this year we are all going to be home for the holidays more than ever. (wa wa waaaaa but let's make the best of it, eh?!) & as the girls are getting older (now 4 & 6) i want to make sure we have some fun activities to do with them this holiday break. i mean we all have so much going on right now (hello pandemic life) so none of these ideas are crazy, mind blowing ideas but just easy and will bring joy to the home this holiday season. ya know because parents are the joy makers of christmas afterall.
so first on my list to try is a CANDY CANE HUNT around the house outside. i plan to buy a bunch of various kinds of candy canes and hook them onto things such as tree branches and lights outside the home! after we are complete the hunt i will give the kiddo with the most candy canes collected a present to open!!! such a fun way to get the kiddos outdoors & moving in winter.
if you want to dig further there are also a ton of recipes + science experiments that can be found on PINTEREST with all the candy canes that you could do after the hunt. & this activity would EVEN be fun in the snow because they can be put UP on objects opposed to on the ground like eggs!
next on my agenda to set up for the girls is a CHRISTMAS EVE SET (we have all seen these on pinterest) but the fun in this for the girls will be that they will have to find the box using CLUE cards. i am envisioning a scavenger hunt type clue here & they are getting old enough that i think it will be fun! keep an eye out for this in my stories on christmas eve.
ya know life isn't all about fun and games... we godda have some education in there! ha. i found two quick, easy and cheap ideas! the first is a BOW GRAPHING ACTIVITY and ya use christmas bows to make a line graph. but there are SO many things that we can do with the kiddos and bows.
-stack them (maybe make them sticky for this?)
-count them
-sort them
-have bow races (put them on a spoon... like an egg race!)
photo credit and more info here
the second educational activity that i found was this cute HOLE PUNCHING TREE ACTIVITY. the numbers could be written on the trunks then the kiddo punches the holes to match OR it could be the other way around depending on the kiddos level and development.
photo credit and more info here
and we have come to christmas morning. ah. the BEST day and i feel like it just slips away if there is not SOME sort of plan. even a loose plan is helpful for making more intentional memories on christmas day. so after we do a quick cinnamon roll & stockings, i am planning for the van fam to do a CHIRSTMAS MORNING SARAN WRAP BALL. we have done this before with adult beverages inside + lotto tickets + money at christmas parties but this year i am going to make it family friendly with kids toys and silly little gifts that will make the girls laugh! (i might even make one to take to my parents house later that day!)
photo credit and more info here
this year i want to make it a PLAN to TAKE COOKIES TO THE NEIGHBORS that we know might not be seeing their families this year, sadly. drop those cookies on their stoop with a cute card from the girls and instant happy hearts + bellies.
lastly in our plans for christmas morning at the van household would be a family WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT GAME. i do not know about your kiddos but mine have never played this because, well, it is normally geared more towards the adults at a party or event. this year we are gunna have one with just our little family of four for some laughs on christmas morning after we open all our gifts. this legit could work for any family because the first way (i believe... i do not really know the history of white elephant ha) this game was that you found something of value IN YOUR HOME, wrapped it, and brought it as a gag gift. therefore, this could easily work with a family if you each found your own item that you wanted to wrap from the house or your room! it would be funny + silly! for our first round (while we are still teaching the girls about it) i will prepare it all, but how fun will that be!? i cannot wait to take pictures of them opening the gifts AND the saran ball. haha!!!
what are you planning for the next few weeks with your family? i would love to hear.