We made it through December, and the New Year is upon us. Time to celebrate!
New Year’s is often a time to reflect, a time of new beginnings. For those of us who are lucky enough to celebrate and bring in the New Year with our loved ones beside us, there are so many things you can do with the entire family to help make this day and the new year even more fun, connected, and meaningful!
Here are a few activities — focusing on the “Past, Present, and Future” — that my children and I enjoyed creating together this end-of-year, and you can too:
1. Family Time Capsule (“Past”): This project highlights all the fun times you’ve had. Find an old shoe-box, large enough to contain a variety of interesting & memorable items from the past year. Decorate the outside & be sure to label it with the year. Ours says “2012” and includes each of our signatures, and confetti attached with glue sticks. 🙂 Then, go on a treasure hunt. Inside your box, place treasures that remind you of the different things you’ve experienced over the past 12 months. Encourage every family member to participate, and be sure to label the objects somehow so that you remember the fun story behind that cool rock you found on your nature hike or that pretty shell you found during that camping trip this summer. When everyone has contributed and the box is complete to your liking, you may wish to store it with your holiday decorations so that you an find it around the end of next year. In December, when you dig out the decos, you will find your time capsule! Consider placing it under the tree or with your other gifts at that time, and save it to open together New Year’s Eve.
2. New Year’s Affirmation Jar (“Present”): This activity helps you focus on the present moment, while you are creating it and while you are using it throughout the year. Our family decided to create an “love notes to each other” jar, but you can make it “family goals”, “positive sayings,” or whatever you’d like it to be. (Take votes.) Use a jar or other container you have lying around and transform it into a piece of inspiration! You can find pretty containers on clearance this time of year, or just take a mason jar out of the cupboard or use a coffee tin. (We liked being able to see through the side of the jar.) Write the new year on the lid and decorate the sides with marker & sticker. Make it your own! Next, have each family member write messages on slips of paper and fold/roll them up, placing them inside the container. Make the messages meaningful, interesting, inspirational! Throughout the year, you can take a message out when you need a cheer-up or a new thought/idea. The Affirmation Jar is organic and constantly evolving, so be sure to not only remove its messages but add new ones to it in the weeks and months ahead.
3. Good Times Memory File (“Future”): By creating this you open up the opportunity to preserve memories of the future months ahead. Get a 12-month accordion file from your local office supply store, decorate it, and place your cards, ticket stubs, receipts, & art from each month in the corresponding slot as you go. This one is quick & easy to begin (as you only need to decorate the outside, filling the inside as you go), and pretty simple to keep up throughout the year. At the end of next December you will have memorabilia to enjoy, reminisce, place in a scrapbook, or to include in that year’s time capsule!
This year, find a way to intentionally connect with your children, and those you love.
There’s never a better time than the present moment for that.
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Michelle Mersy, C.P.C. is the mother of two wonderful children (who had a ton of fun making these crafts and then showing them off on television!), and a certified Life and Parenting Coach. She affirms, “Stop just wishing things could be different. They can be, if YOU do something different. Coaching will make that difference.”
989-397-8386 ~ [email protected]
www.MichelleMersy.com