Make Your Christmas “Play-Full”

“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you need to do is wake up!” This great quote from JM Power is a poignant reminder about the importance of play and how easy it is to go to sleep on it.

So, with the Christmas countdown on, let’s continue looking at the remaining pieces of the puzzle to help you plan ahead for success: play, home and the New Year…This week, it’s all about Play:

When did you last play – and I mean really play?

Christmas is rapidly on its way and so is summer. As Aristotle said “What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do” – so be sure to not only make ‘play’ a BIG part of your Christmas this year…make your summer is ‘play full’ too.

How often can you look back at the adult Christmases you’ve shared with the same fond memories (of freedom and happiness) that you may have experienced as a child?

Whatever your experience, make this Christmas ‘child’s play.’

Here are 3 simple ‘play’ ideas to consider:

1. Koha, gifting, presents – This may take a variety of forms. Remember the ‘5 Languages of Love’ (from Dr Gary Chapman)? Words of Affirmation; Acts of Service; Affection; Quality Time or Gifts. Which is best suited to each of the special people in your life??
2. Food and Family – Christmas lunch or dinner is a great way to re-connect, socialise and spend quality time with those you choose to bring together. How about creating a playful theme for this special occasion?
3. Fun and Games – after the excitement and celebration of what Christmas means to you, how are you going to transition into your summer holiday? Expectation is for it to be fun – and for that to happen requires ingenuity, planning, preparation and some bits and pieces to enable you to conjure up some magic, come rain or shine.

KISS with affection as well as applying the KISS principle of keeping it simply simple!

I remember when we used to go camping and the fun we had all squashed into what we called the ‘pup’ tents because that was all we could run to – compared with later on when we ‘upgraded’ to a family tent which was so much more spacious and better equipped. The focus was primarily on play rather than ‘facility’; let’s re-invent ‘Play’ and make it our focus this year.

Remember Richard Lingard’s observation: “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

It can be as simple as asking everyone to buy (or make) each other a game as a theme for gifts. Children usually love homemade or bought bubble blowers – especially if you make the bubble mix suitable for blowing GIANT bubbles (there are some simple ideas here) – and of course card games and board games with attentive adults usually go down well. Adults may enjoy board games too – Pictionary can lead to much hilarity, while others may bring out the fun competitive streak in everyone. Or create a treasure or scavenger hunt around your region – which can be a great way to introduce both out-of-towners and locals to all the neat things where you live (more on this next week!)

As Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr so aptly put it “Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.”

Why not make 2015 a “play-full” Christmas!

~ Jane