01 Dec 25 December Activities To Do With Friends & Family
This year, I’m hoping for a calm and quiet, but meaningful Christmas. While a de-scheduled Christmas might sound easy, I find it so hard to keep our (teenage) kids entertained enough that they don’t default to screen time.
As I was brainstorming December activities, I thought about how many other families may benefit from my ideas – so here we are!
I’m hopeful that these activities will ensure more quality time together. It shouldn’t be too hard to pull these off since we don’t do gifts for everyone and meals are yummy, but not exorbitant. Seriously, who wants to feel tired, full and bloated over the holidays??? Not me!
So, here’s my “GO-TO” list for December.
I’m going to make sure this list is on our fridge (front and center) and that I’m armed with materials to be able to do any of these, at anytime.
- Blast the Christmas music and decorate the house. This could easily take up an entire afternoon or evening.
- Spend the day finding, cutting down our tree and decorating it.
- Family game/tournament night! Whether Beyblades, video gaming, board games or card games, we take our games very seriously in this house!
- Spend an afternoon cookie baking and decorating. Shortbread, givergbread and biscotti are our families favourites.
- Holiday crafts will surely get you in the Christmas spirit! These crafts can be doubled as gifts!
- Reading; is there anything better than finding a cozy corner in the house with a good book and a cup of tea?
- Outdoor walks in the woods and at Fairy Lake (especially at night) are on our list.
- Chocolate tastings is an activity the kids will likely choose in a heartbeat! I might take it one step further with blindfolds, guessing games, etc.
- Time with friends and other family members, even if it’s for a 30 minute coffee or tea. Reach out now and get some holiday meet-ups on the calendar, but remember to be mindful of over-committing.
- Time with grandparents (or other seniors). This is so important. Seniors sometimes feel extra lonely during the holidays. Even 20 minutes can make their day (and yours!).
- Go skating! We prefer outdoor skating at The Riverwalk, but indoor public skating is an option for those really frigid days.
- Build a snowman! Dress them up and take lots of pictures!
- Christmas movies; we will be doing at least one or two a week leading up to Christmas. We got a good start on this one already and getting the most out of our Netflix.
- Go tobogganing and/or tubing (not just the kids, adults too!)
- Have the kids teach themselves to snowboard, or another activity they have been wanting to try.
- Do a Secret Santa gift exchange with a group of friends or at a family gathering.
- Enjoy the outdoor fire pit, pixie lights and festive music. S’mores at Christmas, warm eggnog and hot chocolate anyone?
- Make homemade holiday cards and share them with seniors. The senior home or the hospital would welcome these.
- Visit holiday markets! We plan to visit the Distillery District this year and we have already done the East Gwillimbury one.
- Allow the kids to open one gift on Christmas Eve (from their stocking). This has become a tradition in our house.
- Bake homemade cookies for Santa. Like anything, when the kids are involved in the process, it makes the moments even more special and memorable for them.
- Drive around to look at Christmas lights: Check out this link about Newmarkets Billings Cres.
- Work on a large puzzle together. This activity will likely take a couple weeks of time!
- Participate in some acts of kindness. Baking for seniors, helping with driveways, food drives, toy drives and clothing drives are all great options.
- Focus your meal planning on a couple special meals. We plan to do a fabulous Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning breakfast.
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