Christmas is such a magical season! It’s full of laughter and memories. But it can also be a stressful time. Here are four simple activities to create memories without all the stress the can come along with it!
Gingerbread House Decorating
This is one of our favorite traditions! I always pick ours up at Costco. One of the reasons that I love it is that it’s already premade and it comes with a lot of frosting and decorations. Before I found the CostCo kits we tried the ones you had to put together the gingerbread house on our own. I had a hard time doing it without breaking it and it always ended in a big crumbly mess. By having it put together and all the supplies I don’t have to be stressed out and I can enjoy decorating!
I buy only one for all of us. It’s big and I also want us to work on it together! I’m sure it would be easier to buy one for each of them, and maybe at some point, I’ll change my mind. But I feel that by working together it helps to bring us closer together. Which is a big goal of mine!
Questions to Get Them Talking
- What is your favorite candy to decorate and why?
- What kind of gingerbread would live here? A superhero? A family? A princess?
Decorating Pancakes
One morning we were having a rough morning. It was one of those mornings where no one was in a good mood. I had put out pancakes and sausages. No one wanted it that day. So I gave them a few Christmas marshmallows ,I’m usually really strict about sweets in the morning but I was desperate that day. Magically it changed everyone’s mood. They used the marshmallows to build Christmas scenes and were laughing together! Our rough morning turned out to be a fun creative one by just adding a few marshmallows!
You’re able to do this with any meal, breakfast is my favorite though! Just take what you’re doing and add a few fun Christmas elements. If you’re having toast for breakfast maybe give your kids whip cream and festive sprinkles to decorate. Or for lunch, you can do a sandwich and use a cookie cutter in a fun shape. For dinner, you could do pizza and cut out the pepperoni with a cookie cutter. Use what you have on hand and let them be creative with their creations!
The Grinch and Cookies
We love the Grinch! It’s one of those stories that are fun and heartwarming. The boys love to talk about it and we have had a lot of good conversations around it. From including everyone to thinking about how other people feel to what Christmas is really about. The message is a good one for everyone!
This year our elf, Magic, brought the book and Grinch cookies! The cookies were easy to make and paired perfectly with the story! I found this recipe on Memory Makin Momma’s website, check out her tips here. If you want to try it the recipe is:
Grinch Heart Cookies
- 1 box vanilla cake mix
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 TBS oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup corn starch
- green food coloring
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix ingredients cake mix, butter, oil, and eggs together.
- Add green food coloring.
- Roll mixtures into small balls.
- Roll cookie dough in powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture.
- Bake at 375 for 8-10min
/recipe
Questions to Get Them Talking
- What can you do to make a new friend feel included?
- Why did the Grinch’s heart grow?
Candy Cane Experiment
We get a lot of candy canes during the Holiday season! You can do so much with this festive candy and they have so many fun flavors now! At the end of the holiday season we had, had our fill of candy canes. I’ve seen people do the Skittle experiment so I thought we’d try it with candy canes. I unwrapped two large candy canes that had pretty colors in it and put it on a plate to form a heart shape. Then we warmed up the water. I poured the water into the plate and we watched the colors swirl. As it did we talked about why this was happening and how the hot water dissolved the sugar. We also predicted what would happen if we let it sit and we tested out our predictions!
Two ingredient playdough
This easy to make playdough smells amazing! The texture is nice and it’s edible, which is perfect for curious toddlers. I added gingerbread men sprinkles to it and gave them a few Christmas cookie cutters to play with. They had fun pretending to make cookies while frosting scented the air! Click here for the recipe, it’s only two common ingredients!
Questions to Get Them Talking
- What is your favorite dessert? How do you make it?
- Let’s create a story! What should it be about?!
I hope this gave you some ideas on simple activities you can do with your kids. I hope it takes a little stress off of you and you’re able to create those fun memories that they talk about all year! If you have any other suggestions on simple Christmas activities please leave it in the comments! We’re always looking for fun new things to try!