Journal

Christmas ideas for your family — Page 10

Crafts, games, letters and answers to the questions Christmas brings. Choose a topic or find a particular article.

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Choose one person, name the gift or shared moment and let your child draw, dictate or write their own message.

Use a named city, a full date and a second adult check to coordinate a Christmas moment across places, with a printable date sheet.

Check a change with the other adult before telling your child. Keep the question small and use your usual communication route.

Choose the letters or drawings you want to keep, add the year and put them somewhere easy to find next Christmas.

Check the local collection before shopping or packing: many Christmas appeals need new, unwrapped gifts rather than used toys.

Choose one shared activity, say who will arrange it and agree when to do it. A handwritten voucher is enough.

Fold and cut one sheet into eight pages, then fill the six inside pages with drawings or a small Christmas story.

Read the notes in order, check the hiding places and make sure each clue leads to something that is actually there.

Find out what is still agreed, ask about one missing detail and send a short current plan to the adults involved.

A question at school, in the car or after seeing a receipt may call for different answers. Listen before deciding how much to say.

If your child is spending Christmas in two homes, tell them where they’ll wake up, when they’ll travel and what comes with them.

Fold two paper characters, give each scene one action and tell a complete Christmas story without memorising a script.