Lots of Ideas to Get You and Your Kids Feeling Festive.
I don’t know about you, but I love starting up traditions with my daughter, even if they end up creating me a lot of work to do (which often they do!). But it’s all worth it, to see the look on her face and to create memories that we will always share.
Visit Santa’s Reindeer
If you are lucky enough to live near a park or a farm with deer, then you could pay them a visit on Christmas Eve, before they help pull Santa’s sleigh.
Letter to Santa
You can get some great free templates to write a letter to Santa. You can then post by Royal Mail (don’t forget the stamp) and they will send your child a letter back from Santa. Here’s the address: Santa’s Grotto, Reindeer Land, XM4 5HQ. The deadline to get your letters in the post for this year, 2022, is Friday 9th December.
Foraging for Decorations
As December comes around; collect holly, pine cones and other evergreens to decorate your home.
Christmas Lights
Go for a walk on Christmas Eve to spot all the amazing and sometimes crazy Christmas lights.
Elf on the Shelf
Elf on the shelf is fast becoming a very popular household tradition. I introduced Elf on the Shelf last year for our daughter and while it’s quite a big commitment, we all loved it. You can google lots of ideas on what to do with your elf each day, which helps massively, or there’s a Facebook group you can join. Roll on 1st December, we can’t wait for our elf to return!
Santa Hunt
Go for a Santa hunt on Christmas Eve. ‘Santa’ leaves a trail of sweets, pine cones and other clues or goodies for the children to find. The children eventually spot Santa (so you’ll have to nominate an adult to dress up) in the distance, as he is setting off to deliver more presents and then the children are ushered home to bed.
Christmas Eve Box
I really look forward to creating Lily her Christmas Eve Box Christmas Eve Box. I covered and decorated an old shoe box and each year I plan to fill it with; some new Christmas books, Christmas stickers, a pretty ornament for the tree and most importantly a custom made (by her Zaza) plate for Christmas Eve snacks for Santa and Rudolf. If you are looking for a hassle free option, then you can find a lovely readymade box at Orchard Toys.
Make a Christmas Cake
Every year my brother and I used to bake a Christmas cake with my mum and make a wish while we stirred the cake mixture. Last year my mum continued the tradition with my daughter, Lily, and Lily got to make her first Christmas wish.
Christmas Tree
I love going each year with my family to pick out a tree. When we get home I put on the Christmas music and we all decorate the tree together. Lily is so excited about getting a ‘Ho Ho tree’ this year, I can’t wait!
Advent Calendars
An advent calendar can be a great source of fun. You can get lots of ideas for your advent calendars on my blog Advent Calendars and Fillers.
Trip to the Zoo
A trip to the zoo on New Year’s Day is a lovely idea, I’ve been told the zoo tends to be pretty quiet (as many people are at home recovering!).
Pantomime
I remember being lucky enough to go to the pantomime every year at Christmas and absolutely loved it. I can’t wait until Lily is old enough to go too.
Christmas Pyjamas
Another tradition that is increasing in popularity is matching Christmas pyjamas for the whole family! Primark usually do these each year and you can also find some lovely ones from smaller boutiques on Etsy.
Personalised Video from Santa
The Portable North Pole offer an amazing free service to create a personalised video from Santa for your children. You can pay to upgrade to a package that offers much more, but the basic video is free.
Make Reindeer Food
You can easily make reindeer food yourself, to sprinkle out the front of your house on Christmas Eve. I’d advise against using things such as glitter and sequins as this isn’t great for the local wildlife. You can find a wildlife-friendly recipe on the RSPCA website and Wilko’s has a good selection of bird seed. I’m using a paper puncher with Christmas shapes so I can make little snowflakes and Christmas trees out of leaves. You can also buy some ready made reindeer food from Postbox Party.
Santa’s Footprints
When Santa visits on Christmas Eve, he often leaves snowy footprints, which you can easily create with flour and a stencil (obviously on hard floorings only!). Roscoe-Rules sells this cute stencil.
Snacks for Santa
With all the rushing around that Father Christmas does on Christmas Eve, it’s a lovely idea to leave out a snack for him (and his reindeer).
Meet Father Christmas
There are lots of great places to visit Father Christmas, whether it’s a shopping centre, garden centre or a park. However, they do get booked out really quickly, so make sure you start looking as early as September to ensure you get a spot at your chosen venue.
Reverse Advent Calendar
Each day of advent your children put something in a box and at the end of advent the box is donated to charity or a food bank (depending on the type of items that have been put in the box). You could donate tinned or dried foods, old toys, babies clothes etc.
North Pole Breakfast
This can take place at any time through the Christmas season and is often hosted by your Elf on the Shelf, but it is just as fun without an elf!
Magical Movie
Nothing feels more like Christmas than curling up on the sofa (perhaps in your Christmas pyjamas) to watch a festive film with your little ones.
Santa’s Magic Key
I always had a chimney in the houses I lived in when growing up and it only occurred to me last year, when talking to my daughter about Santa Clause, that we don’t have a chimney in our house…. My husband jumped to the rescue and explained to me about Santa’s magic key, which he uses to let himself into houses and apartments that don’t have chimneys, so he can leave presents for all the children.
‘Glow’
As December creeps closer, there are many stately homes, parks, palaces and gardens that put on amazing light shows, or ‘glows’ as they are often called.
Festive Sleepover
How about a Christmas themed sleepover, like this beautiful one by The Teepover Club. There are lots of Teepee companies popping up, so I am sure you can find one near you.
Build a Gingerbread House
A really fun project for you to do with your children is to bake, build and decorate a gingerbread house in a festive theme. If you would like to skip to the decorating part, you can buy a gingerbread house kit from Biscuiteers or there are lots on Not on The High Street.
Build a Christmas Box House
My cousins recently told me a lovely story about my father who (as the oldest), along with his grandpa, used to build his siblings a card box box house and cover it with wrapping paper and cut out little windows. They gave the windows a stained glass window effect using sweetie wrappers. The roof was covered in wisps of cotton wool to look like snow and they illuminated it from within. Each child then had a small wrapped present inside that they could pull out on a string through the front door on Christmas Eve. I love this.
Personalised Baubles
I just love this idea of creating a personalised bauble with your children every year. This gorgeous little robin bauble was made by Outside The Lines.
Ice Skating
There are usually lots of pop-up ice rinks at Christmas time, such as at the Natural History Museum and Hampton Court – so wrap up warm and get your skates on.
Elf For Christmas
These lovable elves come with all sort of accessories to help promote good behaviour, such as reward charts, report cards and a nice list certificate. There’s also some freebies, recipe ideas and some antics suggestions for your mischievous elf.
Handmade Christmas Decorations
Making Christmas decorations with your children is such a special activity that we can all do, whatever our level of creativity. Paper snowflakes are so easy and all you need is a piece of paper and some scissors.
Santa’s lost button
On Christmas eve, Santa leaves a note for your children, thanking them for the snacks they left out for him but he thinks he ate too much and a button popped off his coat. He asks the children to try and find it for him and hang it on their tree.
Festival of the Elves
If Elf on the Shelf seems a bit too much like hard work, you could do The Festival of the Elves. You get sent (for free) 24 letters written to your family, from your two chosen elves, for you to print at home. There’s also a book available to go along side this if you want to add to the fun.
In the video below, Santa reads the magical book ‘Festival of the Elves’, which tells the story of an elf sister and brother who want to share their traditions and their magic with humans.
