Fun Holiday Activities for Kids

Holiday vacation gives kids plenty of time to take a break from school, relax, and have fun. However, aside from unwrapping presents and getting together with the family on the big day, you may find it challenging to keep them occupied, and many parents aren’t content with sitting them in front of the TV or their phone for hours on end.

So, here are some fun activities you and your kids can do together to keep the boredom at bay until Santa arrives.

Get Crafty

Most kids love making things, so getting them involved in holiday crafts is an excellent way to stimulate their creativity and keep them busy. There are hundreds of craft ideas, but here are our favorites.

Paper Bag Puppets

You might remember this from pre-school or kindergarten; it’s an easy, fun craft idea for kids of all ages. The great thing about making paper bag puppets is you can get as detailed as you like. Break out the paint, markers, glue, and scissors and make a group of Christmas puppets, including reindeer, elves, snowmen, and Santa himself. Once you’re finished, let the kids put on a puppet show for the family.

Ornaments

Christmas is an important holiday for many families with traditions that go back generations, one of which is putting up and decorating the tree. Store-bought ornaments and lights are fine, but nothing personalizes a Christmas tree like handmade decorations. Making ornaments helps kids explore their creativity and gives them something to look forward to when Christmas nears, and they anticipate seeing their creations go up on the tree.

Candy Pots

If you have family and friends over during the holidays, they’re always looking for something sweet to gnash before or after the big meal. Get mini flower pots and decorate them with felt, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners to turn them into Christmas characters. Fill the pots with your favorite bite-sized candy and place them strategically throughout the house for easy munching.

Table Name Tags

Finally, if you plan to have guests for holiday dinner, make place tags for each guest. Like paper bag puppets, you can get as elaborate as you like, using glitter, colored paper, felt, and anything else you can think of to make them unique and fun.

Game Time

Like crafts, there are hundreds of fun holiday-themed games you can play with the kids, and here are some we love.

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

This takes a little planning on the parent’s part, but it’s a fun way to keep the kids occupied and off the couch and their devices. What’s cool about doing a scavenger hunt is that you can direct kids to find one gift to whet their appetite before opening the rest of their presents on Christmas morning. Back in the day, parents had to come up with their own riddles and clues, but today, you can find printable scavenger hunt cards online; you only need to supply tape, scissors, and the gift for the kids to find.

Mad Libs

There’s a reason Mad Libs has been around for so long — it’s fun, and kids have a great time coming up with funny words to complete the story. Like the scavenger hunt riddle cards, printable Mad Libs are easy to find online.

Ring Around the Antlers

This is a festive take on the game ring toss and is simple but fun. Pick up a few reindeer antler headbands at your local craft store, make rings out of pipe cleaners, and take turns trying to hook the rings onto the antlers.

Christmas Bingo

Bingo is an excellent game that everyone in the family can play and enjoy. Go online and print Christmas bingo cards and use red and green candy pieces to mark the cards instead of markers so that you can use them again next year.

What’s in Santa’s Hat?

Here’s another fun game that doesn’t require spending much money. Get a Santa hat, put in objects like small toys, cookies, bows, or whatever you have, and let the kids reach in and try to figure out what they are by feeling.

Make Your Own Video

Finally, we all have video cameras on our phones and tablets, and Christmas is an exceptional time to put them to good use by making Christmas-themed videos you can share on social media. Whether it’s the kids dressing up as their favorite Christmas characters and putting on a show or singing carols, there are limitless opportunities to get creative, have fun, and get everyone in the holiday spirit.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fun, creative holiday activities to keep kids occupied and in the holiday spirit. And, if you’re interested in enrolling your child in a VPK program to set them up for success in kindergarten and beyond, schedule a tour of our facilities or contact us at 407-306-9035.