Keep activities simple but fun. Pick activities based on the age of the child. The projects don’t have to be perfect, just fun.
Activities for Home
Creating holiday memories is about spending special time together. The activities should be simple, yet fun and include all family members.
- Read a holiday book together (The Sweet Smell of Chrismas by Patricia M. Scarry and J.P. Miller [Golden Books, 2003] has actual scented pages).
- Watch a favorite seasonal movie.
- Make and decorate gingerbread cookies.
- Make Christmas cards to share with friends and neighbors.
- For an entire month of crafting ideas, check out this Christmas Craft Countdown for holiday crafts to do every day leading up to the big one.
- Marshmallow snowmen make a fun activity and a yummy treat later
Ingredients needed:
- large marshmallows
- toothpicks
- food coloring
- melted chocolate
- assorted small candies
- Using the toothpicks, attach three marshmallows together in snowman formation.
- Use a toothpick to dip into the food coloring and draw on facial features OR
- Use the melted chocolate as adhesive to put the small candies on the snowman, as a face or other details (buttons, scarf, hat)
Creating special family traditions will be a reminder of happy memories every year. Some fun ones:
- Make or buy a special Christmas ornament.
- Build up a holiday library each year. This could involve purchasing books or borrowing holiday books from the library.
- Photobooks are a great way to preserve holiday memories. Scrapbook one together at home or create one online uploading special photos. Shutterfly.com or Inkubook.com both have free, easy to use software which make getting started easy.
Outdoor Fun
- Check out local holiday light shows.
- Attend a festive play at a local school.
- Take the kids sledding or ice skating and make sure to have hot cocoa with marshmallows afterwards.
Keep it Fun!
A full day of activities may be too overwhelming for many kids. Some like to be busy all the time, some need a little or a lot of down time. Think of what will be easier on the children as the plans are made. A day filled with holiday parties, decorating the tree, and some night time caroling may be a bit too much for some kids to handle, while others would love it.
Set kids up to have a good time, by keeping their needs in mind. Let the goal be happy but exhausted children by bedtime, but not so exhausted they are having meltdowns from being overtired.
 |
