At this time of year, I look forward to the New Year and think about the future and what it brings. The tradition of making resolutions remains strong although apparently we are not very good at keeping a resolution!

For some children working out the different between a wish and a resolution can be tricky. A wish is something you hope will come true. A resolution is something you resolve to do. In these photos, the interactive artwork is called “Gift.” It was part of a larger creation, After the Storm.

Lots of wood cookies were placed on the structure daily. Passers-by would stop, write a wish on a wood cookie and hang it up.

The idea was so popular, that Falkland Estate had to keep adding more and more wood cookies and ran out of room on the original structure, so the cookies were being hung on nearby branches too.

The start of a new year is alway a good time to enable children to reflect upon the future. What do they hope for? Many wishes go beyond the consumer-driven desires and focus bigger matters such as world peace. You can show children examples for them to look at and sort out in groups. For example,

• Some wishes are wants rather than needs
• Some are about things which cannot be bought
• Some wishes will take more than one person to make come true
• Do wishes reflect the values of those who have made them?

This can be a useful springboard into deciding a personal wish.

If your class has Forest School sessions, then perhaps they might make their own tree cookie cut by hand with a saw. You can buy tree cookies commercially, but there’s something more significant and personal about making your own. Alternatively, wishes can be written on different objects too. For example, wishing rods can be created.

So, at this point, as it is my final blog post of the year, I’d like to thank everyone who ever makes time to visit this blog and wish you all the very best for the next.

This blog post was originally posted in December 2013.