Free or very cheap ways to make Christmas magical for young dc

[YouMaySayImADreamer]

We have two young dc aged almost 5 and 3 are on a very limited budget for Christmas. I'm not so worried about presents as they havent and won't likely ask for anything specific. It is more the little extra things, for example, I have wanted new decorations for the last few years but can never afford them, can't really afford elf on the shelf etc..

I suppose little magical things I can do, activities we can do together out and about or at home etc. Not just for Christmas day/week but in the run up

As a child my parents had very little money and it always felt so magical but I can't remember any specifics!

Thanks

[teabagsmummy]

I used to when my son was younger get Christmas books out the library and wrap each one up and use it as book advent calender he loved it

[Sleephead1]

Hi what about christmas baking it could be easy things like ginger bread men or cookies or even a gingerbread house if you wanted a project. Christmas crafts you can make saltdough decorations, paper chains, snowflakes. Churches usually have carol concerts for familys, nativity story ect. Go out at night and look at all lights. Christmas/ winter scavenger hunt you can get from nature detective website. Get christmas books from libary ours also does craft sessions which are free. But what my lb really loves is at our libary for 50p you can write a letter to santa post it in special box and then get a personal reply a few weeks later. Its amazing and he loves it! We also do christmas cards the children can do hand/ foot prints and then turn into christmas things eg reindeer, christmas tree. You can just get a little cheap elf if you wanted to do it and just do tricks like toilet paper tree, write messages around house or hide in fridge ect. Also you can make ginger bread playdough we did last year and it lasts ages. Do they like hot chocolate you could do a little hot chocolate bar with toppings and what about a north pole breakfast you could do toast or pancakes in christmas shapes, make candy cane fruit shapes and decorate the table. Also if some of the santas are a bit expensive near us they do one in indoor shopping centre that is donation only so may be worth looking into. You can make reindeer food to sprinkle on xmas eve with oats and glitter and leave carrot, cookie For santa.

[Beedoo123]

If the international space station is flying over on Christmas Eve take the children to see... looks like a slow moving star, but it’s actually Father Christmas flying over! You need to be somewhere dark and high for the best view of the sky. You can check if it will be visible online... it’s completely magical! X

[randomuntrainedcuntowner]

The fact is Christmas IS just magical for kids, whatever you do. We had no money growing up either, but having a loving, peaceful family environment, a few cheap presents and stocking fillers, and our own imaginations were enough for us.

However Pinterest is good for lots of diy/crafty Christmas themed ideas.

[randomuntrainedcuntowner]

I have a box where I save ribbons and string etc throughout the year from clothes labels or those annoying hanging ribbons that I cut out. A couple of times I have made salt dough from cornflour (found recipe on Pinterest) and then used Christmas shaped cookie cutters (stars and hearts were best ime) and made salt dough decorations (punch hole with a pencil or similar before baking), and then dd has decorated them with paint and glitter from the pound shop, and used the pretty ribbons to hang them on the tree. Some of the decorations we have made are still going strong several years later.

I personally hate "themed" perfectly colour coordinated trees. Growing up ours was always a mish mash of various shop bought and homemade decorations that had been accumulated over several years, and ours now is the same. If your budget can stretch to it, there is nothing more magical than a "real" Christmas tree. For the last couple of years I have picked on up for £25 from Asda.

[Haudyerwheesht]

I'm coming back to this later - just marking my place as need to try and catch half an hours sleep since dd's had me up half the night....I could send her round for Christmas if you'd like? She could irritate entertain the troops...

[Alittlepotofrosie]

This thread is making me all warm and fuzzy inside. You honestly don't need piles of expensive presents to make Christmas magical for your dc op. Making your own little family traditions are what it's all about.

[user1471495191]

I used to love getting wrapped up warm and going out for 'night time' walks (once it was dark) or drives to see local houses with christmas lights.

Writing our lists for Santa and mum 'throwing them up the chimney' (where she said a robin would catch them and take them to Santa)

Christmas baking - biscuits to decorate, sausage rolls

Hot drinks and crumpets/hot buttered toast in front of the fire

Going out to collect pine cones to paint / decorate and put under or on the tree

The whole ritual of leaving a drink and snack for Father Christmas, and water/carrot for the reindeer - both of which we'd have to check had been eaten before going to see our presents in the morning.

Special cd of (always the same) Christmas music to play while decorating the tree, doing Xmas crafts, opening presents

Midnight mass on Xmas eve or at least listening to kings college carols while preparing the veg as a family for the next day

Ways to get children thinking of others - sorting old toys/clothes for charity shop (which prepares spare for new toys coming in), maybe choosing some Christmassy treats/items or basics to donate to a food bank, maybe choosing a small gift for a child in need which you can pass on via a local radio/hospital/charity appeal

Keeping an eye on local pages for Christmassy themed events, craft days, local charities like rotary or the lions often have charity collections with Santa on his sleigh in order to see 'santa' for free

Arranging get togethers with friends or family (maybe at free local events or to join in walks/pine cone hunts etc)

[CamperVamp]

When I was a kid I much preferred our own paper chains, made by us, to bought decorations.

