The festive season is a magical time of year, but it can often be emotional and challenging for looked after children. To make this time a little easier for the boys at Kites, we like to follow their lead. We plan and prepare activities in advance with the boys so they can have a say in what they want to do in the build up to Christmas. We include any Christmas traditions our boys have and encourage them to take part in new ones.
For the boys who are spending Christmas day in our homes we encourage them to share how they would like to spend the day, what food they would like to eat, if they want to play games, watch movies, or just spend all day in their pyjamas.
After all the planning in previous weeks, the boys have now started getting into the Christmas spirit by taking part in a variety of different activities.
The festivities started with decorating the homes, the boys also went out on the hunt for the best Christmas trees they could find before heading home to decorate. They all helped with the lights and decorations whilst listening to their favourite Christmas songs and eating mince pies and yule log.
They have enjoyed a trip to the Hylands Estate in Chelmsford for their annual outdoor light trail, although the weather was terrible the boys all seemed to love seeing the displays in the rain! After the tour and many wet photos, the evening was finished off with a hot chocolate to warm up.
The staff also organised a Christmas movie night where the boys from both homes all got together, a vote took place on which festive film they were to watch and what takeaway the boys were treated too. A great evening spent watching Home Alone and eating good food with festive treats for dessert.
The boys have chosen many more festive activities they want to take part in, that are booked in for the coming weeks which they all excited about, so watch this space…