Christmas

Holiday Activities

Christmas Eve Traditions for Kids

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What are the Christmas Eve traditions for kids at your house? Do they like to leave cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer? Since it’s almost Christmas Eve, it might be an idea to check if these food items are ready to go.

Kids can be involved in getting things ready. A fun craft idea is to let kids decorate a paper plate with their own special designs. Here’s part of a post from the first time we did this:

Santa-cookie-plateThis week I saw a wonderful idea from Stephanie Haass at Two-daloo for a cookie plate for Santa. Both Big Sister and Little Sister drew on a paper plate, contributing as they were able. Big Sister carefully drew a picture of Santa so he would know it was his plate. Little Sister colored lines back and forth over the whole space.

Just recently, I saw another super idea for Christmas Eve, Santa binoculars. To make the binoculars, look thru the recycling for 2 toilet paper rolls.


1. The first step is to make them red like Santa’s suit. You can do this in a number of ways with markers, paints, or gluing on red wrapping paper, felt, or fabric. We used paint dabbers. To keep the tubes from getting flat, we slipped a plastic bag on the turkey baster, and slid the tube over. That worked surprisingly well.
2. Once done and dry, at the bottom, glue on some white furry fabric, really fuzzy pipe cleaners, or cotton balls stretched long. We used some quilt batting because there’s always some left-overs from sewing baby quilts.
3. Just above the white ‘fur’ trim, wrap a belt around each tube. This could be black fabric, paper, or felt. The easiest to use is black electrical tape.
4. To make a buckle on the belt, you can some tinfoil.
5. Glue or staple the two tubes together and maybe attach some yarn, a shoelace, or string.

(See the video below for Santa binoculars.)

 Now for the fun part. Before going to bed on Christmas Eve kids can scan the sky and see if they see a tiny red light for the sleigh. If they see it, they better scurry to bed. Might these Santa plates and Santa binoculars be new Christmas Eve traditions for kids at your house?

Holiday Activities

Holiday Kindness Ideas for Kids

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Random acts of kindness aren’t just for adults. Young children are generous and also like to give so here are some holiday kindness ideas for kids. Children too like to feel good about themselves and helping others helps ourselves. In the words of a 5-year old,  ” Christmas isn’t just about getting toys, right Mom? It’s about doing good deeds and helping people.” Here are some ways that might be appropriate for your children and family to be kind to others and a link to a great article found last year is included for more:  The Imagination Tree about Kindness Elves

  • kids can donate used toys to a thrift store, shelter, or hospital,

    holiday kindness ideas for kids(I read about one parent that has kids put a number of toys into a bag or box for Santa to pick up when he comes on Christmas Eve to share with children that don’t have very much. In the morning, when the kids get up, the bag or box is gone, so “Santa” must have popped them into the sleigh too. This gives kids a chance to play Santa.)

  • when shopping,  pick up a new present for a community toydrive or Santa’s Anonymous,
  • make a craft as a gift for your letter carrier, newspaper deliverer, or other service person,
  • Christmas-giving - 2bake some cookies to share with another family or elderly neighbor,
  • share some change from piggy banks with a local charity,
  • donate some food to your community foodbank,
  • for areas with cold temperatures, sort out coats to drop off a community shelter.

    This excerpt is from last year.

Gifts from the HeartThese are just a few ideas for young children to participate in the magic of giving and helping at Christmas. Kids can make or do things that bring a smile to others like coloring paper placemats to go to a seniors’ home or meals on wheels program, or making a handmade gift or tree decoration for seniors or family members. Seniors love hearing children’s voices that come to sing at care centers and a few grandmas and grandpas can’t resist singing along. This is not always appropriate for younger toddlers who may feel insecure around people that are unfamiliar, but kids usually go in a group with their preschool or school program. Virgina Bruker, author of the book Gifts from the Heart, reminds us that “Children love to give and…enjoy sharing.”

Do you some other suggestions to share for holiday kindness ideas for kids?

Holiday Activities

December Night Activity for Kids

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December is the darkest month of the year, maybe that’s why there are celebrations for light. Today’s play-of-the-day is a December night activity for kids.

Christmas lights at night
Photo courtesy of Z. Miller

This is the longest night, so a good time to go with kids to see all the lights in your area. You might even be able to do so before supper since it gets dark early. Because most places are considerably colder at this time of year, bundle up with warm coats, hats, and if needed, mittens and scarves. Despite all the lights outside, you may also need a flashlight.  A short walk can be as much fun as a longer drive so, if it’s possible, you may want to explore how different your family’s neighborhood looks at night. Check out the sky. Are there any stars? What happens to the colors of other things? Evergreen trees don’t look green at night. Instead, they are just black. Houses don’t have much color either, or clothes for that matter. That’s why it’s important to wear light-colored clothes at night, to be safe. If it’s not too cloudy, you might be able to see the moon. Did you know you can see a dance in the night sky? It’s the moon walk.

Christmas ghost stories for kids

All the lights outside at this time of year are night lights on a pretty big scale. Some displays have thousands of lights and some cities have light parades. While adults will understand the symbolism of light and darkness, for kids, darkness can be scary and they are grateful for light. The well-known story of Rudolph and his shining red nose also uses this theme of light. Once you are back home, you might want to curl up with some hot chocolate and tell some more stories. Ghost stories, like the one about Ebenezer Scrooge (the Disney version is Uncle Scrooge McDuck), happen at this time of year because of the long hours of dark. But don’t make yours too scary!

Can you suggest another December night activity for kids? 

Holiday Activities

Holiday and Christmas Yoga for Kids

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The recent Google Doodle of yoga teacher B.K.S. lyengar inspired today’s play-of-the-day, some holiday and Christmas yoga for kids. Bending and stretching is good for all of us. With the excitement of the holidays, yoga can help kids regroup and find a calm feeling inside. Try some of these poses for holiday and Christmas yoga … Continue reading Holiday and Christmas Yoga for Kids →