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Christmas; that wonderful time of year that all the hustle and bustle seems to really throw us for a loop. By the time New Years rolls around, we’re dog tired and ready to hibernate for the first part of the year. The best way to put yourself in that Christmas spirit that makes you feel satisfied and calm by the time New Years rolls around is making fun memories with the littles that they’ll look back on years later.
I love making memories together as a family and getting some great photo ops along the way. Keep reading to discover 9 Christmas Ideas that help you make memories with your child and bring the true spirit of Christmas into your family.
1. Get a Real Christmas Tree
Find the nearest Christmas tree farm and make a day of it. I know, real trees are becoming more expensive every year; you can save your money by buying a fake one. I get it. Honestly though, if you’re comparing, paying for a Santa photo verses paying for a tree, the tree wins in my book.
Your whole family gets to share in it (including the furry family member), everyone plays a part in picking out the tree, and you can take plenty of candid photos of your child while there. Some tree farms even have their own photographers there to help you make your special memories. These pictures make for the best holiday photos to take with your child. Plus, you bring home a tree you can enjoy the whole holiday season long.
2. Host a Christmas Cookie Party
This is probably the least expensive idea, but the most work. I actually accomplished this very party. Let me tell ya, I’m so glad I did it, but I’m so glad it’s over. I’m one of those types that gets a big, fun idea, totally plans it, and then the morning of the big day I regret everything and secretly pray no one shows up.
Depending on how many attend said party, you’re going to need a bit of preparation ahead of time. You can make most sugar cookie recipes a few days in advance and let them chill in the fridge. On the morning of, you can cut the cookies out into Christmas shapes and bake them.
If you’re needing to up your cookie cutter game, this package on Amazon is going to have all you’re going to need for a holiday party at a reasonable price. By the way, as an Amazon Affiliate I can earn a small commission off of products at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclosure here.
Lastly, on the morning of come up with all of your icing colors. Hobby Lobby is my go to for the food coloring options that they have. But, if Hobby Lobby is too far of a drive (it’s over 30 miles away for us) and you’d rather get them on Amazon, these work great too.
3. Make Gingerbread Houses Together
This is much like the Christmas cookie party, but on a less grand scale. You can have everyone contribute to one big house, or each person does it individually. I personally like the latter option because once everyone’s done, you can post them on social media and have all your followers vote for their favorite one.
Make it more of a competition by rewarding the winning gingerbread house builder with a $10 gift card to their favorite restaurant. Of course, making gingerbread houses is going to cause you to make a trip to the grocery store.
If you’re not a fan of gingerbread (or don’t want to be baking a ton before the day), opt for graham crackers for the structure instead. You can use your favorite icing as your glue to hold it together around a small box (think Kleenex boxes).
4. Go Ice Skating
This has become my absolute favorite winter/Christmas activity. There’s no snow in Arkansas. Let me rephrase that—the snow comes, and leaves by noon. Every now and then, there’s enough snow for a snow day.
However, it’s not enough to go sledding, tubing, toboggining, skiing or any other snow activity that my northern comrades enjoy. If you live up in the colder weather climate, by all means use any of the above-mentioned activities to liven up your Christmas cards rather than a silly old man in a red and white suit.
If you’re living the southern life, the nearest ice skating rink will have to do. The photo ops with this are endless. Imagine the one where every family member is holding hands in a train, the one where the two oldest boys are racing, the classic of mom and dad holding hands and skating, and the one where everyone’s next to each other on the side of the rink. The many different options you have of holiday photos to take with your child make it that much better.
5. Find a Live Nativity
This option is for the mom who really doesn’t feel like doing anything. If you’ve been reading and thinking, I don’t want to do any of these activities, this one’s for you. Typically, the best live nativities to see are the ones you can enjoy from the comfort of your own vehicle. So, plop those kiddos into their pjs, throw a coat on them and strap them into their car seats.
To really make a night out of it, find the best Christmas lights decorated house in the town. Some towns (two nearby towns to us) even have Christmas light villages at parks you can walk through. If you want to go a tiny bit extra, make some hot chocolate right before you leave (or warm some chocolate milk) and give it to everyone in a travel mug/sippy cup (obviously you’re going to want to make sure it’s cooled off enough for the tiny tots).
How are the photos? Assuming the live nativity is outdoors at night, getting a holiday photo op to take of your child may be rather difficult. Will the memories make up for it? Most likely.
6. Make DIY Christmas Ornaments Together
You guys. There’s so many Pinterest ideas out there. So many. And between Amazon, Walmart and Hobby Lobby, you really have unlimited access to the supplies you’re going to need.
For instance, if you purchase beads and pipe cleaners, you can make snowflakes and candy canes in an afternoon. Grab some white paper and fold it and cut it to make snowflakes to hang. If you have some popsicle sticks and pom poms, you can easily make Christmas trees for your Christmas tree and let’s not forget about the construction paper garland you used to make yourself back in the day.
Don’t feel like adding another ornament on the tree? Hobby Lobby sells cheap foam crafts in a bundle of 12-24. Turn them into garland for your real tree you bought with a whole punch and some yarn. All of these ideas are certain to keep junior occupied for at least an hour and you get to spend some fun family time to do it.
7. Have Them Help With Christmas Cards
No, I don’t mean actually help with the writing the cards, letters, or envelopes. But for their friends, cousins, aunts/uncles, grandparents and even their classmates in school, have your children make a card to send with yours. All you need is construction paper, or a coloring book and crayons and it will keep them busy for the whole afternoon.
Honestly, I think the little ones love having a part in family activities. They now feel like they’ve helped in a small way. No, you may not have the best photo op with scraps of paper, crayons, and children at the table, but you’ll definitely have the best Christmas memory.
8. Make Christmas Presents for the Homeless
This doesn’t take a whole lot of effort or money to do this. Take all the children and dad on a Walmart trip and pick up 5-10 of the same items. Think hand warmers, gloves/mittens, hats, scarfs, toothbrushes, floss, shelf stable foods, even wool socks or warm fuzzy socks. Buy shelf stable foods like granola bars, somewhat healthy individual drinks like v8 splash or jumex, crackers, fig newtons, even candy would be neat!
Put them together in bags/small boxes and the next time you see someone at the street corner you have something to offer them (we usually keep them in the trunk of our car). It would also be a good idea to drop a track or card from your church and reach out to them about areas that your church can help them.
This idea is sure to get everyone into the giving spirit around the holiday season.
9. Spend the money on some nice matching pajamas and take your own photo under the tree
Everyone enjoys looking back on Christmas memories that were made. 20 years from now when your children are grown and come back for the holidays, you can pull out the ole’ photo album (now probably on your smartphone or archived in your IG feed) and look over the many photos of each child under the tree for that year in their new cozy Christmas pajamas.
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