it feel like we were sharing a meaningful experience with the children.
How do we stay true to our philosophy while celebrating?
- Stop and ask "why are we doing this?" As a team, challenge your thinking and really reflect on why you might be doing an end of year performance, or structured Christmas art if this sort thing is not part of your usual approach.
- Loose parts and open ended art materials. If children want to make "Christmas craft", have the materials available to them to explore and create in their own way.
- Let the children lead the way.
- Communicate and connect with families about the values that are important to your service and how the programs and celebrations reflect those values.
By all means celebrate Christmas, but please make it meaningful to the children. Please allow them to still have the right to make choices about their play and their day.