Magical Christmas activities with your children before they grow up?

[Greenbutterlfy566]

What magical activities/things are you doing with your children before they grow up. I’m Looking for inspiration

Where have you been before that you would recommend?

Do you think you can do TOO much? Or do you think to do as much as you can while they are young?

We have advent calendars and spend the first weekend of December decorating the house.

We always go to the Christmas fete at DD's old preschool, and this year we'll be going to the one at school as well. Toddler group (used to take DD, now take DS) do a craft event that we usually go to.

We took the DC to the garden centre last weekend and they both loved the decorations etc. Going to visit Santa at some point, but probably only once. (Last time we went DD asked him for a little brother, and it just so happened she was getting one the following Summer, so I don't think we can top that!)

Don't do Christmas Eve boxes as such, but DD usually gets a Christmas activity/colouring/dot to dot book, and they get Christmas PJs.

Panto - which we could have done it more when they were younger but money was really tight - oddly DGP now go on about it a lot but the kids are really too old.

Christmas baking - this is still popular with them as teens. We also try and play board game on Christmas morning - so feels like we've done something together. We staretd that when they were fairly young as well.

Xmas markets and farmers' markets to look at, sample and possibly buy some of the Christmasy stuff you can't get the rest of the year.

Garden centre to see Santa (if it's free, if not then we visit the free Santa in town - no need to pay a small fortune for a "Santa experience" imo) and wander around the magical world of trees, sparkly lights and decorations.

Local Christmas lights switch-on and carol singing.

Visit a nearby NT/EH place lit up with colourful lights.

Decorate the tree together a week or two before Christmas.

Christmas stories and a film the night before.

For us, Christmas is about the lights, the decorations and the food. You don't have to buy a lot or go anywhere expensive for it to be special.

All sounds really nice

We went to Thomasland last year and going again this year. I thought the Santa experience was outstanding! Excited just thinking about it!

What was thomasland like?

We make a day of choosing a tree & decorating it, with Christmas films & songs on in the background.

Writing Father Christmas letters together & decorating with glitter etc

Church on Christmas Eve & we always see Father Christmas on the way there (the Round Table sleigh which comes round our way on that day)

Making a gingerbread house together

A different Father Christmas each year

Would love to do panto but never enough money & DC are nearly too big now (eldest will be 11)

Re: Thomasland

The whole park is decorated really festively. There was a performance with Christmas sings and carols and at the end they made it ‘snow’. You’re given a time to see Santa so a small queue. The gift was lovely - a bauble, chocolate and a half price ticket to attend again. The Santa was also lovely. DS in under going assessment for sensory processing and the Santa was really kind to him. Most of the rides were open (except the thrill rides and water rides). Zoo open too. We were there from when the park opened to when the kids flaked out about 5pm 😂

DookofBust

Mother - thanks

Bump

Thank you Kalifornia, you are kind.

I always worry I’m doing enough

Anyone else?

Small Gdcs love visiting a big garden centre, typically awash with Christmassy things, large lit-up reindeer, Santas, etc. And it's free - except for the one tree decoration they're allowed to choose.

You can easily do too much. We had one year we were running back and forth so did a good re-think what is important to us.

We do:
ice skating with friends followed by a meal
Carol concert in London with a meal, maybe some shopping
Baking
decorating the house on the 1st December apart from the tree
tree buying afternoon with hot chocolate and cake at the garden center

DD is now 12 so we stopped Santa 3 years ago and we don't do crafts anymore (yeah). Her performing arts school does a Christmas production one evening.

She did panto with the school and also had a Santa there when they had a activity afternoon.

I work and found it always difficult to create the ideal December activity so I just stopped even trying. No point in being exhausted from doing too much.

We normally start the weekend closest to the 1st December unless it is, like this year, a weekend on its own.

Lapland UK was absolutely brilliant for mine.

It was also much better and more magical for my younger DC (who still believed in Santa) than for my older DC, who didn't. So I thought of that when I saw your thread title. It's quite time-sensitive in my opinion.

It's very pricey but it was totally worth it, especially for younger DC (4 - 7 maybe?). My DD was 4 and it was literally the best day of her life at that time.

Definitely not too much and keep your own expectations of magical experience low!

we make father christmas a special family day out.I particularly like mead open farm .It has farm animals and a indoor play park.We have a day full of fun ,see father christmas in a christmas village and after theres a american diner down the road.

We are doing
Village Xmas lights switch on
Frozen 2 at cinema
Trip to Santa at local garden centre
Snowman with Live orchestra
Lights installation thing locally
Christmas fuddle with friends
National Trust trip
Christmas Eve open house with walk round to see some lights
Christmas theatre trip

School do
Disco
Carol service
Various jumper days
Panto trip

I love Christmas but it's not "magical". I like to make the most of having a variety of warm, indoor activities to choose from while the weather is so bad!

We go to choose the tree together and every year we buy one new special tree decoration each. When we get the box of decorations out there are so many lovely ones with good memories attached.

We also go for a big walk in the woods and hedgerows to collected greenery to decorate the house.

Our Santa arrives by boat in the harbour (coastal town). We meet up with friends, go to a certain cafe that does hot chocolate and mulled wine and watch him arrive.

Our actual Santa visit is usually at a nearby national trust garden where they have a lantern parade.

We’ve occasionally gone to bigger events but they are usually so expensive and busy. We try to stay small and local if possible.

Lots of baking and making. That type of thing.

Picking a new tree decoration each year- will form the start of their collection when they leave home.

Decorating a gingerbread house.

Making some decorations- getting more complicated as they get older. Dd has her own pinterest board for ideas.

Picking holly and ivy late on Christmas Eve to decorate.

The big paid for thing is going to watch The Snowman with a live orchestra on Christmas Eve then back to decorate the tree. I thought the eldest might not want to come this year but he was adamant that it isn't Christmas without it.

We start first weekend in December so next weekend for us. We decorate the tree on the first (a real tree which we pick from DH’s friend’s farm), usually bake and watch a Christmas film too. We’re also going to a wreath making class that day this year.

If a Christmassy film has been released I take them to the cinema. Last year it was the Grinch, this year it’s Frozen 2.

I don’t bother with grottos because they know it’s not Santa and I always feel ripped off by them.

We do lots of crafts and baking plus watch Christmas films.

We’re national trust members so visit a couple of NT places local to us which usually have events on.

Sometimes a Christmas market.