Experiencing the Holidays with Folks from Around the World While Sheltering at Home
Note: This blog post was created in collaboration with Airbnb.
As we shelter at home this holiday season, want to learn how to make recycled puppets for the holidays? Or put down the phone and make creative collages the old fashioned way? So do I. And, thankfully, there’s a safe and accessible way to do so.
Since our family isn’t traveling this season in an effort to keep my pregnancy healthy and our friends / family / community members safer, we’re turning instead to holiday-themed and everyday online experiences with Airbnb. Not only are these courses a way to learn something new while connecting with folks from all over, but they’re also a way of supporting small businesses by supporting the hosts.
Towards the start of the pandemic, I taught a handful of Live small space living classes via video from the Cottage for Airbnb Experiences. (It’s something I would’ve happily continued to do if West attended school and if parts of our property weren’t shared with neighboring homes, but our situation made it a bit too tricky for me to sustain.) I learned just how much effort, energy and expertise goes into these online classes, and how magically they can connect people from around the globe as we shelter at home.
Above: Teaching my Airbnb Experiences online class back in the summer of 2020.
Here are some of the classes I’ve added to our list— from creating recycled puppets for the holidays, singing holiday songs with a Broadway performer, Santa storytime with a children’s book author, and vegan holiday cooking, and more.
Holiday Sign Language Vocabulary (based in Athens)
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Description: Visit with Santa and let him know what you'd like for the holidays this year in Sign Language! After meeting with Santa, he'll lead you in a fun holidays themed vocabulary game! Get to learn phrases that you'll be using all holiday season long! We can also add Christmas carols to the fun as well! This is a safe environment for young adults, children, families, businesses, team building, and non-profits ages 8-100 to get an authentic experience from a Deaf professional.
Create Recycled Puppets for the Holidays (based in Berlin, hosted in English)
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Description: Together we are going to make holiday puppets from recycled materials. We will make special Christmas elves and Hanukkah puppets celebrating the festival of lights.
Santa Storytime with a Children’s Author (based in Atlanta)
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Description: Meet Santa and have an opportunity to introduce yourself. Then the host will share his journey from the world of sports to Silicon Valley to storytelling as a children's book author. Then, he’ll perform two storytime readings, cover-to-cover, of holiday classics. Afterwards, the group will explore some of the creative elements involved in bringing this book to life (world-building, color theme, character journey, mood arc, etc.) and share ways children's picture books go from idea to a finished book. Lastly, there’s an open discussion where kids and adults can ask questions about creating children's books.
Learn to Collage Holiday Edition (based in Barcelona, hosted in English & Spanish)
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Description: A fun session to learn about collage art, which is a great hobby for everyone and a fun way to explore your creativity. For 2020’s Holiday Season, the experience is adapted for making creations for friends and family.
Sing Songs with a Broadway Performer (based in NYC)
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Description: Learn a song and sing together— there’s no better way to feel connected and JOYFUL.
Vegan Holiday Baking (based in Slovenia, hosted in multiple languages including English)
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Description: Learn how to bake Almond Crescent Cookies and Fingerprint Cookies with Jam. (When you book the experience you will get full recipes with instructions in advance.)
