Oh how we love Christmas!
Around here, the month of December is usually spent crafting, snacking, and watching all of our favorite holiday movies. We work hard to keep the focus on the real meaning of Christmas though and this year will be no exception. I usually like to keep things simple, but last year either forgot or just didn’t get around to a lot of the activities I wanted to do with the kids. So being the nerdy organizer that I am, I made up a master list of activities so that I could plan better.
Here’s a look at what we have going on for the month, in case you need a few ideas or want some new traditions to make your family’s month full of special memories. Most of them are easy and only take a little bit of planning. A few others are a bit more involved, and I will save those for the days that Saul is off from work so that I have help. Since we have two birthday’s in December, those are included in my list, but you could easily change them out for a night of reading your family’s favorite Christmas stories, going to a live nativity, or making another craft.
Here is our family's list of
25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS MAGIC!
JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON: Start 25 Days Scripture Chain – We’ll do this at breakfast time, and take turns reading the scriptures each morning. I’ve also printed the Jesse Tree Calendar Connections to use during our school time. THE STAR OF CHRISTMAS: We’ll watch the Veggie Tales Christmas movie too. We have this nativity set that the kids play with all month long.
DECK THE HALLS: Decorate the house for Christmas. We’ve already done most of the indoors, but still have a few finishing touches. The boys will love helping Saul set up our nativity outside. Later the kids and I can make these cute reindeer ornaments to fill up our bare tree and we'll watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
HEY SANTA CLAUS: Write Letters to Santa, watch The Santa Clause, sip Hot Cocoa with peppermint mallows.
ROLLIN’ IN THE CHRISTMAS DOUGH: Christmas Play-doh – Each of the kids will help make a different batch of scented dough: Snow Play-doh, Peppermint Play-doh, and Gingerbread Play-doh. Then we will play and make creations together. I’m sure these will be used all month!
THE MINIVAN EXPRESS: S’mores Trail Mix, Hot Cocoa – We did this one last year and it was so special and fun! The kids go up to get ready for bed and find a ticket on their bed for the Minivan Express. They go out in their jammies and we drive around to look at Christmas lights and then off to the mall to see Santa!
SNOW FILLED FUN: We’ll make snowflake ornaments, watch Frosty the Snowman, and eat Snowball Cookies for a treat!
DISNEY ON ICE: I’m surprising the kids with tickets to a Disney on Ice show in the afternoon! Then later we’ll watch Mickey’s Christmas Carol.
ELF YOURSELF: Elf craft, Elf the movie, and Candy Cane Forest Popcorn.
ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE: Family Game Night with the Kinect (Dance Central and Kinect Adventures)
CAROL OF THE BIRTHDAY: Elaina’s turning 6! She can’t decide if she wants to be a princess or a spy. Maybe both?
O’ GRINCHY NIGHT: Family Movie Night with the Grinch, Grinch Cookies, Grinch Treats, and Grinchy Floats. We may all be green in the morning!
GAME NIGHT: We have a few to choose from: Sing Your Heart Out, The Polar Express, and a fun one called Snowman Races. I’ll make some Snowflake Mix and Pepperoni Pizza Rolls for us to snack on. We may even have an indoor snowball fight!
O TANNENBAUM: Paper Strip Christmas Tree craft, and a Charlie Brown Christmas movie.
FELIZ NAVI-PAWS: The kids will watch Santa Buddies and chomp on Peppermint Puppy Chow. (They love this movie, but us grown-ups: notsomuch! We’ll probably use the time to wrap presents while the kids are busy.)
YOU CAN’T CATCH ME: We’ll read the story The Gingerbread Man and bake the cookies.
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT: The kids get to sing at church in the morning. Later on the church is hosting a concert with a sing-a-long.
THE BEST WAY TO SPREAD CHRISTMAS CHEER IS SINGING LOUD FOR ALL TO HEAR: Christmas Caroling! And bring some treats to a few friends
SPARKLY SNOWFLAKES: Borax Snowflake craft. Read The Polar Express book.
I SAW THREE SHEEP: We are having a Shaun the Sheep Birthday for Olivia. That girl loves her sheep!
I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS: Our church hosts a kids party that doubles as a night out for Mom and Dad! Woot Woot! (We’ll probably end up going Christmas shopping though…)
JINGLE BELLS: “Jingle” a neighbor or friend with yummy treats.
CHRISTMAS COOKIES: Decorate Christmas Cookies, watch Christmas Vacation or A Christmas Story (my favorite!)
T’WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS: We’ll read the famous poem and some of our other favorite Christmas stories, and have a sleepover in the family room by the Christmas tree!
O HOLY NIGHT: Christmas Eve! Candlelight service at church. Read through nativity story at home and have Birthday Cupcakes for Jesus!
A QUIET CHRISTMAS MORNING? nah... Open presents! Have a pajama day with family
We always eat Sausage Bread for our Christmas breakfast.
What about you? What are your family's Christmas traditions?
Neat Christmas ideas. I especially like the scripture chain. We also try to do activities at our home to help focus on the real meaning of Christmas, while enjoying the normal excitement. We have an Advent Wreath that we light at meal time. I just wrote about it on my blog on Friday. I have read about the PJ Christmas lights tour before and hope to try it this year too.
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