Christmas activities with children
Friday, December 7th, 2007In the lead up to Christmas I’ve been looking into fun stuff to do with Lily. I thought I’d share these with you, most of these are perfect for a rainy day like today!
Make your own Christmas cards.
Kids love to stick, paste, paint and colour so in the lead up to Christmas gather as many card making materials as you can find. Crepe paper, cotton wool, glitter, wrapping paper – even old photographs of your family will give you all the ingredients you need for a happy afternoon.
Christmas breakfast
On Christmas day make breakfast that little bit special with Christmas tree shaped toast! Just use shaped pastry cutters.
Shoe Box appeal
Fill a shoe box with small toys and gifts for another child. You can take these to your local church who will make sure it goes to children who may not receive any other gifts. Help you child to think about what should go into the shoebox and maybe include a photo so that on Christmas day the recipient will see who has sent them a gift. Don’t forget to put a suitable age for the child on the box so that it can be delivered appropriately. The box can be decorated in tinsel, glitter and all things sparkly, or simply wrap it with Christmas paper. This activity will really teach your child the joy of giving.
Make some Christmas gingerbread.
Make your gingerbread mix (or buy some of the packet mixes from the supermarket!). Use pastry cutters to make all sorts of christmassy shapes. Cook them in the oven and then leave them to cool. Decorate with icing sugar and then sprinkle with sugar balls or hundreds and thousands. Wrap these in clear film and ribbon to give as presents or just eat them right up!
Make some decorations.
Paint some pine cones a lovely gold or silver, collect some holly, make silver bells for the tree from egg cartons. Make an angel out of paper doilies and card – why not use a photo of your little angel as the face! Be sure to keep these handmade decorations in a special place, so that you can get them out year after year.
Santa Signs
Make some signs for Father Christmas saying ‘Santa, please stop here’ with a sign pointing to your child’s bedroom.
Decorate your own wrapping paper.
Give your child the opportunity to use their artistic talents. Use pastry cutters dipped in paint, cut potatoes into shapes and paint with these, use finger painting and stickers – anything you can lay your hands on to design a lovely personal finish for your gifts.If you have any other activities to share, please add a comment.