Will sensory-friendly Santa sessions brighten your family's Christmas?
Hi neighbours,
For some children with sensory issues, the bright lights, music and general festivities around a visit to Santa in the mall can be too much.
Auckland mum Tash Vruink can't remember the last time she took her 12-year-old son, Jaxon Woolley, to the supermarket or the mall.
But this Christmas, he'll have the option to enjoy a Santa snap with his two younger siblings thanks to sensory-friendly photo sessions.
In December, three of Auckland's Westfield Shopping Centres will open early with dimmed lights and soft music to cater to children with sensory disorders wanting to see the big man in red. To find out more about the sessions, click here.
What are your thoughts on these sensory-friendly Santa sessions? Do you know any children who would love to see Santa at a session like this? Let us know your thoughts with us in the replies below!
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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