There are so many great Christmas activities for kids that you can do at home. When my girls were younger, I loved taking the time to explore the different seasons and holidays with them. You could say I was a Pinterest mom, but not quite to the curated extent that some Pinterest projects call for. I loved creating with my girls and trying different seasonal projects with them. Of course it went hand in hand with my years of teaching young children. These are a few of the many things I enjoyed and remember working on with my girls during the Christmas season.
So Many Christmas Books
Of course I can’t include a list of favorite Christmas activities for kids without including reading. I am still drawn to a great children’s picture book like a moth to a flame. I have an obscene about of picture books. Many are mine from teaching and several were given to my girls when they were little. They are treasures to me. Even my girls have said, do not get rid of our books! I still will sort through and bring out our holiday books. Of course, we have so many Christmas ones. These are our favorite ones:
Favorite Christmas Sensory Activities
During those busy toddler and preschool years, I always tried to find ways to incorporate different sensory activities. One of my girls’ favorite things to play with were sensory bins. For Christmas season and into winter, I would fill a large, shallow storage box with uncooked rolled oats and added glitter to give it a ‘snow’ like look. Then I added different little plastic animals like polar bears, bears, foxes, etc that you think of at winter time. Add some scoops, plastic snowflakes, cotton balls, and it was so fun. Also, I did have a small broom and dust pan for them to use if it got outside the box.
Another favorite Christmas activity for kids is a bit more controversial….play-dough! I know of so many families who do not like to use play dough, I totally understand. However, we had rules to only use at a certain time and place. Homemade play dough is so much better than store bought and SO simple to make. Add some peppermint extract and use your Christmas cookie cutters. It was a great activity.
Deck the Halls with your Kids
Finally, I gave my girls spaces to do their own decorating for Christmas. They would see me enjoy getting our Christmas decorations out and displayed. It was very exciting for them. I decided long ago that we would be a family that used the nice things and that relates to Christmas too. The bottom half of the tree was theirs to decorate. Also, I had a small tree just for them and we filled it with felt ornaments, plastic painted balls, and SO MANY beaded pipe cleaner candy canes. They incorporated their tree in with their play and they enjoyed having something that was their own for Christmas.
Just Enjoy
I love thinking back to all the fun and simple activities we did during the Christmas season. It was so helpful changing up our usual toys and incorporating pretend snow, Christmas decorations, and Christmas picture books into my children’s everyday play. What are some simple things you like to do with your children during the Christmas season?
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