12 Christmas Activities to Do with your Kids

The holiday season is a great time to get your kids involved in Christmas activities that will keep their imaginations flowing and their fun spirit going all year long. Whether it’s decorating the Christmas Tree, making wreaths, playing with the family, or hosting a Christmas party. Parents want to ensure that their kids are happy and having a good Christmas.

Christmas activities for kids of any age can be a ton of fun and enjoyment for all involved. Here are some great ideas that you can implement right away and help make lasting memories for your kids:

Spend time together for the holidays.

Time is one of the best things you can give your kids. Kids love spending quality time with their parents. That is one thing everyone enjoys, human connection and what better human than your family. This can be done both indoor and outdoors, spend time Christmas shopping, volunteering or even watching Christmas movies together. I’d love to know if you did any of these.

Start a Countdown Chain

Whether you’ve got 24 days or 12 days, countdown chains are a ton of fun. Kids love doing them and tearing them at the end of each night. But they also love making them with their parents because you spend time together doing them. Add a little twist to it this year by adding fun things you all can do together.

To make a it little easier try cutting strips of construction paper before the kids are ready to connect them and form a chain. Then just ask them what they’d like to do with you.

Make Christmas Cookies.
Make a mesh Christmas Wreath together
Bake goods for a neighbor
Watch Christmas movies together
Paint a picture
Write a letter to Santa
Make a Christmas Ornament
Go do an acticity together: Bowling, a play, mini golf, kating, ice skating, etc
Go on a scavenger hunt as a family and see if you can find everything on the list
Read one Christmas story book a night (make a craft with it)
Volunteer as a family somewhere
Write out Christmas Cards

Looking for a few more ideas? Here’s a few other sites to check out for more Christmas Countdown ideas: 25 Creative Countdown Activities for Kids
50 ChristmasCountdown Activity Ideas to Connect this Holiday
24 Days of Creative Christmas Activities With Kids
12 Days of Christmas Countdown Activities {with printables!}
39 Christmas countdown activities to enjoy with your kids as you wait for Christmas day!

Decorate the Christmas Tree

I have always loved decorating the Christmas Tree, but I find it more enjoyable to do it with my kids. As you pull out those old ornaments from Christmas past, you can reflect on the memories. You can add miniature ornaments to make the tree look even more charming. You can also decorate the tree with ornaments made of different materials, such as lights, bells, and crooked ornaments.

Did you know that you can make handmade ornaments that look just as nice as store-bought ornaments?This is the perfect time to bring in old traditions with some new ones. Remember all those homemade popcorn chains? Maybe see if you and your kids can make some of your own.

This can be a really fun way to display your family’s Christmas spirit. The ornaments can be made using many different techniques, such as St. Nick-themed ornaments that can be personalized with children’s names. You can also make ornaments with animals, cups, and other objects that you can then attach to the tree with twine. You can purchase ready-to-assemble ornaments that are beautifully adorned. Glass ornaments that you can pour paint into or melt crayons in and design your own.

12 Christmas activities to do with kids. Picture of a Kids using blue and white beads to make ornaments.

Make some Homemade Ornaments

Sequin snowflake popsicle sticks
foam ornaments with a picture of your child in the center
fingerprint snoman painted on an ornament

Have your kids decorate their rooms.

Growing up my sister and I loved decorating our rooms for Christmas, the trend would continue with my own children. Take them shopping and get them Christmas lights and maybe a small Christmas tree and tiny ornaments. It is always fun to let them create their own winter wonderland for their door frame or windows. You never know what they’ll do.

Eat Breakfast Together

Pick a list of breakfast ideas and have your kids draw from a hat (you know Frosty’s hat) and the two of you can have fun making breakfast together and then eating it.

Play games together

Holidays are fun but many times things get a little chaotic and kids can get lost in the shuffle. Take some time out of your day and schedule it to play games with your kids. I love to gather either in the Living room on the floor or in the Dining room to play games. The kids have a choice of games and we spend at least an hour. Typically we play board games every night during their winter break. We have even been known to change ome of the basic rules of board games just to add a bit more fun.

Go Christmas Shopping together!

We like to do Secret Santa Exchanges with our family. We pull a name out of a hat and purchase a small gift under a certain dollar amount. Kids will love to go Christmas Shopping for their secret friends and love it even more because they get to pick something out.

Have a Wrapping Party!

After all that shopping you will need to wrap those gifts. So grab some goodies and pop in a movie, invite the kids as everyone wraps gifts for friends. Teach them how to wrap a gift so they don’t have to pay someone to do it. Maybe learn a few new ways to wrap gifts. I love watching youtube and TikTok videos to see how to wrap in interesting ways.

Things you might need:

wrapping paper
tape
ribbon
bows
scissors

Make a Snowman

Has it snowed yet? If it has, take the kids outside and make a snowman as a family. Oh and be prepread for those sneaky snowball fights.Somehow we always get into a snowmball fight before our snowman is ever finished.

Dance to Christmas Music

Kids love to to see their parents being silly, so turn up the Christmas music and dance around the room. Or take this out into the neighborhood and do some Christmas caroling with the family or a group of friends.

Decorate Gingerbread Houses

Pick a day and send all your kids a little invite to come decorate Gingerbread houses with you. Have all the supplies on hand so you can just have fun! Just in case you have one allergic, graham crackers make a great substitute for gingerbread. We always have a box of graham crackers, frosting, and all types of candies to make the houses. Take pictures of your kids with their creations and keep them in an album.

Christmas activity to do with your kids: Drink and make hot chocolate.

Make some Hot Chocolate

Every year I make a different type of hot chocolate for the family. I either make a crockpot hot chocolate, a dry mix hot chocolate, or the store-bought type. We love to make hot chocolate on the first snowfall, we pull out the cups and dump all the mini marshmallows in them. This year during school break we will be making hot cocoa bombs, this will be our first time. Remember not everything has to be perfect for your kids. They will remember the times and laughter.

Read the Bible together

While most modern celebrations of the birth of Christ focus on the event itself, some families choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus using different texts. This can be a really fun way to share the meaning of Christmas with your children. The main idea behind this approach is to engage your child’s curiosity about the events of history. Your child can then examine the Bible in a more in-depth way by asking questions about different stories and Biblical verses. This can be a really useful way to teach your child about the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth, as well as the Nativity scene. Reading the Bible is a great way to teach your kids about the different narrators, perspectives, and timelines involved, which will help them understand how various texts can be interpreted differently. This can be a really enriching experience for all involved. Above all, make sure to do it as a family. I suggest reading Jesus’ story (Luke).