I love Christmas. And I love that my kids are getting old enough to enjoy it too. It's more fun to put up the tree and decorate it, buy Christmas gifts and wrap them, and do Christmas-y activities when my girls are enjoying it too. They are getting more and more excited every day.
This year, I don't want to get to the end of the season and wish I had done more with them to build up the magic. But I'm finding I am running short on ideas. I want to do something special every day from now until Christmas day. That means I need 25 ideas. Here's what I have so far. What other ideas do you have?
1. Gingerbread houses
2. Candy trains
3. Cookie Swap/Play group
4. Make a count down chain (I truly hate these, but at least it's something, right?)
5. Make paper snowflakes
6. Make cardboard stars and decorate with glitter to hang from ceiling
7. Go to see the creche exhibit
8. Drive around to see lights in the area
In addition to these, we will be celebrating Taryn's birthday at the children's museum and going to the Science museum in Chicago with grandma and grandpa. So that means I have 9 days where at least SOME activity is going on. I still need 16 more.
What are some great, or fun, or memorable, or enjoyable activities, crafts, treats, or adventures that make this incredible season more magical and exciting for your kids? I'd love your ideas!
8 comments:
1. Make gingerbread men
2. String popcorn
3. Read Christmas stories (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, A Dress for Ellen, etc.)
4. Visit Macy's/Santa downtown
5. Make Christmas cards
6. Decorate Santa pictures with cotton balls and glitter
7. Make homemade instruments & sing Christmas carols
8. Watch a Christmas movie
Cheri,
Kids not fighting,I have a sec.
Just browsed five real moms, super great, are you the top one with blue eyes? Very cute!
1-Snowball fight, real or with marshmallows, (fun) cotton balls (just as fun and cleaner)
2-EASY craft, put cloves into an orange. I spell JOY with three, and kids make a funny looking orange, we all enjoy it.
3-Christmas dance (dance to fun Christmas tunes)
Wassle or hot cocoa....a given right?
4-Make gifts for each other, yes this is really fun once the kids start catching the spirit by coloring pics for eachother or making very flimsy sad little "what's that?" out of yarn and such....but very sweet!
And George is crying! See ya!
P.S. That meatless thing looked aweso
I began a post on my tuesdays of all tuesdays that was Advent with Kids Christmas To do countdown list, and came up with pretty much your same list and quit, and wrote about writing to santa instead.
but...just for fun:
1) Cut out pics from wrapping paper or magazines, and stick them to a bar of soap by dipping the top part in wax
2) Printing out cheesy signs from "Print Shop" and hot gluing pretzels around it like a frame...was this EVER cute and did I EVER not burn my fingers? What was mom thinking?
3) It's never too early to do a twelve days of christmas, even if you have other holiday plans...hint hint. it just makes it that much more exciting.
4) practice some christmas carols to go caroling to some houses as you hand them your plate of goodies...the kids singing will warm their hearts even MORE to return the cookie-exchange tradition!
5) get 25 Christmas books (go to the library NOW), wrap them under the tree (mark the back of the "gift" with the due date, just to be sure), and unwrap one each night to be read round the christmas tree.
6) put out clues of "Santa Came to Check On Us"...in the middle of the night, during play time, during clean up time...any chance to catch them doing good. Maybe he left a white marshmallow from the northpole in a jar on the fire place?
7) send an email to Santa and get one in return (see the link on Fiverealmoms.com)
8) Ask the kids what THEY want to do, then do it, (even if it means checking out 18 more Halloween books, even though it's Christmas time...thank you Carter)
9) Make a Chrsitmas Scavenger hunt for the girls during their naps...snowflakes or marshamllows or cotton balls that lead to the table with something yummy there for them, from Santa since he stopped by to check on them (see #6 in case you happened to forget already, which is likely since all of this is so riveting). Make a trail from all of their rooms to the kitchen.
10) Do something for somebody every day....sounds vague. But if you have it in mind, it will work. You can make a Christmas Tree and have everyone hang paper ornaments on it as they do good deeds and service for other people.
11) Have a special treat or ritual that you do EVERY time it snows. IT snowed..that means we get hot chocolate. IT snowed..that means we get to shake glitter all over the house...Of the two options, I know which one I would choose.
12) Make progress on your christmas presents in some way every day.
13) For VTing this month, offer to take your girls' kids so they can go out run errands or enjoy some down time themselves.
...and, am I invited to the museum? the christmas party is over, so is SOTW, so I'm ready to plan the party of my life, now :) Too bad you won't be here for New Years Eve again! I was such a blast last year when I got so tired and lied down until 11:54...I swear I can be entertaining in 2011!!
14) We get lots of toy catalogs in the mail, sometimes duplicates, or at least our neighbor got the same one. Cut out some cool things from one you think your kids would like, and leave the other in tact. Then spread out all the toys you cut out and have them find them in the other catalog. I fun Christmas I Spy game.
15) To practice cutting, give each kid a catalog and some glue, and have them cut out the things they like the best, then glue it to paper (we made posters by taping 4 construction papers together...made, meaning last year...ask me how many of these 15 things I have ACTUALLY done or WILL do...Honestly, I must get my act together).
the idea behind this blog post and all associated comments aren't officially copyrited, right? cuz, I think I want to start this list on my own blog...stealing your idea, if you will, but all for the good of the cause, perhaps to solicit more great ideas to get us up to 25 useful ideas (as opposed to the pretzels around the printshop sign).
ok..enough comments already, but I'll forget if I don't put it here.
16) go outside with black construction paper to catch snowflakes.
Can I be one of your kids?
My kids will be lucky if we get a tree put up and it is semi decorated ... wish you still lived close so that I could hang on to your coat tails!!! :-)
Love ya,
Angel
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