Christmas is a wonderful time of year; all the decorations, joy, carolling and celebrations can make even the most scrooge-hearted of us melt. But for most parents, it can be the most stressful time of year too. The days leading up to Christmas can turn into a nightmare when there’s a ton of shopping, cooking and cleaning yet to be done. Add to that, a mix of super excited children on a break from school running around, and it’s a surefire recipe for disaster.
So, how can you keep those excited tiny tots from bouncing off the walls and getting on your nerves? The answer is simple – keep them occupied with some holiday-themed activities. Christmas should be about wonderful family traditions, unlimited fun and happiness, not stressful and worrisome. To help you take some of the stress away, we’ve compiled a list of 12 fun and cheap Christmas-themed activities for your kids. Not only will these activities keep those tiny tots busy, but it’ll make way for some special moments that you’ll cherish all your lives.
12 Fun Christmas-themed Activities for Kids
These 12 activities are sure to get you and the kids excited and in the holly-jolly spirit, that will make the holiday all the more special.
- Build a snowman: One of the best activities for kids during the Christmas holidays is building a snowman. If you have a lot of snow, get your family together and start building a wonderful snowman in your yard.
- Reindeer ornaments: Crafting is one of the best activities to keep kids busy during the holiday season. Try some Christmas crafts for kids like reindeer ornaments or Christmas card decorations.
- Festive photoshoot: The holidays are the perfect time to have a festive photoshoot. Gather the family together and put on some ugly Christmas sweaters, clown noses, reindeer antlers and take funny pictures.
- Word games: Word games are a wonderful way to pass the time during the days leading up to Christmas. Use some Christmas words to play festive scrabble, crossword puzzles or other fun word games.
- Puzzles: Puzzles like Christmas-themed jigsaw puzzles or word search puzzles are a wonderful activity for children during the holiday season.
- Coloring pages: Need to keep your little ones occupied, while you get some work done? Just download some Christmas-themed coloring pages and hand them to kids with some crayons and coloring pens. This will keep them entertained for hours.
- Baking: What better way to spend some quality time with kids than baking? Get your kids to help you in the kitchen while you make some Christmas cookies, cupcakes or mince pies. Ask them to help you in measuring the ingredients and cutting the cookies with cookie cutters. You can also prepare some colorful icing and have the kids decorate the cookies and cupcakes.
- Set up a Christmas Village: Get your family together to set up a Christmas village display in your home. Choose a theme for the village, set up a snowy, white winterland, and place the village, and house decorations.
- Scavenger hunt: A scavenger hunt is a wonderful activity to keep kids busy and spend some quality time as a family. Split up into teams and walk around the neighborhood to discover Christmas-related things and people doing festive tasks. For example, houses with nativity scenes, people singing Christmas carols etc. You can even personalize the list with funny anecdotes or jokes to make the activity more fun. And have a prize for the winning team to make it more competitive. A Christmas scavenger hunt is the perfect activity that will help you make cherished memories for your family.
- Christmas movies: Spend a lazy evening at home and watch some holiday movies. A Christmas movie marathon with movies like Elf, It’s a Wonderful Life etc., some popcorn and hot cocoa, is a wonderful way to spend time as a family.
- Make a Gingerbread house: Baking sweet treats and decorating them are a wonderful family activity. Gather the family in the kitchen and make a beautiful gingerbread house. You can make it more competitive by splitting the kids into teams and offering a prize for the most beautiful or most creative gingerbread houses. Moreover, you won’t hear a peep out of them for hours as they work on their gingerbread houses.
- Pillow or blanket fort: The easiest way to keep the kids busy for hours during the Christmas holidays is to build a simple pillow or blanket fort. You can read in their fort or even munch on some Christmas cookies and hot cocoa as you play games in there.
These activities are sure to keep the holiday vibes strong, and the kids entertained, leaving you happy and stress-free.
