Christmas Activities for Kids!
Christmas is such a special time, especially for kids! There is so much anticipation as the big day gets closer and for when Santa arrives! There is lots of festive fun to be had, so make the most of this magical time with your loved ones.
Have you ever struggled to keep your little ones occupied during the holidays?
If the answer is yes, do not worry. In this blog we have put together a list of different fun activities you can take part in with your children ranging from fun with food, to craft ideas and everything in between!
Have you tried any of these before? Let us know if there are any other traditional activities you and your family enjoy together that we haven’t picked out here.
Fun At Home
There are lots of ways to bring the Christmas spirit to your family, many of the best ways can be spent cosy and warm at home, here are a few of our favourite children’s activities you can do at home this year…
Making Christmas Cards
This is a fantastic way to get the kids excited for Christmas in the run up to the big day. Making Christmas cards is a lovely way to let the children express their creativity and let their imaginations run wild. All you need to do is supply anything they might want to use such as coloured card, child friendly scissors, glue sticks, pom poms, felt pictures etc., anything you think really that will work well on a card. Another good idea is to use cutting of previous years’ Christmas cards that can be stuck on a new card, for example, greetings, cute animal pictures or tiny festive symbols such as holly, Christmas trees and stars. These can all be stuck onto your child’s new Christmas card easily with glue, rather than them struggling to make new images, that especially younger ones would find difficult.
Christmas Baking
There are lots of ways that you can involve the children in the Christmas food making, they will love to get stuck in in the kitchen (and a little bit messy!) and will be amazed to see their effort when they are finished, not to mention having fun eating them! There are tonnes of ideas and recipes out there for the whole family to enjoy, suited for different ages. Here are just a few that we thought look like great ideas, why not give some a try?
Christmas Pudding Rice Krispie cakes
Found from goodfood.com, all you need is rice pops, raisins, butter, milk chocolate, peanut butter, mini marshmallows, white chocolate and ready-made cake decorations. We think they look really lovely and don’t involve any ‘baking’ as such, so will be easier for youngsters to do more independently. With all the ingredients involved we think they are a great take in a traditional Rice Krispie bun, a much tastier option!
Melting Snowmen
Here’s another great recipe from goodfood.com (check out another of our blogs for more information on this recipe, as well as other great Christmas recipes) that children will love! Messy, sticky fun for a winter day. All you will need are cookies (shop bought or homemade), fondant icing sugar, marshmallows, chocolate chips and pretzels or something else to make the arms. This is another easy baking activity that doesn’t involve any cooking – unless you decide to make your own cookies!
Christmas Cookies
This is another family Christmas favourite, and again is very simple. Either buy in some pre-made biscuits or shortbreads or make your own, you will also need some icing sugar, different food colourings - the obvious choice would be red and green but you can go with whatever colours your children wish and some decorations of your choice. An easy and fun way to get the kids busy in the kitchen, probably one of the best options if you’re looking for hassle free and something more suited to younger children.
Christmas Themed Games
Here are some fun options for Christmassy games, perfect if your kids have friends over and you need to entertain, or if you’re hosting a Christmas party.
Christmas stocking challenge – Get an oversized stocking and lots of Christmas objects (about 25). Tie it shut at the top and pass it around the players. They then have a certain amount of time each to feel the stocking and guess what is inside. The winner is the person who has guessed the most objects correctly in the given time.
Family charades – just like a standard game of charades but using Christmas themes such as movies songs or other associated Christmas themes. Guaranteed to cause lots of laughs, a perfect game for both young and old!
Mystery Snowman Drawing – All you need is paper and pencils. Ask the players to close their eyes and describe to them what they need to draw. They must do the whole thing with their eyes shut, at the end everyone can have a giggle at each other’s pictures and vote for the best snowman.
Colouring, Crafts and Puzzles
There are lots and lots of colouring templates online, suitable for all different age groups that you can download and/or print. They will allow for hours of entertainment as they get to work completing their works of art!
There are also lots of great craft ideas along the festive theme that children can enjoy, even many that they could get on with independently, depending on their age. Different ideas include making little Christmas trees, snowflakes, reindeers or Christmas crackers. Materials you might use include pipe cleaners, washable paints, tissue paper, toilet roll tubes, felt, card and coloured paper. Make sure your scissors are child friendly if they are using them and that they have an older sibling or adult available to keep an eye on them. The possibilities are endless, and the kids will have a great time getting creative!
Nature Inspired Christmas Craft Projects
These are a lovely way to get the children feeling Christmassy and for getting them in touch with nature! You will have to go and gather all the materials you might need such as twigs, leaves, pine cones and bark. These can then be incorporated into their Christmas crafts that may be similar to the ones mentioned above. Ideas include twig Christmas trees, stars, snowflakes and Christmas character faces etc. This idea was found from kcedventures.com where there are lots of creative ways to use nature in the kids’ crafts.
