This year, we are making Christmas low-key. Here are the 12 must-do Christmas activities your kids will love without stressing you out!
Every year, Christmas comes along, and I want to cram 50 million Christmas activities for the family to enjoy. This usually leaves us feeling overwhelmed and stressed, especially me. This year, I’m choosing to have a low-key Christmas. This year, we are focusing on these 12 amazingly fun Christmas activities that we all enjoy. The goal is to make memories without feeling the need to cram a bunch of activities into a short span.
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Why Only 12 Christmas Activities?
I could make a list of amazing Christmas activities that your kids will love. But if there’s one thing I know as a mom of four kids, the Christmas season is one of the busiest times of the year! So, for me to sit here and list 100 amazing things would be pretty cool, but who wants to fit another 100 Christmas activities into their already packed Holiday season? Also, the 12 Days of Christmas song kind of inspired me to choose 12.
So, I chose the 12 best things you can do with your kids this Christmas that are low effort but kids really enjoy! Some of these activities I haven’t tried with my children, but I’m so looking forward to them. I love creating new memories and traditions with my kids. This list is small, but it’s full of amazing Christmas fun!
1. Decorate for Christmas
This is one of my kids’ favorite Christmas activities! They love it when we decorate the house for Christmas. We wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate, and then we set up the tree together. I let my kids put the ornaments on the tree and try to help make the tree look great! This is a great bonding experience and tradition that we hold dear in our hearts.
2. Have a Christmas Movie Marathon
I love it when it is a cold December day, and all you want to do is curl up on the couch and watch some movies. This year, we are going to set a day aside to have a Christmas movie marathon. We will wear our Christmas PJs, pop some popcorn, get some candy, maybe have a soda, and watch some incredible movies as a family. I’m really looking forward to this one because I feel like my kids are just old enough to watch more than one movie in a day.
3. Make a Christmas Tree Out Of Christmas Cards You Recieve
This idea came to me from someone who took Christmas-looking postcards and taped them to their wall, creating a makeshift Christmas tree. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be awesome to make a Christmas tree from Christmas cards we receive?” and so this year, we will take our Christmas cards and make a Christmas tree on our wall in the entryway.
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4. Build a Snowman
A classic Christmas activity that’s perfect for families to enjoy together. There’s nothing better than when it snows and you can bundle up and make an amazing snowman. I’m not an outdoor person, especially in the winter, but I will go build a snowman with my kids. Mostly, because I know they have a blast making it with me.
5. Make Some Christmas Cookies
This is a great activity to do with your kids because you can choose how difficult you want the cookies to be. You can go the easy route and just bake pre-made cookies, or you can make cookies from scratch. Lastly, you can choose to make sugar cookies that your kids can decorate. Either way you choose, I know your kids will have a blast!
6. Read Christmas Books in Front of a Fire
This is one of the new activities that we haven’t done before. I’m really excited to do this because I love it when we have a fire going in the house. Plus, just imagine how warm and toasty it’ll be reading some of our favorite Christmas books. I think my kids will really enjoy this activity. Here are our favorite Christmas books with links to Amazon:
- The Night Before Christmas
- The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving
- Little Blue Truck’s Christmas
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas
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7. Build Gingerbread Houses
Building gingerbread houses is a tradition we started doing two years ago, and the kids love it. Since then, I have tried to find sets with four houses so each kid can make one. They love designing their houses and making some pretty cool houses. I can’t wait to see how they turn out this year. Mostly because our youngest likes to do things by himself. We will see how it all turns out. I think this is a fun Christmas activity for the whole family to enjoy.
8. Make a Holiday Themed Craft
We have made some crafts in the past, and they really enjoy it. My daughter is a HUGE fan of crafts, and I’m trying to be a crafty mom. This Christmas, I’m going to find some simple and easy crafts that the kids can do. There’s something about each kid sitting at the table making a craft that we all really enjoy. If you know of any easy crafts, let me know in the comments below. I
9. Visit Santa and Tell Him What You Want for Christmas
Every December, we go to a breakfast with Santa, and the kids get to tell Santa what they really want for Christmas. The older kids love telling Santa their long list of things they want. The younger kids are still a little hesitant, so we write Santa a letter of what they want. This is a fun Christmas activity that takes minimal effort from me.
10. Donate Toys to Make Room for New Ones
This is one of the things I try to focus on early in the Christmas season. My kids all know that they will probably get some new toys, but we can’t get new toys without donating old toys to kids who will enjoy them. Usually, I try to fill one garbage bag full of toys to donate. This is a simple way to remind our children that we don’t need every toy, just the ones that really matter to us. Also, other people will want these toys that we don’t use anymore.
11. Look at All The Christmas Decorations Around Town
One of my favorite low-effort things to do during the Holiday season is to load up the kids in the car, drive around town, and look at all the Christmas decorations. We are very lucky because we have a drive-thru festival of lights near us. So, we get dinner one night and then drive through and look at all the lights. It’s such a beautiful tradition we have, and the kids love it.
12. Make a Family Playlist of Christmas Songs
This was a suggestion from my oldest. He loves music, and he loves making playlists on Spotify. So his idea for a Christmas activity was to make a Christmas playlist full of music. We plan on blasting this playlist when we are decorating the house, doing Christmas stuff at home, and opening presents Christmas morning. This is a low-effort and super fun activity that the whole family will enjoy.
Final Thoughts
I hope you all have a fantastic Holiday season filled with some memory-making moments your kids will remember for years to come. These 12 must-do Christmas activities are perfect for any family hoping to have a great Christmas season. If you have any activities that you think are “must-do” for a low-key Christmas, let me know in the comments below. I love hearing from all of you.
Lastly, if you enjoyed this list, pin it to Pinterest or share it on your social media. I appreciate all the love and support.
Thanks for reading,
Kel
