Fun Holiday Activities For Kids

It’s finally that magical time of year filled with lights, seasonal music, and fun traditions that get everyone in the Christmas spirit. Christmas is by far one of my favorite holidays because it comes with so many fun activities and traditions! When I was growing up my mom and dad put so much effort into making sure me and my siblings got into the Christmas spirit and we all made the most of every holiday. Today I am going to share some of my favorite Christmas traditions and activities to do the whole month of December! 

Make a Christmas Countdown

This is a Christmas tradition that I have been doing for as long as I can remember. There are a couple different ways you can do a Christmas countdown, but my all time favorite way is with candy! All you need is two or three of your favorite kinds of candy, saran wrap, and ribbon to make it! For the saran wrap candy countdown instructions click here. Another way you can do it that is still fun but more healthy is to make a chain out of paper and remove one every day until Christmas. Instructions on how to make the paper chain are here. Whichever you choose, it is a super fun way to build anticipation up until December 25th!

Make Christmas Cookies for Santa

In my house growing up Christmas cookies were always a big production where we planned a whole day to set aside to bake as many as we could! Cookie day is usually the Saturday before Christmas and my aunt comes over to bake cookies and candies with my mom. These women go crazy each year and have even had a couple years where they made more than 1000 cookies! Then we keep some of each kind and box up the rest to give to friends and family to spread some love and Christmas spirit to the people we care about. Now just because my mom and aunt go so crazy doesn’t mean you have to make 1000 cookies… but cookie day is by far one of my favorite days of the year and something that everyone that knows us looks forward to. Baking is also a really good way for kids to learn math and science!

Secret Santa

This is a really fun way to exchange gifts on a budget. You can put everyone’s name in a hat and randomly draw to see who you will be buying for this year. You can either do one small gift a week up until Christmas, or do one gift to be given on Christmas day.  Usually there is an agreed upon price limit and everyone gets three guesses to who is their secret Santa, but you can adjust this however you’d like. Whatever way you decide to give gifts, the fun part remains the same – trying to guess who is your secret Santa!

Decorate a Gingerbread House

This can either be a super easy activity or a time consuming and challenging activity. You can decide to go out and buy a gingerbread decorating kit (this is what I usually do) or you can buy your own candy and ingredients and make your own! I have gone the homemade route a few times, but the satisfaction of all the pieces fitting together perfectly when you get a pre-made kit is too good to pass up. Once you’ve done it the easy way you don’t want to go back! If you do want to make your own, more power to you and here is a link to give easy to follow directions.

Make Your Own Christmas Cards

Anyone can go to the store and buy Christmas cards to give to friends and family, but handmade cards mean so much more. I have been making homemade cards ever since I was little. I make them for birthdays, valentines day, Christmas, and any other occasion that calls for a card! It usually costs less and even though it takes more time, it means a lot to the person receiving the card that you put extra time and thought into it. Here is a link with a couple ideas for Christmas cards you can make.

Make Paper Snowflakes

Making paper snowflakes is a pretty way to decorate the house for the holiday season. Sometimes snow doesn’t come until January and we have a green Christmas, so these snowflakes help a little with making it feel more like Christmas. The best part is that there is no way to mess these up! No two snowflakes are the same and there are dozens of different techniques to use when making them out of paper. Here is a link to show you a couple different ways you can make them yourself at home. The link shows you four different snowflakes you can make, but my favorite way to do it is to make up my own pattern.

The Pickle Present

It’s competitive, fun, and a really great tradition to start in any house! My mom started this tradition in my house about 10 years ago, here’s how it works. There is an ornament on the tree that looks like a pickle and on Christmas eve or Christmas morning, my mom has everyone leave the room and she hides it somewhere on the tree. We all come out when she says it’s clear and the first person to find the pickle wins! What do they win you ask? The pickle present! Who wouldn’t want to open a bonus gift on Christmas? There are four kids in my family so this gets extremely competitive, but it’s a super fun tradition and I definitely recommend it. 

From your friends at LifeTech Academy, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!