M. Sheldon, a psychology professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Granted, time isn’t easily packaged and placed under a
tree. Instead, parents can pull the plug, or at least set time lim- its, watch and talk about media content together, agree to buy less stuff and schedule more meaningful free time together. Here are some ideas to create happy holiday memories to last a lifetime:
Document family history. Turn kids into roving reporters and interview relatives to learn and record the family’s past. Start with a family tree, and then fill in fun details. Where did Great Grandpa come from? What did he eat for lunch at school and what was Grandma’s favorite holiday recipe when she was a child? What games did your grandparents play as kids?
Revisit the family’s culinary heritage. Make traditional dishes and take photographs of the finished masterpieces. Make a scrapbook with recipes, pictures and stories about the recipes to create a treasured family holiday cookbook.
Share skills. Elders may have talents they’d like to pass down to younger generations. Such activities include sewing, quilting, knitting, bread making (from scratch), woodwork- ing, painting, dancing, drawing, jewelry making and playing musical instruments.
Resist the pressure to put a TV in a child’s bedroom. It guarantees that the youngster will spend more time with ad- vertisers and less time with you or engaged in books, physi- cal activity and creative play. TV also exposes children to cultural messages that may lie outside a family’s values. Talk to your children about those potential conflicts.
Discuss the use and impact of advertising. Explore how ads grab our attention through use of color, music and celebrities. Ask kids how an ad makes them feel, and show them how ads sell us “lifestyles.” See if you can spot branded products in movies.
Declare a screen-free day or TV-free week. It may take some getting used to at first, but the rewards are many. You’ll discover you have extra time to be together as a family, play games, read and enjoy meaningful conversation.
Best of all, nourish each child’s spirit with a printed or even framed list of what you love about them, and why they’re the greatest gift of all. Then prove it, by showering them with your “presence.”
For more ideas and insights, visit
NewDream.org/holiday/ index.php,
cmch.tv and
CommercialFreeChildhood.org.
Melinda Hemmelgarn is a Midwest-based registered dietitian and freelance journalist and the host of Food Sleuth Radio. She teaches media literacy workshops nationwide. Reach her at
FoodSleuth@gmail.com.
natural awakenings November 2010 47
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