Appanoose County Sieda MIECHV (Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visitation) and the Family Development and Self Sufficiency (FaDSS) programs partnered together early December to host their annual Christmas Group Connection. Many families were able to come together to learn about family traditions and Christmas safety.

The participants young and old enjoyed a variety of activities and learned important safety information. This year the Christmas Group Connection created salt dough ornaments, Gingerbread men, and reindeer food. They were able to make salt dough ornaments that they could take home to bake and put on the Christmas tree. The children were able to use a variety of materials such as wiggly eyes, pom-poms, markers, glue and fun little add-ons to decorate Gingerbread men. The last craft activity was making reindeer food for the children to sprinkle outside on Christmas Eve (We wouldn’t want Santa to miss anyone).
It was important for MIECHV and FaDSS during the group connection to also share safety tips. Fires are a big risk in the winter season due to Christmas trees, added decorations, holiday meals and unsafe heat sources. They passed out prevent winter fires FEMA outreach materials and information on smoke detectors, when to check them, and who they can contact to get new ones put in.
Sieda’s Appanoose MIECHV and FaDSS wished to thank everyone for a great year. Everyone was given a small Christmas stocking with a hot cocoa mix and candy cane in it as a thank you.

Winter fire safety outreach materials: www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/outreach/winter.html