Christmas Activities for Kids

Kids love pinatas and Christmas time is just another opportunity to use them for some entertainment. It's a three-step process.

1. You have to make a pinata in an appropriate shape. Basically, it can be anything but for Christmas, the shape of Santa's hat or something like that will add some value.

Here is an example:

If you don't have time for such project, you can still use any kind of empty box and glue some decorative paper in green and red colors to it.

2. Fill the pinata with candy. Any kind of candy is allowed, yet some will add more Chrismas feeling than others. Gingerbread is obviously one of the possibilities (pack it in small bags, so it won't get dirty when it falls out).

You are not limited to candy. Small toys (bath, squishy, stuffed, plastic, ...), erasers in fun shapes, mini balls, stickers, decoration pieces, spinners, bottles of bubbles, puzzles, colorful necklaces, rubber rings, keychains, and numerous other possibilities are going on and on. You just need to be aware of possible dangers (breakable material, sharp edges, very small pieces, ...).

3. Start enjoying!

Source: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Draw-a-Simple-Christmas-Tree-Step-by-Step/

Everybody knows how to play a charade. In this case, it has to be limited to Christmas. This makes the game a bit easier but also opens a whole new world of opportunities for players who have to find new combinations or methods for presentations.

Here is a short list for starters:

• Angel
• Bad Santa
• Baking Cookies
• Bethlehem Star
• Candy Cane
• Carving a Turkey
• Christmas Carol
• Die Hard
• Drinking hot chocolate
• Ebenezer Scrooge
• Eggnogg
• Elf
• Frosty the Snowman
• Gingerbread House
• Home Alone (1, 2, 3, 4)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas
• Jing All the Way
• Jingle Bells
• Krampus
• Letter to Santa
• Making a Snow Angel
• Opening the Presents
• Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer
• Silent Night
• Sleigh
• Stocking
• Three Wise Men

You can limit the player just on popular Christmas activities, Christmas themed movies, characters from classic Christmas stories or give them complete freedom, depending on the level of their skills. A small and fun gift for the winners will add an extra boost on the motivation for players.

Kids love to learn strange and funny things and this is your chance to educate them a bit while having fun. Find a dozen or a few dozens of Merry Christmas! sayings in foreign languages, write them down on cards, for each card write another with the name of the country, from which a certain phrase comes and mix the cards. You can play a fun memory game and expand it to an exploration of Christmas customs in different countries all over the world if your kids express a wish to expand their horizons.

source: http://justcoolstuff.over-blog.com/2018/08/merry-christmas-in-different-languages.html

Christmas time is obviously the time when we can enjoy in family games like several already mentioned.

Here are ten more ideas:

1. Complete the snowman

You put a large poster with a picture of a snowman on the wall and invite competitors to stick a broom, a pot and a carrot on the picture. They have to do that blindfolded after they were spun around three times.

2. Draw a snowman

Each kid gets a paper plate and a pen. The drawing should be done by having the plate on his or her head!

3. Christmas Bingo

Print a few Bingo cards with differently themed clipart (like bells, deer, angels, decor, snowmen, Christmas trees, presents, gingerbread men, etc.). Then draw the same clipart from the Santa's hat and check who will cross first five in a row. Have small presents for the winners ready.

4. Snowbowling

If you are living in a place with snow at Christmas, you can put some bowling pins in an appropriate distance and organize a competition in snow bowling - with snowballs instead of bowling balls. Plastic pins are best for this and you can hang them on a tree if you don't want to put them up all the time.

If you don't have snow, you can still play with the same pins, but a ball made of paper instead of snow. If you don't have plastic pins, paper towel rolls can do the trick.

5. Ring tossing

The idea is simple - you need to throw a few rings on an object (a pin or an empty plastic bottle or a towel roll or even a small Christmass tree would be fine) and with enough players, you can organize a fun competition in ring tossing. If you are lucky to live close enough to nature, you can compete outdoors, throwing hoops on tree branches or in the bushes.

6. Snowball and spoon race

Again, you will need some snow in the backyard to organize this variant of egg and spoon race (you can use small plastic shovels instead of spoons), but this very same game will be equally fun with cotton balls on spoons (or you can play it with balloons, moving them around with head only) if you play it indoors. With at least two teams, a relay, and several snowballs this fun game can occupy the whole family for at least half an hour.

7. Snow Fight

Everybody knows how to play a good old snow fight. A more peaceful variant can be played with a huge target instead of people to aim at. Or you can play it indoors with a huge machete of Christmas tree (or snowman) made of cardboard, with holes (of different sizes) and light plastic balls for aiming.

8. Who am I?

This popular game with sticky notes with names on the forehead of each player can be played all year round, but for this occasion, we can limit the set of ideas to the characters from popular Christmas stories.

9. Present Hunt

The variant of popular Easter Egg Hunt can be seasoned up if you hide a few small presents (or candy) in the house and tell the children to seek them out. You can help them with hints on (more or less visible) notes or not.

10. A Christmas Fashion Show

It's time to compete who has the ugliest Christmas sweater or most originally decorated dress or the best presentation of Christmas themed fashion accessories! Don't forget to prepare some appropriate music for setting the right mood.

What can be in better Christmas spirit than baking? Depending on the skill of the kids you are working with you can use them to help in different phases of baking and arranging Christmas cookies, gingerbread house, custard, marzipan cakes, etc. If you are familiar with baking, you probably already have a set of tried recipes which can be improved with some edible decorative pieces, food coloring, maybe only with a pinch of cinnamon, some honey, etc., otherwise, you can check this lovely book:

By the way, you can make an alcohol free eggnog as well. And you can serve it in a big bowl with small gingerbread cookies to dip in.

Well, you can make ornaments from almost anything, from recycled plastic and old newspaper to edible materials. Salt dough is a traditional material with countless opportunities. It's really easy, as you can see in the video below:

Kids always enjoy visiting cultural and historical places if they are presented in the right way. Christmas is especially good for such trip for at least two reasons - we have more free time around Christmas and there are numerous special events, like plays for kids, a visit from Santa, concerts, etc. in the holiday season.