Community Ideas
The hardest part of the poster is deciding what to fill the month with. It is easier when you see how others did it: somebody’s “Month of Water”, somebody’s “Month Without Screens”, somebody’s storylines for four. Any season here can be opened and forked for your own family.
Ideas month by month:SeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberJanuaryFebruary
- Cosy MonthWhich small thing changed the house the most?Week 1 Fixing what has annoyed us for monthsWeek 2 Buying what was missing: a lamp, a shelfWeek 3 Decorating: windows, the tree, the lightsWeek 4 An evening in: candles and a Christmas filmGet the flat to a state where we want to stay in it for the holidays.
- Forest MonthWhat in the woods turned out not to be what we thought?Week 1 A herbarium: a leaf from every treeWeek 2 Mushrooms, a basket and a field guideWeek 3 Campfire, baked potatoes and sausagesWeek 4 Back to where we started — what changedGet to the woods every week and come back to where we started.
- Month About OurselvesWhat came as news about ourselves?Week 1 Meditation every evening: ten quiet minutesWeek 2 Thanks out loud: every evening, round we goWeek 3 The wheel of life: scoring eight parts of itWeek 4 A retreat at home: two days off the screensSpend the month paying attention: silence, notes, the wheel and two days offline.
- Know Your CityWhat did we see in our own city for the first time?Week 1 A museum we have never once walked intoWeek 2 An unfamiliar district: pick one, walk itWeek 3 The blank spots near home — walk to themWeek 4 A tour of the local ice-cream factoryGo where we have never been and see our own city the way visitors do.
- Presents for EveryoneWhich present was the best one to give away?Week 1 Making family cards for every relativeWeek 2 A secret Santa inside the familyWeek 3 The wish tree: a stranger child's letterWeek 4 Thanking the cleaner, the porter, the doctorMake the presents by hand and give them to more than our own.
- Book MonthWhose book turned out better — his or hers?Week 1 Swapping books: each picks for the otherWeek 2 The reading club: we go and see if it is oursWeek 3 A swap shelf in the hallway, for neighboursWeek 4 Talking it over: did we agree or notRead what the other chose, get to the club and put a shelf up in the hallway.
- Month of HelpingWhat do we want to keep doing?Week 1 The shelter: how to help other than moneyWeek 2 Collecting food: asking the class and neighboursWeek 3 Sorting clothes and taking them to charityWeek 4 Sitting down together: what each of us feltHelp with hands and time rather than a transfer — and see what was ours.
- Winter Fun MonthWhat turned out to be the best fun of this winter?Week 1 Skates: onto the ice, the whole familyWeek 2 Sledges: hunting the best hill aroundWeek 3 A snow fort in the yard, the whole yardWeek 4 Fireworks on New Year's night — off we goSpend December outside, not at the window: ice, hill, fort and fireworks.
- Eco MonthWhat we gave away — who needed it more than we did?Week 1 Clearing cupboards: give away, not throw outWeek 2 Litter-picking in the park next doorWeek 3 A book swap shelf in our hallwayWeek 4 Finding the city's eco volunteers, joining inGive it away rather than bin it — and find who else is doing this.
- Spooky MonthWhat came out scarier — the show, the game or our own face paint?Week 1 Decorating the flat: cobwebs, pumpkins, lightsWeek 2 Watching Wednesday — an episode an eveningWeek 3 Playing Reanimal, taking turnsWeek 4 Scary face paint: a costume rehearsalDecorate the house, invent our face paint and turn up at the school Halloween.
Families put the seasons here themselves — with the megaphone button on their own season. We show a random set every time: that way a new one has a chance to catch your eye instead of drowning under the ones already visible. If you see an ad, rudeness or someone else’s personal data, press the flag: we take such seasons off the showcase.