Do you have a tree and lights? That is Magic in itself.

You don't need to overthink it all.

And Elf on a Shelf is grim psychological blackmail IMO. And a tacky U.S import.

[thecraddock]

This thread is great! Thanks 🎄

[tootsieglitterballs]

Great thread... really brings home the message that it’s not about what you spend at Christmas that makes it magical, particularly for children.

Collecting pine cones , decorating them and stringing them on the tree

Watching a local Christmas lights switch on

Wandering the streets and looking at Christmas lights

Reading Christmas books from the library

Salt dough decorations ... add cinnamon to make them extra Christmassy!

Hot choc and a Christmas film at home

Our local lions do a santa that covers every street in December, and it’s free.

Mince pie & a drink for santa

Icing sugar mixed with cinnamon sprinkled around a shoe to look like santa has been

[TiesThatBindMe]

This is really good. I've used it most years. Just click in a photo or two and some minor details (like when they were really good with specific details) and off you go. They fall for it completely.

www.portablenorthpole.com/en/

[TiesThatBindMe]

Just noticed it's no longer free to get the message from Santa. Sorry about that.

[TiesThatBindMe]

For non-believers i.e. the 10 - 12 year olds before they start to hate you lol, this is a lovely piece of writing for them.
www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia/

[BiddyPop]

Because I am lazy (well, have to get some actual work done this morning so prioritizing answering rather than reading suggestions - looking forward to the train journey home though! )I am answering first so apologies for any duplication with others.

If the weather is decent any days, take the opportunity to go out for a wintery walk in the woods, along the beach, in the park etc - see nature in the winter, and if possible, pick up some pine cones, interesting branches, dead leaves, shells etc to use in craft sessions on not so nice days.

Look on pinterest and other crafty blogs for ideas for crafts with DCs. Activity Village and DLTK are also good for this.

Activity Village and DLTK websites, and lots of others, have festive sections with free printable colouring sheets, activity sheets (mazes, word searches, join the dots, writing and maths sheets, but all fun) that are handy if you have access to a printer. If you don't have access to a printer, it may give you ideas for similar sheets to make up yourself on blank paper.

If you can get plain white paper, use it to cut snowflakes or angels to stick on windows or walls of DC bedrooms or ceilings.

If you have a few sheets of coloured paper, or colourful magazine pages, cut them into strips and let the DCs make paper chains to hang from ceilings. THat's also a craft that can be picked up and put down, over a few weeks, whenever there are a few minutes of activity needed.

Some websites have Christmas stories and libraries often have loads of Christmassy books to borrow too. Sometimes libraries also have DVDs that you can borrow as well.

On nicer days, get outdoors and make bubbles (could use washup liquid and a small amount of water rather than bought bubble mix). On wetter days, get the waterproofs and wellies on and go splash in puddles and listen to the rain and see what animals do on wet days. Then go in home, get dried off, and have a hot chocolate together.

Carpet picnic, with a drink, some small treat, and watching a Christmas movie on tv or DVD is a great fun thing with small DCs. Put down some kind of rug, a duvet, or all the cushions to sit on the floor.

Take out the board games and have a games day/night with the whole family.

Check out the local neighbourhood for houses that are well decorated, and plan a nice route. Then, one evening when it is dark, (some people suggest getting DCs into PJs and taking them out when it would be bedtime - depends on how magical you want it to be), put the DCs into the car, take some hot choc in a flask (optional!) and go look at the various houses with some Christmas music playing on the radio.

Christmas music in the house is a great way to make it seasonal - on the radio, streamed from a service like Spotify or ipod lists, or CDs etc. Netflix, or free movie channels etc, can have various options for seasonal offerings.

I have seen a suggestion before (that DD was too old for when I saw it) of filling a large cardboard box with blown up balloons and wrapping that- as a cheap but large present that young DCs often love.

Festive baking - whether actual seasonal recipes or even just cookies, brownies, "ordinary" cakes etc are great to get DCs involved in. And especially if you split it into different sessions - so bake one day and next day ice some cookies or a Gingerbread house (or make mini-gingerbread houses out of biscuits with icing "cement" and sweets to decorate).

Lots of Santa "experiences" are expensive, but there are places where Santa is free or very cheap, and there are lots of other free or cheap events like choral services in churches, choirs singing in shopping centres or city centres, cheaper lunchtime concerts in big halls - just have a look at the various information sources locally to find these. Your local library can often know about these as well as having books and dvds to borrow!
Overall, enjoy!!

