Merry and Bright

The winter holidays bring us a chance to celebrate as a family, no matter your faith or tradition. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, the Winter Solstice, even Festivus -- they all bring us an occasion to gather the family on a long winter's night, to savor the softly lit faces we love so much, and to believe that the magic of the season will last until the next year. And for a lifetime more.

All of us at the Savvy Source wish you bright lights, merriment, and shared magic. For this season and on into the next.

We hope you enjoy this year's Savvy holiday guide.

A Life of Thanks-Giving

November is the month for thanksgiving, a time we set aside each year for contemplating all of our many blessings, and for considering all those people and things in our lives for which we feel grateful. I've come to understand that being grateful is an attitude, a choice one makes, which has the power to alter the experience of any moment from one of resentment, deprivation and victimization, toward one of peace, abundance and serenity. ... Read more

Autumn Leaves

Leaves are everywhere! That means freely available, beautiful materials for making seasonal crafts and decorations with the children. Even if you are not the crafty type, there is something irresistible about all of the red and yellow-tinged leaves floating down from the trees, each lovelier than the next. Our kids can't certainly can't resist!... Read more

Thanksgiving Crafts

Thanksgiving is a special time of year. Squeezed between the sugar-filled chaos of Halloween and the frenzied pace of the winter holidays, it's a time to sit down, reflect, and enjoy time with those we love. (Unless you're making the turkey, of course!) Thanksgiving is also a time that is filled with interesting ideas for children.... Read more

Thanksgiving Then & Now

What can Thanksgiving teach young children, besides the importance of saying thank you, and a taste for pumpkin pie? A sense, however fuzzy, of the past. For preschoolers who are just starting to get the idea of yesterday, today and tomorrow, talking about Pilgrims and Native Americans from several centuries ago may just seem silly.... Read more

Books & Toys for the Winter Holidays

We at the Savvy Source struggle to keep the holidays distinct (and therefore discernable) to our preschoolers. We struggle mightily against the big blur that December can become. Sometimes, like this year, the calendar makes our struggle pointless. We will light the first candle of Hanukkah... Read more

Best Classic Books & Toys

Classics: What are the classics? The classics, for us, are the books and toys we cannot do without. The books and toys that last our children year after year, making them worth every penny spent on them. These are the books that teach our kids that reading can be an unending source of joy and the toys that unleash our child's amazing creative forces. These are the presents that bring will big smiles when opened and that you'll never regret purchasing, not even for a minute. ... Read more

Favorite Christmastime Crafts

Though we may not believe in Santa Claus anymore, Christmas remains a special time of year for many of us. It brings many childhood memories to the fore and allows us to honor and pass on traditions -- trimming the tree, decorating cookies, and singing Christmas carols to our children. But for children, Christmas is all that and more. It is downright magical. ... Read more

Favorite Hanukkah Activities

The Festival of Lights is a time rich with meaning, celebrating the miracle of one night's worth of oil lasting for eight nights. Even more, Hanukkah celebrates victory of the Maccabees and the rededication of a temple that had been desecrated. Those are big stories. Sometimes, though, the ideas in the stories might be a little too big for the youngest ones, ... Read more

Kwanzaa Traditions

At this dark time of year, we can't get enough of celebrating light. Yesterday marked the beginning of Kwanzaa, another occasion for bringing families together by candlelight. Our focus on the creation and nurturing of family rituals this month makes us especially interested in the origins of the modern celebration of Kwanzaa.... Read more

Holiday Parties, Preschool-Style

Have you been reckless enough to invite a bunch of preschoolers over to your house for a holiday get-together? Or did you impulsively volunteer to organize your preschool's December party? In case the prospect is sending you into a slight panic, Being Savvy has a few tried and true ideas for a happy, easy holiday party for small kids... Read more

Sending love: Crafty holiday cards to make and enjoy with your children

Making holiday cards is easier than ever. Choose a snap of the adorable ones from the year, zip it off to one of many online photo services to be made into cards, print out address labels from your computer and...you're pretty much done. Add stamps, and there you have it. One more holiday task completed... Read more

Handmade Holiday Gifts

There are so many good reasons to give homemade gifts this holiday season. Here are just a few:
We're all looking for ways to save a bit where we can.
Preschoolers enjoy making things to give to friends and family, and working on gifts is a great way to occupy winter afternoons and spend time together.... Read more

Holidays are delicious: The creative family kitchen during the holiday season

Holiday magic often begins in the kitchen. Creating traditions is yet another way to build creativity, and the holiday season is a particularly wondrous time to begin a new tradition or rediscover an old one. So as you step into your ... Read more

Putting the Meaning in Your Holiday Greening

Close your eyes (okay, just enough to read this sentence), and envision your fondest holiday memories. Chances are they're about the experiences you've had with the people you love. Now, holding those same memories in mind, can you remember what gifts you received that ... Read more

Thriving traditions: "Green" holiday treats

Stocking stuffers, advent calendars, Christmas crackers. We want to fill them with creative and interesting things, but it's hard to find lots of meaningful little items. And what we end up with are little plastic trinkets, candy, and maybe an orange. But this year, we thought we ... Read more

Our Favorite Holiday Traditions.

A lot of the joy of the holidays is anticipating all of the special things we do at this time of year. So let's savor all of these rituals we enjoy with our children before, during, and after they happen! Here are the ones we and our kids have been looking ... Read more

Home is where the holidays live: How to keep your family central to the holidays

Sometimes in all the rushing around, we forget to slow down and enjoy the moments. Shopping together takes the place of sitting around the fire roasting marshmallows. Hopping from party to party supplants taking the time to walk around and sing carols to your neighbors. It's hard ... Read more

Giving Experiences

Steam escapes from the open mouth of the engine's stack as we pull away from the station. Chugga-chugga-puff-puff is all we can hear as my son's nose is pressed against the glass with the force of gale wind. With every ounce of ... Read more

How to teach your kids about giving instead of getting at the holidays

We all know the wisdom of the old adage "it is better to give than to receive," but it rings true during the holidays more so than at any other time of year. As a parent, you know that there is nothing better than seeing your child's face light ... Read more

'Tis the season: Keeping the Fa La La during the holidays

There is such a build up to the holidays.  As December approaches, we imagine how much fun the season will be ...sugar plum fairies and all.  Our heads are flooded with warm memories of the winter holidays from our own childhoods.  Then, the ... Read more