Fun Activities for Christmas

Christmas time is the most exciting time of the year for most children and also many adults. We decorate our houses, have parties, and think of Santa Claus delivering gifts to our homes. I have found that there are many things we can do in the month of December to make the month even more fun and special for our families and especially our young children.

Here are 5 activities that will make your Christmas and Holiday a special time and will make memories for you and your children.

1. Make a gingerbread house. This is a simple activity that can take place on a weekend or on a Family Home Evening night. It is as simple as making a gingerbread recipe, making frosting, putting the house together, and decorating it with candy. My wife has gingerbread molds that make the shape of the house so it is easier to put together. You can also just make graham cracker houses, which are even easier than gingerbread. Just make sure that you use a recipe for Royal Icing because that dries quickly like glue, so the house stays together. My wife and I have made gingerbread houses for our little girls the past couple of years and they get really excited to put candy on and create their own little candied house.

2. See Christmas lights. This is another easy activity that only takes up a few hours of one evening. Find a place nearby that has lights (Temple Square, Thanksgiving Point, etc…) and drive to it and either walk around and look at the lights or drive around to see the lights while in the car. My wife and I drive to a light display in Spanish Fork every year and the kids have a lot of fun and remember the lights and decorations from going the year before. You can also just drive around your own neighborhood or nearby city and see many lights in people’s yards that decorate. You will be amazed at some of the displays people come up with.

3. Go sledding. Once it has snowed, take your kids to a nearby hill or open lot and go sledding. My wife and I bought some plastic sleds a couple of years ago and go down every year on a small hill on an empty lot nearby. This is a lot of fun (for both the kids and parents) and children love to play and especially like spending extra time with their moms and dads.

4. Sing Christmas Carols in your neighborhood or at rest homes. Caroling used to be really popular but hasn’t been as much in the last few decades. Go caroling as a family to your neighbors and drop off a treat or get together with extended family or your church young men/young women groups and sing carols at a rest home or for others in your local town or neighborhoods. This is a lot of fun and it is interesting to watch people’s reactions when you sing them a few songs. This really gets you and those you sing to in the Christmas spirit.

5. Attend a local concert or play. Christmas is a time when many Christmas concerts are held and many plays are put on. It is a great time to attend the many group’s and vocalist’s performances that are put on. A few that we have attended in the past are Voice Male, Michael McLean’s Forgotten Carols, and the Rocky Mountain Christmas. You can usually look up concerts or plays on your computer or find them in the local newspaper.

There is never a shortage of activities and fun things to do around Christmas time. The only shortage we have is on the years we will have time to spend with our young children. Time always goes by too fast. Get out and do some new and fun things this year and make some memories that will last a lifetime.


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