[KC225]

I ordered some wooden snowflakes from aliexpress. I think they were 1.49$ for 10 with free postage. They ended up being slightly smaller than I expecting but will be perfect for DD to have craft afternoon with a couple of friends. I have glitter paints from poundland. They are so pretty I will order some more to use as present bows. They can be reused by the recipient as a decoration or as a another bow.

Great suggestions on here, but do have a look at local activities. Often the library, children's centre, local schools put on good Christmas fairs/partites.

Don't underestimate a Christmas film. The snowman, Arthur Christmas etc, as yours are younger. My twins are 10 and they know Christmas week the whole family watches Elf whilst eating Christmas gingerbread biscuits. They groan but they love it.

[IhaveChillyToes]

Some great ideas here

Look in local newspaper for those houses in local area that go completely mad with decorating the outside of house

Find out what day they are turning everything on and go along

They usually do have a bucket to collect for charity but even if the children just put a small amount of money in bucket will still be cheaper than doing your own

Totally agree with staying off phone or computer over christmas while children are awake so that you experience it with them rather than reading about everyone else's Christmas

[PeterPrunus]

We have had an activity advent calendar for the last eight years or so.

It’s so easy to do because it can be as easy or complicated as you like.
There could be a chocolate coin in every day if you wanted (you can pick up nets of coins from Wilkos for 50p) or you could just keep it to the activities.
I’ve seen some brilliant make your advent calendars on Pinterest, there’s even one that uses toilet rolls covered in tissue paper.

I’ve always written the activities beforehand and filled the calendar in advance but you could do it as you go. Some of the great ideas mentioned on this thread could go in there, even things like decorating the tree and writing letters to Santa used to go in ours.
I’ve found it really keeps the spirit of Christmas alive, even as the kids get older.

I’d definitely have a look on Pinterest, there is a wealth of ideas on there and like others have said you don’t need loads of presents for really young DC.
I love BiddyPop’s ideas of balloons in a box. My two would have loved that but are also now too old

[tistheseason2bjolly]

Make paper snowflakes to stick on the windows

[G1raffe]

I love this thread! We need to cut back this Xmas but I'm already excited by these ideas :)

[Imfinehowareyou]

Apologies if it has already been suggested but the royal mail do a letter from Santa. Will just cost you the stamp but he will write back for free.

[Bornfreebutinbiscuits]

I always feel stuff hanging from ceiling makes it feel very different and magical, wilko have great stuff to hang or make some large white snowflakes? wilko have great sale too - can get loads of decs for under a pounds...

i think that makes huge difference its so out of the ordinary, and then smell, orange candles or pine scent...

[Bornfreebutinbiscuits]

and fairy lights!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Mine are teens now (and all the grrrr that goes with it , nearly 18 and 15.6)
When they were little (and impressionable) ..

Get old jam jars, line then either side of the path or garden with lighted tealights to make a FlightPath for the reindeer

Cover the living room door with wrapping paper (big sheets of leftover taped together) for them to burst through

Put some lights on a timer and Father Christmas will switch them on to show when he's been (borrow a timer switch is you haven't got one) We used to put our old fibre optic tree in the hall set for 6.30am. They weren't allowed up before then

Stockings - we used to put DS on a campbed in DD room so they woke up together and tried to be oh-so-quiet with their stockings

Feed ducks/geese/reindeer. Get muddy (Wellies and gloves are a must) then a hot bath and hot chocolate.

One year we made sandwiches for DS and told him Action Man had sent them for his lunch on Christmas Eve . Action Man cut more ice than Father Christmas

NORAD to track his progress online.

I made an Elf in a bed, tired after making toys and sleeping until FC picked him up ( old toy, face drawn on a muslin cloth/hanky in pen) little cardboard box bed, put him in the playhouse for DS and I to peep at with a candle lamp. (He had to be gone the next day though)

Can I just give a warning about Magic Reindeer Food? Its meant to glisten in the snow (ha!) and give them magical floaty energy.
I made some with coloured sugar (sugar shaken in a bag with a drop of food colour) oats and Edible glitter (NOT craft glitter , it will kill birds).
It sat like a splodge of vomit on the lawn for days till I cleared it.

Al these ^ cost pence,

[Foxglovesandsweetpeas]

Where we are there are quite a few phone box libraries where you can take free books (and leave your old books if you have any). You could get childrens' books from there and make an advent library for them with a new book for each day in the 24 days up to xmas with each book wrapped in xmas paper. I know our local phone box library often has too many books so they are always happy for people to take lots. If you google phone box libraries you can find a map showing you where they are located throughout the country. I often take a few books and leave a few books as it's such a great idea.