Letters to Santa
Of course as it gets closer to Christmas time, children are going to be getting more and more exited about Santa arriving. One way to pass some time and to really find out what they would love for Christmas is for them to write letters/wish lists to Santa. They can get busy writing them themselves, they even might want to add a picture. This is a lovely way to get everyone feeling festive, tying in one of the nicest parts of Christmas, as the 25th draws in nearer!
Small World Play
This is a really lovely way to pass a few hours in the school holidays, particularly with younger children. It is a great way in which they can really use their imagination and play creatively. What you will need to do is find a tray, a larger one may be best especially if you have lots of little toys you want to put in it, or if there is more than one child getting to play at the same time. You will also need of course lots of little toys, figures, scenery items, cars etc. to make up the small world. Finally, to make it into a wintry, snowy scene you will need some snow! You can buy some fake powdered snow to scatter in the tray, or an idea used here from theimaginationtree.com is shaving foam, as long as the children don’t put it in their mouths it is great to use as it can be easily cleaned up and it leaves all the toys smelling nice and fresh after playing. To make this even more festive you could build your own little North Pole and find Santa, Mrs Claus, reindeer, elves and snowmen figures to really get your little ones in the Christmas spirit!
Christmas Eve Boxes
This is not necessarily a children’s activity but a really lovely way that you and your family can spend a really nice Christmas Eve together. With a little preparation your children can have the best Christmas Eve and will be even more excited for Santa than ever! Ideal things to put in your child’s Christmas Eve Box could be, new cosy pyjamas, a Christmas movie, their favourite snacks, hot chocolate mix, reindeer food, snacks for Santa, Christmas puzzles/games or a Christmas story. Whatever you choose to put in, each year it will be a lovely surprise for them to look forward to on Christmas Eve.
Out And About
It’s just as great to get out of the house around Christmas time as there are many activities you and your family can do together while you’re out and about, here are some of our favourites…
Pantomimes
‘He’s behind you!’
Yes pantomime season is soon to be coming around again very soon, which is great because it is one of the most loved Christmas traditions with many families in the UK. If you haven’t taken your loved ones to see a pantomime before, we definitely recommend it. Children love to get involved in all the fun, singing, dancing and audience participation, and it will get everyone in the jolly Christmas mood! Check out another of our recent blogs to see what pantomimes are coming to a theatre near you here: http://www.ukchristmasworld.com/blog/christmas-pantomimes-in-yorkshire.html.
Ice-Skating
This is about as traditional as Christmas activities go! Any old Christmas film you see, you are bound to see an ice skating rink at least once! There are many pop-up ice rinks at this time of year and particularly as we get closer to December, many can be found alongside Christmas markets too. This will be a perfect festive day out that means there will be something that the whole family will enjoy. Spend a little time searching around to find an ice rink near you and plan a fun day out for the kids (and adults too!).
A Visit to Santa Claus
What better way for the youngsters to be filled with festive joy than to plan a visit to see the big man himself. See your child’s eyes light up as they sit on Santa’s lap and receive their very own early Christmas gift! Their picture can also be taken, creating a memory that will be cherished always, as they don’t stay young forever! Look into many of the venues that are holding Christmas events close to you, as many of these will also have a Santa’s Grotto. This way you can plan a whole festive day out for the family and incorporate a visit to Santa into all of the festive fun of the day trip. It really is the perfect way to kick of their Christmas, so book now if necessary as many Christmas events sell out fast! We have another blog that has some of the best Christmas events happening in Yorkshire, many of which Santa will be going to, see if any of them take your fancy here: What to do in Yorkshire over Christmas.
Christmas Markets
Here is one more of the most loved traditional Christmas activities. Christmas markets pop up in towns and cities all over the country between November and December and they are well worth a visit! Not only are they the most perfect way to get you in the Christmas spirit, they offer lots of great festive food, drink and gifts, perfect if you’re wanting to do a bit of Christmas shopping! Children will also love to see all of the different Christmas items on sale, and it’s a great way for them to learn a little about different cultures. Christmas markets often have continental themes as they tend to bring over goods from French, German and Italian traders. They can be held in a range of locations from city centres to inside stately homes, and can be held for durations from one weekend to several weeks, so make sure you do your research and find the one that is best suited to you, your schedule and your individual Christmas interests. Check out another of our blogs to find out a little more about some of the top Christmas markets near you this year, here: UK Christmas Markets 2015.
We hope that this blog has given you a little inspiration on some of the different ways you can spend Christmas with your children!