As a longtime early education teacher Kara Guizzetti-Reif loves helping toddlers and preschoolers create holiday keepsakes, turning little feet into reindeer, hands into a wreath.
And through a special program she developed at the St. Charles Park District, these same special keepsakes are available for infants too, helping families celebrate milestones without the mess.
Baby’s First Holidays features a private one-on-one visit with Guizzetti-Reif to help parents and grandparents create a unique keepsake related to the holidays. This fall Guizzetti-Reif has her favorite holiday crafts for Halloween, Thanksgiving and winter holidays while already starting to plan for Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day too.
“The joy of watching a little one through their first year, I love it. It’s absolutely one of my favorite programs,” Guizzetti-Reif said.
It starts when families register their little ones for the program and receive a calendar invite from Guizzetti-Reif to schedule a visit to the Pottawatomie Community Center to create the keepsake.
“Families can choose a time that works for them, in the morning, working around a naptime, coming a little later in the day,” Guizzetti-Reif said.
Inside her office she gathers all the crafting elements like acrylic paints, and she even tracks down cute objects to serve as the keepsake, like a circular wooden frame or a wood tray. She prefers footprints and said it’s so easy to add a layer of paint to their tiny feet, create a print and quickly wipe away without a trace of paint all as the parent or grandparent holds on to the little one.
“I already have all the paints and it’s a whole lot easier for me,” Guizzetti-Reif. “You hold the baby, I make the footprint and wipe off baby. Baby and you go home clean and you take your project home the same day.”
Baby’s First Holidays runs year-round with each special holiday. She started the program in 2019 and through the years she’s met wonderful families and each new addition to the family. She even finds creative ways to include siblings too.
Each keepsake is personalized to each family. For the Grandparent’s Day keepsake projects in September families could select the exact colors, how the child’s name would be displayed and even how the grandparents were recognized, whether they were grandma, grammy, nana, nonna or bubbie.
Families walk away with a keepsake of their little one, and a chance to talk with Guizzetti-Reif about the park district programs for babies, toddlers and preschoolers too. She loves to talk about Park Play Dates and mention some of the art, music and other classes available for parents and little ones to explore together.
For Guizzetti-Reif, she isn’t just over seeing early childhood education, she’s a firm supporter in helping families find their connections to classes and to friends. It’s these connections and friendships forged in the long days of raising a young child that can carry individuals through the challenges and questions of navigating the early years.
As Guizzetti-Reif enjoys meeting with families over the holidays, it often culminates with Baby’s First Birthday Keepsake, a special craft to celebrate a little one’s birthday. Guizzetti-Reif said sometimes families still want to keep making projects after the first year and that’s ok, she welcomes children in the program through age 2.
As an educator and a as a mom who’s been, Guizzetti-Reif understands those early years are as much about a child learning as it is for their parents navigating each developmental stage. She also hosts Koffee with Kara, with her next one Tuesday, Oct. 20 from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. at Pottawatomie Community Center, a free program where parents can share a conversation, ask questions about raising little ones. Parents are welcome to bring their preschoolers along too. Registration is requested to help plan for the group numbers.