When you think of the Christmas holidays, do you picture wholesome family time spent sitting around the fireplace sharing stories, or do you think of overly excited, and yet still somehow incredibly bored, kids that are in desperate need of some entertainment?
The school Christmas holidays can be tricky to navigate. Parents are juggling work, finances and organising everything, whereas the children are off school and eagerly awaiting Christmas day, whilst also finding themselves pretty bored.
Does this sound familiar? If so, this is the blog post for you. Here’s a list of exciting, engaging activities to keep kids entertained during the Christmas holidays.
Get In The Christmas Spirit
Why not get into the Christmas spirit by going on a family trip. Perhaps book tickets to see a pantomime at your local theatre. This is something many families do together in the run up to Christmas. If the theatre isn’t your thing why not take little ones on a magical polar express train ride. The experience is suitable for all ages and even those who don’t believe will still have an amazing time. It is something they will remember for many years to come.
Make DIY Christmas Decorations
When it comes to activities to keep kids entertained during the Christmas holidays, you can’t go wrong with some good old fashioned DIY decorations. I’m talking about popcorn garlands, paper snowflakes, paper snowmen, and Christmas wreaths. Set them up at the table with old Christmas cards, glitter, string, pom poms, and any other crafty odds and ends that you have lying around.
Make and Decorate Christmas Cookies
The holiday season hasn’t really started until the smell of home baked biscuits or cookies is wafting through the whole house. If you’re on the lookout for activities to keep kids entertained during the Christmas holidays, why not consider assigning them the task of baking and decorating Christmas cookies? If your children are old enough to attempt this baking project by themselves, it offers a great opportunity to practice measuring out and weight ingredients, promoting the use of a variety of other life skills as well.
Decorate Mini Christmas Trees
If you’re anything like me, you probably like your Christmas tree to look a certain way. Sometimes, the kids don’t see eye-to-eye with me when it comes to my artistic vision. As a result, I discovered that purchasing children their own mini Christmas trees is a brilliant way to keep them entertained during the Christmas holidays. These can go in their bedrooms and I purchase them some decorations of their choice – only a few, just to get them started. It is here that they can add their favourite homemade Christmas ornaments and decorations too.
Create A Christmas Playlist & Sing Karaoke
Making playlists on Spotify is something that I absolutely love doing and I know that the kids love doing it too! What’s crazy about starting a new playlist is that one moment you’re adding a few favourite tracks to a new playlist, and the next thing you know, it’s an hour and a half later and you’re in an absolutely brilliant mood. There’s no greater pick-me-up than listening to your favourite tunes…except maybe singing them!
For a Christmas activity that will keep the kids entertained for ages, encourage them to create some fun Christmas themed playlists. Once the kids have compiled the best songs, it’s time to put your Christmas hits knowledge to the test and have a good old fashioned sing-a-long!
Make A Gingerbread House
There’s no better activity to keep kids entertained during the Christmas holidays than building and decorating gingerbread houses. Gingerbread house kits are everywhere during the festive season and come with plenty of sweets that’ll keep the kids occupied. Why not set them up with a few extras anyway, just in case? You can make things more interesting by offering a prize to the best looking/most wonky/ugliest house.