8 fun things to do with your family over the Christmas holidays

They’re here! At last! The Christmas holidays are upon us! It’s that wonderful time of the year where it’s totally OK to replace tea with sherry and have mince pies for breakfast! Who am I kidding? I had mince pies for breakfast on November 1st. It’s socially acceptable now though.

The Christmas school holidays are very different from the summer holidays. They are shorter, obviously, but because it’s cold and dark most of the time, there isn’t the same pressure to be outside, doing something wholesome. In fact, lounging around on the sofa with the remote in one hand and a box of Elizabeth Shaw mints in the other is practically obligatory.

Still, if you do want to do something other than watch the Christmas movie channel, (actually a thing), then here are some ideas for you for fun things to do with your family over the Christmas holidays:

Make a plan

This, in my eyes, in essential. You can’t just go about having spontaneous Christmas fun willy nilly, it needs to be organised. Plus the act of making the chart is fun in itself. Who cares if you actually do the activities, just enjoy getting your metallic Sharpies out.

Fun things to do with family over the Christmas holidays

Win a family ski holiday

I drop this one in, casually, like ‘Oh yeah, I win a ski holiday every year at around this time.’ I don’t obviously, but I have to give this one a mention as I’m helping Goodyear to promote their #ReinventingTheWheel competition. It’s dead simple, just go to the competition website, download one of their colouring templates, and get your 6-11 year old to design a winter car, complete with super winter tyres. You can read a whole post about it here if you want to. The prize is an all-in holiday for five people, so you’d be a bit silly not to have a go if you have an appropriately aged child and don’t have a snow allergy or anything. Belle had a go to show you how it’s done:

Goodyear #reinventingthewheel win a ski holiday

 

Do some funky present wrapping

Wrapping Christmas presents can sometimes feel like a bit of a chore, but not when you have a theme! My ‘olde worlde parcel’ theme is lots of fun, plus it can involve a trip to a local stamp shop, which is super wholesome. Read my post on the National Trust website here.

Fun things to do with family over the Christmas holidays

 

Make some festive cake pops

These are so easy, even I can do them! All you need to do is whip up a simple round sponge – 4oz each of butter, sugar, flour and eggs, and then cut it into eight segments. We did add green food colouring to our mixture, but top tip: look for colouring that keeps it colour when you cook it. Not all of them do. Ours didn’t. (Oops.) We used green icing though instead, made just with icing sugar and water, decorated with various sparkly things we found in the baking cupboard, and stuck them on sticks.

Fun things to do with family over the Christmas holidays

 

Go ice skating

Nothing says Christmas like being freezing cold, flustered, surrounded by people, and spending too much money, and ice skating ticks all of these boxes! Seriously though, it can be fun if you pick the right place and the right time of the week. The ice rink at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol is lovely, but does get very busy, as we discovered when we went one evening in the Christmas holidays. Top tip – don’t take three small children on your own if you can’t actually stand up on ice. It’s not conducive to a relaxing festive spirit.

Fun things to do with family over the Christmas holidays

 

Tattoo your children

Not permanently – that wouldn’t work with something seasonal like a candy cane now would it? A little temporary festive tattooing can be a fun thing to do with your family over the Christmas holidays to while a way a bit of time at home in the evenings though. We like these from Inky and Bear.

Fun things to do with family over the Christmas holidays

 

Organise a Christmas treasure hunt

You might fancy this as a stand alone activity, or as a way for the kids to find their presents on Christmas day, but whichever you do, it’s bound to be fun, as children love looking for things don’t they? Apart from school shoes and exercise books obviously. And front door keys, coats, school ties… You get the idea. A trail of clues and riddles works well. (For the treasure hunt, not the school tie.)

Fun things to do with family over the Christmas holidays

 

Make a Christmas Eve box

Christmas Eve can be a little stressful. Once you’ve watched The Snowman, what exactly are you meant to do for the next six hours, until everyone can go to bed? How about making a Christmas Eve box in advance, with some nice treats – new pyjamas maybe, a favourite film, popcorn, maybe a Goodyear car to colour in

What are your favourite fun things to do with your family over the Christmas holidays?

Fun things to do with family over the Christmas holidays

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2 Comments

  1. 19 December, 2015 / 10:07 am

    Great article thanks! Pinning to keep for every Christmas!

    • Jo Middleton
      Author
      21 December, 2015 / 2:13 pm

      Thanks Rosie – so pleased you found it useful!

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