If there is one thing I have learned it’s that if you wait too long because you think Christmas is too far away then it’s going to come quicker than you think. Personally my family has no free weekend until after the New Year now – and I don’t know how we are going to fit in delivering presents to family. One of the things that I feel is really important to do early is Christmas cards. If people live far away then you don’t want to miss the post – but if they live nearby you don’t want to get complacent and end up just not delivering them. Plus if you have cards to post then you can put them in the second class mail and save some money.
Writing your Christmas Cards
First you have to remember all the names of your children’s friends get a list off children’s names in each of your children’s classes. Next you have to decide whether your child is sending a card to everyone in the class. And if not they wont end up just leave a select few out. Then you have to select which cards each of your children are giving out (organised frugal parents will already have cards bought in the sales the previous year). Then you will have to decide whether you are getting your child to write some or all of the greeting in the card.
Then if you are going to let your children write them then this can be very time consuming (depending on the age of your child can determine just how long this process takes) and then what if you find that either your child, and/or the recipient, has been off ill, and your time spent ensuring your child has written them a card (all by themselves) has gone to waste as the school’s have broken up half way through December (16th) and you’ve not seen them to hand them out. You only need a few weeks of children off sick to know they need to be delivered as soon as December hits. Then if you were thinking of letting your children make their own cards then start even earlier – as it all takes time.
Last year we made personalised cards from potato stampers we made. For more ideas visit my Christmas Card Pinterest Board.
This year I decided to go for cards for the older children – and one that involved a bit of Science education too (especially as my oldest son is taking Physics A-level).
The cards were really simple – make 4 holes (4 circles are marked out), thread in the bulb in one spot, the battery in the other, and follow the line with the electric paint between the two. It says wait 15 minutes but it took a while longer than that. My oldest son suggested that it could be developed to have a switch – because after 24 hours of constant flashing it got a bit annoying: Not only that but the bulb will be dead by Christmas! My husband didn’t think it would be something you could send through the post either – as people may be suspicious about the flashing. All in all it was a good way to teach a basic circuit – and it soon got my oldest talking about all things circuit that went well over my head!
The circuit doesn’t have to go on a card, why not draw it on different surfaces and see if it still works – or bring a Christmas poster to life.
The cards were sent as part of Make Things Do Stuff which aims to encourage young people between 9 – 18 years to become creators of digital technologies rather than just be users. The flashing cards themselves were from Bare Conductive and are £15 for a pack of 3.
I received a Flashing Card Set in order to review it – all opinions are my own.