The holiday season is here, and with it comes parties, gift exchanges, and lots of hectic days! Through it all, it’s important to take some time to slow down and have fun with your family. Here are some of our favorite holiday activities for families.

Holiday Activities

• Build a gingerbread house. Building a gingerbread house can be a fun (and delicious!) holiday activity for a winter day. If the thought of baking and building it all from scratch is overwhelming, don’t worry! Here is one of our favorite gingerbread house kits.
• Get crafty. You don’t have to be naturally artistic to create cute and fun holiday crafts! Think basics like paper snowflakes, popcorn garlands, or even just reindeer antlers cut out of construction paper. You can also decorate your own ornaments or make beaded wreaths.
• Give back together. The holidays can be a challenging season for many families, so it’s a great time to teach your child the importance of giving and helping others. Consider buying gifts from an “angel tree” for children in need, or spend an afternoon volunteering at a local soup kitchen or food drive.
• Get outside. It may be cold outside, but winter gives us great opportunities to spend time in nature, even if there’s no snow! Go for a hike at a local park and notice how far you can see with no leaves on the trees, or spend an afternoon ice skating at a local skating rink. Physical activity and sunlight will help raise your energy levels and reduce stress.
• Have fun in the kitchen. With cold, short days, there’s nothing cozier than spending time in a warm kitchen. Don’t fret if you’re not a master baker—there’s baking fun to be had for everyone! You can make your own holiday specialties, go with slice-and-bake cookies from the store, or even purchase a cookie decorating kit that comes with pre-baked cookies and all the icing and sprinkles you need!
• Check out the holiday lights. Even if you don’t have time to deck out your yard, you can still enjoy the fruits of your neighbor’s labor! Take a walk around the neighborhood and look at the holiday decorations, or see if there is a drive-through festival of lights near you. Built Story is a great app that connects you with local tours in your area; for $10 or less, you can register for a self-paced driving tour of local light displays.

Talking Points

How can you build excitement for holiday activities with your family? Use some of our talking points to get the ball rolling!

• What’s a holiday activity that we have never done before but that you wish we could do this year?
• Let’s do a new holiday activity every weekend. Here are a few that I came up with. What do you think we should do first?
• What’s your favorite holiday activity that we’ve done in the past? What did you like about it?

I think our family needs a break from all the holiday craziness. Would you like to get out and have some fun?