Larger settings, such as nurseries and pre-schools will usually put on a Christmas party for their children: So does this mean that registered child minders should do the same?
When I was working as a registered child minder Christmas was my favourite time of year. I started providing Christmas themed activities and crafts from the beginning of December here.
I always hung Christmas chocolates on my tree and if a child had been really well behaved they were allowed to take one home with them.
In the early days when I only had one child on my books, my son’s pre school organised a trip on a Santa express , the group leader needed parents to help and as I volunteered she let me bring along my minded child too: This made it even more excitable for my son as he loved this slightly older boy.
As I became more experienced and gained more children to look after I started running a child minders drop in at the local children’s centre, so I organised a Christmas party for the children there; I got one of the male children’s centre staff to dress up as Santa and I bought a small present for each child ( a bottle of bubbles usually).
Each child minder brought along some food for both the children and adults.
As the children’s centre always had a Christmas tree and decorations in the playroom this was a perfect venue for our celebration.
One year my middle son had a job at being Santa in the town shopping centre.
I invited another child minder and her children to my house to play.
My son told me that he was going out to meet a friend. A short time later there was a knock on my playroom door and in walked Father Christmas with a packet of sweets for everyone.
Later when my son ‘returned’ one of the children told him ” You will never guess who came while you were out? It was Father Christmas and you missed him!”
As I took my minded children to a few different groups, such as toddler and family workshop groups they put on Christmas parties too so the children in my care did well at Christmas: I actually enjoyed them all as much as they did.
Do you feel pressured into putting on a Christmas party for the children in your care and if you are a parent do you expect your child minder to host a party?
You can read more about my child minding days in my e book available to doenload here
As always questions and comments are welcome.
Until next time.
Karen
x
Linked with
We always do parties to celebrate special occasions
Christmas birthday Easter etc x
Children love it. All children get to see Father Christmas if they want, and get a present.
Something I always have done with my own children so carry on the tradition for all who wants to join in.
Thanks very much for taking the time to leave this comment, it is apricated
I do at Christmas, a chance for all the families to get together, the adults meeting and having a catch up, most importantly getting to see all their children play together and seeing all of their friendships ‘live’ rather than through photos, I keep it simple and everyone loves it.
That sounds wonderful, Sarah, thanks for sharing
My MIL was one and she organised one at a small city zoo each year and the families as well as the children would come. It was very sweet. #Dreamteam
That sounds lovely, Lydia, thanks for sharing
I think it depends a lot on the kids in your group. A “holiday party” might annoy the “war on Christmas” crowd but only you know how the people in your circle celebrate. I think its nice to at least acknowledge that its the holiday season., if that makes sense
Ah, that’s true, Jeremy, thanks for pointing it out
Hosting a Christmas party is such a lovely thing to do as a childminder. We would never have expected it from ours, but were always so grateful when she did put on Christmas themed events for the little ones. Thank you for joining us for the #DreamTeam 🙂
That’s good to hear, Annette
Of course you should, lucky children.
Thanks for linking with #pocolo
Some child minders may not want the stress of organising a prty on their own with no staff to help
I think Christmas activities should be included but a party should only be provided if parents are willing to support and donate items. Thanks for linking up with #DreamTeam
That sounds like a good plan, Laura, thanks for sharing your thoughts