How to arrange a New Year's holiday for a child and not break his psyche

Of course, the individual characteristics of each baby play an important role, but there are several universal rules that should be followed in preparing the holiday. We decided to share our knowledge and experience to help parents make the New Year's celebration truly memorable and interesting for the little ones.

1. Consider the child's age

Children at different ages perceive the world around them in different ways, therefore, when choosing a New Year's entertainment program, it is necessary to build on the age category first of all.

So, kids under two years old practically do not see the difference between holidays and weekdays. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that during the New Year's holidays not to break their usual routine and try to avoid unnecessary emotional stress. The best option in this case would be small, quiet events in a familiar setting, without noisy congratulations and make-up animators.

It is better to postpone the invitation of Santa Claus for home congratulations until the child is four years old, otherwise the visit may end in fright and tears. But the Snow Maiden is well accepted by children even at a very young age.

2. Involve your child in preparing for the holiday

From the first years of a child's life, attention should be paid to the atmosphere of preparation for the New Year, which will subsequently take an important place among childhood memories.

Tell your child about holiday traditions and try to involve them in pleasant Christmas chores: decorating a Christmas tree, decorating a house, making holiday cookies. This teaches the kid not only to receive gifts, but also to create a holiday "with his own hands."

In no case should a child be blackmailed by the lack of gifts in case of bad behavior. The kid must understand that Santa Claus is kind, and know that he is loved, regardless of his character.

Many people learn poems with children so that the child can thus "congratulate" the New Year's wizard. It often happens that the prospect of telling a rhyme does not scare the child, but at the most crucial moment he refuses to speak. If this happens, you do not need to put pressure on the baby, so as not to aggravate the already stressful situation.

3. Prepare a New Year's table for the little ones

The festive table is one of the main attributes of the New Year's Eve, so it is very important to think over the menu in advance in such a way that both adults and children can enjoy the meal equally.

Many people advise setting a separate table for the smallest, but this is only relevant if there are at least three children. Otherwise, even the most luxuriously laid children's table will cause nothing in the child except a feeling of loneliness and isolation from the festive fun.

Of course, when drawing up a children's menu, you should avoid spicy, fried and fatty foods. In the event that a child will sit at the same table with adults, it makes sense to find a traditional "heavy" for digestion dishes, a "lighter" alternative. So in the midst of a feast you will not have to closely monitor the contents of the children's plate, and the baby will not feel left out because of the next "no".

4. Form a conscious attitude towards gifts in your child

New Year's holidays are not only a time of warm family evenings and magic. It is also a time of temptation: for both children and parents.

Every adult wants to give his child the best gift, but it is important to be able to stop yourself in this noble impulse. Fulfilling children's desires is great, but you need to be able to distinguish a cherished dream from a momentary whim.

Remember that the demands of a child who have received a mountain of gifts for the New Year will only grow over time.

Therefore, discussing gifts with relatives and distributing the responsibilities of Santa Claus among themselves is a good practice to avoid "loading up".

Contributes to the formation of a conscious attitude towards gifts in the child and joint participation in charity events: this is how kids learn to perceive themselves as part of a large and heterogeneous society and more painlessly experience getting rid of children's egocentrism.

5. Responsibly approach the choice of children's performances

First of all, it must be said that for children under the age of five, New Year's performances and trees rarely bring truly positive emotions: in modern productions, frightening special effects, loud music are used, and the actors descend into the auditorium, as a result of which the child loses a sense of security.

Until the age of seven, children do not have a clear distinction between fiction and reality, so you should not get carried away with scenarios with an overly disturbing climax. But for a school-age child, you can safely select performances with the most unexpected and exciting plot twists. And of course, when choosing an event, you should give preference to proven organizers and performances with good reviews.

Finally, it is worth noting that in drawing up the program for the New Year's holiday one should not get too carried away, so as not to emotionally overload the baby. Spend the holidays with your loved ones. So the New Year's time will not lose its magical charm in the eyes of the child.