The holidays are best enjoyed with a healthy dose of children’s glee and excitement! The kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or other children in your life look forward to this season all year long.
Chances are, some of your best memories of the holidays are from your childhood. By making merry with kids, you’ll give them happiness to carry with them as they grow.
Presents, of course, are an important part of Christmas and other holidays. But it’s also good to find a way to take the focus off fancy gifts and material possessions. Build merriment through quality time together and family traditions that will fill their memory banks.
While many of our traditions are on hold during COVID, or at least significantly modified, here are some ideas to get you started.
1. Make Holiday Gifts Together
Christmas is often a time of much crafting and cooking. Encourage children’s creativity and generosity by involving them in these activities. Depending on their age and skill level, the possibilities are endless.
Few gifts, edible or not, are as sweet as those offered by a child. Work with them to choose projects for family, friends, or teachers. Involve them in cookie exchanges you might do at work or with neighbors.
2. Advent Calendar
The Advent calendar is a fun, tried-and-true way to bring the holiday spirit into your home. They don’t have only to be candy. Abundant new ideas and approaches are available with a quick search. They can include jokes, individual pieces of toy sets that will be completed by December 25, or any number of ideas.
3. Holiday Movie Night
The selection of fun holiday movies grows each year. Choose some favorites, and plan an evening to stay home in your pajamas. Break out the fluffy blankets, popcorn, and hot chocolate for a relaxing, warm night together.
4. Shopping For a Cause
This activity may be best suited for older kids who are better able to withstand the desire to hang onto toys that aren’t theirs! Involving your children in any number of charitable gift-giving programs is a way to build empathy. It encourage a sense of kindness and love that underlies the holidays. They also may gain a deeper appreciation for their possessions and loved ones.
5. Holiday Books
Beautiful children’s books appeal not only to kids but to their adults as well. Consider keeping a basket of Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, and related books in the family room. Read one or more together each evening. Not only will you enjoy the books, but you’ll also have a chance to snuggle up, slow down, and enjoy time together.
Some families wrap 24 different holiday books and put them under the Christmas tree on December 1. Each night, they open one to read together. This approach is another fun twist on the Advent calendar.
6. Surprises
Kids love surprises! The suspense of finding out what gifts they’ll receive is, after all, the main draw of the holiday for many children. But you don’t have to rely solely on big gift surprises. Add in small surprises during the season: stopping for drive-through cookies and hot chocolate at a coffee shop, going to visit Santa, and watching a new movie are a few places to begin.
7. Create Family Holiday Traditions
All of the above ideas can become annual traditions that your kids will look forward to. But there are even more ideas you can add.
Perhaps you pick up their favorite fast food and drive around town to look at Christmas lights one night. Maybe you attend a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. Annual local concerts or performances are also fun activities, and many more virtual options are available during COVID (such as virtual museum tours, etc). Make cards together to send to relatives or deliver to nursing homes. Leave surprise gifts on neighbor’s porches.
A final note: turn off your smartphones and tablets! Put them in a drawer. Don’t let them interrupt the precious time that you have enjoying your family and being merry together!
