THINGS TO DO (put a slip of paper or a hint in the calendar)
- Go shopping and have the child choose something the like to purchase and to give to charity.
- Make holiday cards to give to nursing homes or children’s wards of hospitals or send to soldiers abroad or veterans.
- Have child help to collect gently used toys and clothes to give to charity.
- Make/give out secret gifts to neighbors. Don’t put a tag on it - just leave it on the doorstep.
- Watch a Holiday Video and follow up with an activity or craft/coloring page.
- Make homemade cookies and decorate.
- Make homemade ornaments for your tree and to give out to others (or both).
- Go to a local holiday light display.
- Attend a special event (The Nutcracker, a puppet show, etc)
- Visit Santa (see if you can find somewhere besides a mall to avoid the ‘gimme gimmes).
- Study how other cultures celebrate Christmas (or different time periods).
- Wrap Christmas Presents for other family members.
- Have a candlelit dinner where everyone helps cook. Special treat like sparkling cider.
- Have hot cocoa for breakfast!
- Put together a package of treats for soldiers overseas.
- Make a gingerbread house.
- Write a letter to Santa and send it.
- Coloring sheets (make your own??)
- ‘coupons’ for other things (a trip ice skating, an amusement park, etc.)
- indoor picnic by the Christmas tree
- drive around town and look at Christmas lights
- make pinecone bird feeder
- make a bookmark and read a book (matching)
- a silly holiday joke!
- Ask a question which they have to think about during the day and answer at the end, with reasons why (dinner is a good time to answer these, especially with multiple kids). Suggestions: What is your favorite ornament on our tree and why? What are 3 things you like best about your brother/sister? Make up a story that you think feels like a new ‘holiday’ story.
- Put in a miscellaneous item and they have to make up a holiday-story based on that item.
- ‘badges’ that they are to award to other people throughout the day/week
- Sing Christmas Carols
- Give a holiday joke and see if they can come up with an answer. Or give several!
- title of a Christmas book to read (new or a favorite from years past)
- Do a craft: A quick Google Search will bring up hundreds of ideas, or check out Oriental Trading (catalog or online) – they have cheap crafts which you can also easily re-create for yourself – have fun and be creative! A few ideas: paper chain, paper snowflakes to cover a wall or window, a bookmark for favorite holiday book, a bird feeder, make your own wrapping paper, make hand-print mittens every year to show how child has grown….. There are so many possibilities here, it’s endless.
GIFTS TO GIVE (small gifts just for fun):
- Chrismas Socks
- Candy, of course
- Cookie Cutter
- Cards for games (old maid, go fish, etc)
- Erasers
- Action figures/small dolls/finger puppets
- Matchbox cars
- Jewelry / small lip gloss or other cosmetic
- Art supplies (crayons, play dough, chalk)
- Stickers
- Bath toys or bath crayons
- An ornament for their own tree
- Erasers, fake tattoos, etc
- Hit the $1 aisle at Target or Michaels or the Dollar store
- A ‘note’ from an elf or Mrs. Claus
- Coupons (they can cash in for something – a movie, or something special, some other time during the year – maybe include a ‘price cap’ though.)
LONG TERM IDEAS (mostly for older kids):
- a treasure map with clues to a big gift at the end of the week/month
- parts of a big craft (pieces of a gingerbread house, legos for a big lego set, etc),
- lego word game (glue a word to each lego and give in order, so they can figure out the sentence – which leads to a big prize)
- Learn how a different culture celebrates the Winter Holiday. Pick a new culture every day or every other day. Read stories, make a craft and eat ‘traditional’ food.
DATE SPECIFIC CELEBRATIONS There are many more, including some really strange ones (look online) - I'm just listing a few. These dates could lend to learning AND fun - read books or do crafts or project which relate to that specific celebration and maybe even cook a meal which relates.
- DECEMBER 4: NATIONAL COOKIE DAY. That one's a no-brainer.
- DECEMBER 5: INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY
- DECEMBER 6 – ST. NICHOLAS DAY: Read about the celebration beforehand (there are several, including The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving), then bring the story to life by filling some (paper) wooden shoes with small goodies and handing them out to friends.
- DECEMBER 8: BODHI DAY (The day Buddha experienced enlightenment)
- DECEMBER 9: WORLDWIDE CANDLE LIGHTING DAY: This day celebrates children (or others) who have passed by lighting a candle. A great time for a candle=lit dinner, talking about those who have passed and perhaps telling fun/happy stories about the departed.
- DECEMBER HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
- DECEMBER 13: SAINT LUCIA DAY (Sweden, Norway, Denmark)
- DECEMBER 16: NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED ANYTHING DAY. Another no-brainer.
- DECEMBER 20-22: YULE / WINTER SOLSTICE. The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice)
- VARIES: HANUKKAH (2012: Dec 8-16, 2013: Nov. 27 – Dec. 5, 2014: Dec 16-24). Book: 8 Winter Nights: A Family Hanukkah Book
- DECEMBER 24: Make a list of love and appreciation. Sit down as a family tonight and spend some time talking about what you love and appreciate about every person. Be sure to have someone take notes, then give the notes to each family member – they could provide just the pick-me-up someone needs on a bad day. Good idea for Christmas Eve – then the lists can be read Christmas morning.
- KWANZA STARTS DEC. 26 but could be introduced earlier. Book: Kwanzaa for Young People and Everyone Else
- BOXING DAY IS DEC. 26 (Australian, English, Irish, Canadian) - traditionally a day when servants (etc) would receive boxes of gifts from their superiors.
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