At our house, we started this little
ritual a couple of years ago. I give my daughter the toy catalogues,
(the ones that seem to come daily this time of year), then she goes
through them all, cuts out her favourites and glues them onto one
piece of paper to be sent to Santa.
This project accomplishes a few things.
It gives me a clue as to what she wants for Christmas. It helps
with her planning and future thinking skills – she can only fit so
many toys on a page, so she must figure out which toys she really
wants, and plan how to fit as many toys as she can onto a piece of
paper (spatial reasoning skills?). It helps with her motor skills
(the cutting and glueing). This year, we plan to work on her
literacy skills as she must also write a letter to Santa. AND most
importantly, it keeps her busy while I cook dinner.
Nevertheless, no matter what toy we get
her, and no matter how much effort we put in trying to find some
gender neutral, educational alternative to the Barbie doll and nail
polish kit that she glued onto that sheet of paper, the toy will
inevitably end up on the floor somewhere to become a tripping hazard
or end up jabbing me in my foot.
So for her birthday this year we tried
something different. Instead of a big expensive toy, we got her an
experience. The whole family went to see the live production of
Beauty and the Beast. We still got her a little toy to open on her
birthday, even I realize that it would be difficult to explain to a
five year old why there is nothing to unwrap, but her actual present,
which happened about two months later, was the show.
Even though she did not completely
enjoy the show (long story, maybe I will save it for another post),
it did start me thinking that maybe this is the way to go for
presents. Instead of another toy (more crap for me to clean up), why
not do something fun as a family. Something that will leave very
little physical presence (nothing for me to stub my toe on), but at
the same time, something that can be enjoyed by all and leave a
lasting memory.
To help you give a gift of an
experience, here is a discount code for Disney On Ice presents
Worlds of Fantasy. The show
will be at Rogers Centre in Toronto from December 21 – December 26,
2012. For more information please visit
http://disney.go.com/disneyonice/
Discount offer –
4 tickets for $44 on WEEKDAYS and $4 off per ticket on weekends.
Promotion code –
MUM4
Fine
print - Excludes Front Row, Rinkside, and VIP tickets. No double discounts. Additional Fees May Apply. Weekday is defined as Monday thru Thursday and Friday Matinee. Weekend is defined as Friday evening and Saturday and Sunday. Please put the code in the box for “promotions” NOT family pack. The promotion price does not include fees from Ticketmaster.
More Fine print - Feld
Entertainment may be providing me with complimentary tickets to this
show, in exchange for my time and efforts in attending the show, and
reporting my opinion within this blog. However, the opinions about
the show, and everything else are 100 per cent mine.
pictures
courtesy of: Disney characters and artwork, © Disney. Disney/Pixar
characters and artwork © Disney/Pixar.
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