make christmas extra special

[holly89]

Hi everybody I was just wondering if anybody has any ideas how to make christmas eve and christmas extra special this year. As my daughter will be 3 in march and she's at the stage where she kind of understands. So I would like to make it realy exciting and christmasy for her. Any ideas would be great. Thanx. X

We are doing various things throughout December. Advent calenders, Elf on a Shelf arriving on 1st Dec, ice skating at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, seeing The Gruffalo in London, putting lights up on our house and decorating the tree, having a fake xmas with MIL as she is abroad on the day itself, on xmas eve seeing FC at a really good grotto at a local garden centre then going home for dinner and xmassy DVD. On xmas day we will be at home for lunch then driving to see my parents for the evening.

You could start the build up with a note to Father Christmas where she can cut up catalogues and get sticky putting all the toys with heads chopped off and bits shes cut out on a sheet. An advent calendar to start counting down the days. On Christmas eve you could do a note to father christmas and put out a mince pie and a carrot, also throw out reindeer food (google reindeer food poem for an explanation). Year before last we threw out reindeer food on fresh snow and the neighbourhood ferral cat obligingly came along and ate it leaving lots of 'hoof' prints - the boys were so exited when they got up by the hoof prints we didn't correct them. We had late snow in March and the cat walked across the snow again, my youngest son went back up to bed and hid under the covers convinced if he pretended to be asleep he would get lots of presents!

We leave a letter back from father christmas saying thank you for the pie and carrot and he hopes they enjoy the presents and various other silly bits and pieces.

I try to prep as much of Christmas day food in advance and have it on trays/ in pans in the fridge and freezer so I can just shove it in the oven. I try to make sure that I spend Christmas with the family not in the kitchen.