While Christmas is a magical time of year, it can also be quite stressful when it comes to deciding what to buy. More often than not, you buy your child the toy that they’ve been pestering you for, only to find that once opened they’re more interested in the cardboard box that it came in. Come lunchtime, you have a tonne of wrapping paper and boxes that need recycling, but before you bundle it into the recycling bin, why not consider how you can utilise some of that waste to allow your child to get creative? Packaging waste is ideal for arts and craft activities. You can also add nature into this too by heading outside to gather things such as holly, leaves etc. You also have the benefit of allowing your child to burn off some pent-up excitement of the Christmas season.
If you need some motivation to get your family out and about for a walk this winter season, why not do our Coppice Valley Christmas Codebreaker Trail!
This year, our PTA are creating a Christmas Codebreaker Trail around the Kings Road, Skipton Road and Ripon area. Local businesses, shops and homes are displaying large Christmas bauble cut-outs in their windows. You can buy a map of the trail from The Wharfe Fish and Chip (241 Skipton Road HG1 3EY) to help you find the baubles. There are 24 to find, each with a letter of the alphabet attached. Once you’ve found all the letters, rearrange them to crack the code. Write the code on your map, with your name and address and phone number, post them through the school letter box and wait to see if you win a prize! We’re giving away cash prizes as well as vouchers. All funds raised will go towards our Year of Giving Back campaign which is supporting the community through the cost-of-living crisis.
Christmas can be a hectic time of year but the most important thing to remember is how you can be present and enjoy this time with your children whilst encouraging their inquisitive and creative minds. At Coppice Valley, we’re always encouraging our children to use their imagination, and to consider all the resources available to them to do this. Whether it’s being outdoors in our nature area, gardening in the community allotment or considering how they can live more sustainable lives, we carefully plan to develop our children’s creativity and deeper thinking.
So, whenever things feel like they are getting a bit too manic with the children this Christmas season, why not try something creative and calming, indoors or outdoors. You never know, you might enjoy it too!
To discover more about Coppice Valley and see some of the things they get up to in school, follow them on Facebook. Proud to be a Red Kite Learning Trust School.
Emma Meadus – Head Teacher, Coppice Valley Primary School
*Sponsored Blog
