7 Christmas Break Activities for Families

It goes without saying that Christmas is a busy time of year. In the busyness, we don’t want to lose sight of making this time about family, so let’s carve out a little extra time to do something special. We can reassign Christmas tasks into Christmas traditions, so they are thoroughly enjoyed and become a blessing.

Keep your young people busy this December by download a free Advent calendar and 25 Christmas printables, ranging from activity books to coloring sheets, games, and more.

Movie Night: Grab some blankets and hot chocolate and sit around as a family and plan a Christmas family movie night. Allow a different person to pick their favorite for the family to watch, purchase some special out-of-the-ordinary snacks and make it a celebration.

See Christmas Lights: Find the places in your area where you can walk around and see the Christmas lights or go to a tree lighting ceremony. Take an evening walk around your neighborhood and see how people have decorated their houses!

Christmas Craft: From making ornaments to sewing stockings, you can find plenty of ideas for all ages. Gather the materials and sit around the dining room table as a family and make a craft you will all cherish for years to come. You can also make a group craft like a wreath to hang on the front door.

Christmas Decorating Day: Since you are going to decorate anyway, why not make it extra special, so it becomes a fond Christmas memory and tradition. Make hot chocolate or some punch along with a simple snack bar or easy buffet style dinner. Then everyone grabs some decorations and get to work. Depending on age, you can give each person a zone to decorate or have a little sidekick to help you hang some ornaments. Keep the mood light and get ready for crooked hanging holly but a day filled with the blessing of spending that time together.

Christmas Baking Day: Children love to bake and decorate cookies. If you have baking to do and little hands that want to help, then create a day just for it. Don’t try to do this on a busy day but set aside the time, to help avoid extra stress. Set up a baking station for young children so they can be kept busy “helping” while you get down to the business of baking your famous apple pie. Provide young children cookie cutters and pre-made dough. You will want to cover the area with a plastic table cloth and perhaps a floor mat for easy clean up. Allow older children bigger tasks up to making their own prized pie or cookies to be proud of. The most important aspect of this day is to teach children time management, organization, and flexibility when those things are challenged while enjoying the time together. Easier said than done but making an effort will be worth it.

Serving Others: Christmas is a time to show love, and one way we can do that is by serving others. Whether you shovel a neighbor’s driveway or sing carols at a senior living center, spend time with a family showing love together.

Christmas Read Aloud: Don’t let this time go by without reading Christmas books together. You can pick a book to read annually or choose a new book each year. Read aloud to young children and allow older children turns reading. If you are traveling quite a bit, turn on an audio book while you are in the car.

Need more ideas?

• Add some British culture to your celebration.
• Do you have children ages 3 through 8? Introduce some STEM toys into their daily routine.
• What to plan something fun for a homeschool mom?
• Pick out a new activity box for your children.

To help plan your activities this Christmas break, download the Christmas activity planner:

For even more ideas on how to celebrate the break this December, you can find several other ideas at the iHomeschoolNetwork blog.