4 Creative Kid-Friendly Holiday Activities

Want to put a new twist on finding ways for your kids to participate in the Holidays?
Here are a few ideas from Kindermusik Mom Leslie Smith that her family has shared around their house so far, or plan to do soon:

· We purchased a small Christmas tree (ours is 4’, just big enough on which to fit several ornaments, but small enough not to be overwhelming) and let our kids pick out the ornaments that will go on it. This year our daughter chose candy-shaped ornaments, and we even wired a little gingerbread man ornament to the top. Since this tree accommodates so few ornaments, one could easily change out the ornaments every year to fit a new theme or child’s choice without breaking the budget. For what it’s worth, Hobby Lobby has their trees of all sizes as well as their ornaments on sale (often 50% off!) for part of the month of November and almost all of December. I think that the kiddos love the little tree more than they love the big one!

· Last year I made personalized stockings out of those simple red and white fake-fur stockings that craft stores sell, often for less than $2. I’m not overly crafty, but even I could handle this – I attached a decorative trim under the “white” part of the stocking with hot glue, and then cut out the initial of each family member from a gold fabric (ribbon or fabric paint would work well, too) and also glued that to the stocking. For fun, I added a jingle bell to the toe of each one. While I would hardly call their look “sophisticated,” they look wonderful, and the kids just love it that they have their own stocking “with my letter!,” as my three year old says. In fact, I attribute my daughter’s early letter-learning to the discussion we had last year around the making of the stockings – the letters A, B, C, and L (the initials of our first names) were the first letters she was able to easily recognize, and this right after she’d turned two.

· I think this year we’re going to try carrolling! Thanks to my children’s love of music (for which Kindermusik is largely responsible, of course J), I thought how much fun it would be to carroll at neighbor’s homes. Who wouldn’t love to see a three year old belting out “Jingle Bells” while her one year old brother shakes a bell-rattle from the comfort of mom’s sling?????

· I’m also thinking about ways that we can emphasize the giving aspect of Christmas. Any ideas, anyone? We’ve talked about how the Salvation Army bell-ringers are gathering money for those who don’t have a warm place to sleep, or not enough food to eat, but I’d like to personalize it a bit more. I’ll be thinking more about that in the coming days.

I hope these ideas inspire you to make special traditions for your family. Important bonding rituals like these remind kids how much they are loved!