This weekend was Maxi’s birthday party, which was his first proper party, by which I mean not a tea party at home with just a few people. There are three children in his class with birthdays all in the same week, so we decided to have a joint party in the local civic centre, with a disco for all three.
One of the issues I have with large children’s parties is the fact that they get far too many presents from people and people feel obliged to bring a present, so Maxi and I sat down and discussed the fact that every one would bring a present and what should we do with them. We decided to let people know that he didn’t need anything and it would be fine to give to comic releif and just give him a card. Even so, he ended up with lots and lots of presents on Saturday.
He opened his presents yesterday morning and without prompting he has already given one to Mini and two to the church charity shop.
After my post last week on Lent, The Coffee Lady kindly sent me her list of things that children can do over Lent
Give your pocket money to a charity
Clean up your room and give something to a charity shop
Share a smile
Say sorry to someone
Do a chore or errand for a family member
Water some plants or a green space with recycled water
Help prepare a meal and find out where the food was grown
Write a thank you letter
Share a treat with someone at school
Thank of three good things and say thank you to God
Have a TV and computer free day and do something with your family instead
Say please and thank you all day
Find out about the countries where your clothes are made
Read a story to a younger child
Save trees by using both sides of the paper
Spend five minutes quietly by yourself
Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth
Hold doors open for others
Give a home-made gift to a loved one
Offer to help your teacher with a task
Recycle your rubbish
Go for a walk in your area with an adult and pray about what you see
Show an adult how to do something they can’t do
Plant some seeds where the flowers will be seen
Have a conversation with someone older than you
Lend a friend a good book/cd/dvd
Find out about children in a developing country
Say a prayer for someone who is unwell or in need
Find out about life as a refugee and spend the night in a tent (we are very much giving this one a miss – too cold!)
Help a parent or carer with shopping
Give a lollipop to your lollipop person
Feed the birds
Pick up some litter
Getting towards Easter
Make a palm cross and give it away
Give someone a Fair Trade Easter Egg
Make hot cross buns and share them
Polish some one’s shoes for them
Make or draw an Easter garden in a place that will be seen
Celebrate Easter
What a sweet and lovely boy. I admire how you have brought your boys up and I hope I can follow in your footsteps xx
Your Comments
Glad to be of help with the list!
Awww, happy birthday to Maxi, looks like they were having a great time. I know what you mean; people feel obliged to buy a present and it is so unnecessary. Giving the £5 they probably would have spent, to charity, is far better. Amy doesn’t do parties anymore, hasn’t really done them at all though she did have a few when she was Mini and Maxi’s age. She used to get presents of course and all very well received, but often they were things she didn’t want, didn’t need or things that just went straight to charity shops. Such a shame really, not to mention a waste of people’s money.
Happy birthday to a lovely lad- and what a brilliant Lent List!
hugs and blessings to you all xx
What a sweet boy. And what a great post. I don’t know when is the right time to start teaching about Lent, but this is a great list that will definitely get used next year!
That’s so lovely. Hope that Maxi had a great party xx
That is so lovely your boys are such a credit to you Jen they sound as lovely as you. I hope that Maxi had a fantastic birthday xx
What a great idea! I think I’ll try some of things on that list myself. xx
I agree with Met Mum! Happy Birthday Maxi; what a mature boy and thoughtful boy, he is doing you proud.
It’s good to actually plan in advance how to cope with the silly quantity of presents – and how lovely his decisions were! This list is great too – I’m going to pop over and visit the Coffee Lady now! Have a good week.
What great ideas in this Pause for Lent AND the next post about learning through play! And thanks for the tip about Tots100 – I’m headed there next. 🙂
My grandkids and I love to prepare for Easter with various books and activities for grandparents and grandchildren. My favorite is the Resurrection Easter eggs set that I bought a few years ago. This year, my oldest grandson and I took that a step further and used their new and old LEGOs bricks to make our own Resurrection Easter Eggs. They may not be perfect but we had a lot of fun, and as you wisely point out, making them will help them learn it even better. I shared our creations in last Friday’s post at SandwichINK and I’m hoping to do this project again, next year, with one or both of his brothers.
Please know, too, that I’m praying extra for you today! Have a blessed Pause in Lent.
@Kaye Swain – SandwichINK: Hello Kaye
Thank you for your kind words and thoughts, I am off over to check out your posts. I am a great believer in learning through play and making the most out of having fun with children adn if that play re-inforces things they are learning then all the better. I appreciate your prayers