Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas! Today is the day. Here at SPAN, we wanted to reach out and interact with everyone supporting us through the Hub and on the Zoom chats. Amidst the celebration of the holidays, we wanted to share a shortlist of Christmas activities that are easy, safe, and lots of fun for yourself, family, and friends. Enjoy them in the comfort of your home. These activities were sourced from the website www.minted.com, a site that excels at making cards and gifts created for the holiday season.

Here are 6 examples of Christmas activities from the Minted website.

1. BUILD A GINGERBREAD HOUSE

(Can be done from home!)

Trying to figure out what you can do for Christmas from home this year? Nothing beats a craft that you can eat when you’re finished! Many supermarkets will sell a gingerbread house kit around the holidays. The kit will usually include the bare essentials to build four walls and a roof. Head to the candy aisle of the supermarket and select a few custom treats that will add to your child’s design of the gingerbread house. Here are a few ideas on how some popular candies may be incorporated:

• Plain or peanut butter M&M’s - can be used for colored roof tiling.
• Gumdrops - can be used for colored roof tiling.
• Small candy canes - can be used for wall decorations or fence posts.
• Shredded coconut - can be used for snow on the roof, or dyed green for grass.
• Pretzel sticks - can be used for fence posts or logs for a log cabin.
• Red vines - can easily be bent and wrapped around corners and edges
• Marshmallows - can be used to make snowmen or little snow bundles.

2. MAKE GINGERBREAD MEN OR SUGAR COOKIES

(Can be done from home!)

Depending on how old your child is, they may be able to help you make the cookie batter. Let them decide if they want to add in chocolate chips, coconut, cinnamon, and even food coloring. Pick out some holiday-themed cookie cutters and let your child play pastry chef. If you have any leftover candy from the gingerbread house decorating, be sure to add them to the sugar cookies.

3. CUT PAPER SNOWFLAKES

(Can be done from home!)

This fun Christmas activity with kids is super easy to set up and execute. Most of us have paper lying around the house, but you can add some artistic flair to the project by buying some colored construction paper or origami paper. Fold up the paper numerous times and have your child cut out some creative designs. Once unfolded, you can hang the paper snowflakes on the Christmas tree, from the mantel, or tape them to the wall. You could even include one of the hand-made paper snowflakes with your Minted holiday card that you mail off to your family and friends. Pro tip: Browse online for some stencils to create some really fun patterns.

4. BUILD A SNOWMAN

(Can be done from your home’s yard!)

If you have snow on the ground, this might be a fun activity to get the kids involved in. Arm them with some carrots, charcoal, twigs, and clothing like hats, scarves, and mittens and see what their creative minds come up with. If you live in a beach destination, bring the shovels and buckets to the sand and construct a sandman. Sunglasses, sunscreen, water floaties, and a Santa hat really pair nicely with a sandman. Lastly, if you don’t have snow or sand to use as a medium, you could have your child tape three white paper plates or white balloons together. Give them a box of markers or crayons and design a fun snowman that can be displayed in the living room or on your child’s wall .

5. DECORATE THE CHRISTMAS TREE

(Can be done from home!)

Decorating the Christmas tree is an activity that can generate some good family bonding. It can be exciting pulling sentimental ornaments out of storage and finding the perfect spot for them on the tree. Unfortunately, a younger child may not get to enjoy the full scope of this Christmas activity, as they can only reach the lower branches of the tree. You may want to consider getting a second smaller Christmas tree that is only three feet tall. Your children will then be able to reach and decorate this tree to their heart’s delight!

6. WATCH A CHRISTMAS MOVIE

(Can be done from home!)

Does your child have a favorite Christmas movie? If not, this might be the year to start a tradition of watching the same holiday movie every December. With so many online streaming and rental services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and iMovie, you won’t even have to leave the comforts of your home to rent or buy a movie! Add some extra fun to the event by wearing Christmas-themed pajamas. Here is a list of popular kid-friendly Christmas movies:

• Frozen (rent online)

• Elf (rent online)

• Jingle All the Way (rent online)

• I’ll Be Home for Christmas (rent online)

• A Christmas Carol (rent online)

• Home Alone (rent online)

• Polar Express (rent online)

• The Grinch (rent online)

• The Santa Clause (rent online)

• Arthur Christmas (rent online)

What did you think of the activities we talked about? Do you have any you'd like to share with us? As always, let us know down in the comments below to have your opinions heard! We'll be doing another special blog post next week right before New Year's, so remember to come back next week for that. On behalf of everyone here at SPAN, I'd just like to say thank you so much for continuing to be the best people you can be, and for being so amazingly kind with your support and your voices, especially during this crazy year.

Happy Holidays from the author,

Jeremy Hayer

Resources:

Minted.com: https://www.minted.com/lp/christmas-activities