There are likely to be all sorts of events that your little ones will be looking forward to in the coming months. But let’s focus on the winter event that will probably require the most planning and organization. Christmas is perhaps the biggest event of the year for kids. Now, Christmas can be great for adults. We will visit Christmas markets and drink hot chocolate or wine, we will head out to work parties to celebrate the period with our co-workers, we will make time to visit our extended family. Who knows, we might even go ice skating. But for kids, Christmas is a truly magical time. Not only do they get an extended period of time off school and away from their homework, but they also get to anticipate the arrival of Santa and the gifts that he brings. Sure, Christmas may be a few months away, but it’s extremely important to get started with planning this event extremely early. Due to the huge popularity of the season, many events will sell out, and many supplies that you may need to organize your own events will also start running short closer to the 25th of December. Here are a few ideas to get you started out on the right foot when it comes to planning some fun for your little ones throughout this holiday season.
Decorating
Kids tend to love decorating the house around Christmas. Now, you probably have plenty of decorations that you have bought to give your home a festive feel. But you can occupy your little ones’ time by encouraging them to create some homemade decorations for your home. Perhaps the easiest option is making paper snowflakes. All you need for this activity is paper and some scissors. You can find a tutorial on how to create these fun shapes to hang from the ceiling here. We make these every year – usually from white basket coffee filters. It’s easier because you are already starting from a round shape.
Writing Letters and Wish Lists
We tend to remember writing letters and wish lists ourselves when we were little. We’d start out with a polite introduction, then reel off all of the different things that we might like to find beneath the tree or in our stocking on Christmas morning. Or, we would pour through the pages of the giant Sears catalog, making a list. You should give your little ones the same opportunity. This will also give you an insight into some gifts that you can start picking up before the most-wanted toys of the season rapidly sell out. Find a template for the letter your kid is going to write, sit them down with a pen and paper, and let their imagination run wild. Writing letters and wish lists is great sneaky practice for handwriting, too.
Visiting Santa
Closer to Christmas itself, you see many families bringing their children to see Santa Claus. There are various ways to do this. The most common way to visit Santa is in a local grotto or in a shopping mall. Many establishments will also provide a photo and a small gift for your kids at the end. If you want to go all out, you can visit Father Christmas in Lapland. This would be an amazing experience for the whole family, not just your little ones. I visit to Lapland (that’s essentially North Pole territory) will be a memory-making experience – surrounded by snow and reindeer… the works!
Making a Fruitcake
Fruitcakes are a traditional part of Christmas. We all tend to have at least one slice throughout the season. But did you realise how long it actually takes to create them? Believe it or not, you should begin about two months in advance for making a fruitcake. This allows your cake to be fed with brandy which can help to mature the cake, giving a richer flavor. Of course, your little ones won’t be able to taste this – unless you make an alcohol-free version. But you can get them involved when it comes to the mixing and baking process which they should find thoroughly enjoyable. Find a Traditional British Christmas cake recipe and instructions here.
Build a Gingerbread House
Gingerbread houses are essentially food Lego for kids. Little ones tend to love building things, and what better building blocks can you get than delicious, thick slices of gingerbread? You can bake your own or pick up a kit to build a gingerbread house the easier way. Make sure to have plenty of other goodies in stock in your cupboards for decoration (Halloween candy on clearance is a great time to stock up on small colorful candies). Your children will have a field day sprinkling hundreds and thousands of bits of candy, drawing with decorative icing, and sticking candy canes to the sides of their gingerbread house.
Sure, people may say you are getting ahead of yourself by starting to plan for Christmas so early. But anyone with kids will know that you do need to be extremely organized in order to fit everything in!