Holiday time, whatever you celebrate, is often one for decorating, planning get-togethers with friends and family, revisiting photos and traditions from the past, looking at special recipes, and making plans for that day. For many children, teens, and parents, this holiday season may not be a “celebratory” one; rather, it may also be filled with the painful reminder that someone is missing. At The Children’s Room, we encourage families to find meaningful ways to share all these feelings through creative activities.
Associate Program Director, Family & Expressive Arts, Laurie Moskowitz-Corrois, shares her thoughts on a creative idea, connecting family members around a table to share memories of their person who died.
Holiday traditions are filled with memory and meaning-making. Food often plays a large part in many traditions. When a significant person in our lives dies and is no longer with us to share in the tradition, the memories continue and can be comforting and supportive. Often making a favorite food of the person who died or the recipe of a food that was shared as a family can be a way to honor the person who is no longer there.
Another way is to create something together around the idea of special foods. Using markers and a paper plate, children, teens, and adults can imagine the foods they most remember were favorites of their person or ones shared as a family. They can set a table with these plates and take turns sharing the stories. The memories of smells, tastes, cooking, and these special recipes can strengthen and expand the connections of family traditions.
Another playful option is to make a centerpiece of memory foods created from model magic or modeling clay and again take time to share the story behind the food created and the memory it supports.
Laurie reminds us that, “It can be good to take a photo of your time together and what you have created as you continue to build memories and shape traditions you will revisit going forward.”
