How to make Christmas even better this year

[starsparkle08]

Any ideas how to make Christmas special with the Covid restrictions . Lots of pantomimes being cancelled and I imagine Santa visits also .
Has anybody got any thoughts to make it fun and not seem to have lost its magic

We've never done all the "stuff" in this house (my kids are 11, 9 & 8) no pantos, no elves, no 24 books, and honestly they dont miss out. I really think where kids are concerned they like all the jazz, but mostly love just being with their family and actually would be just as happy wandering around looking at xmas lights as going to a panto.

Good old fashioned games will be enjoyed this year:

Charades

Hot and cold Baby Jesus (we have a knitivity made by my mum when ds was a baby, we hide the baby and say hot/cold/warm when someone is close, takes ages )

Pass the parcel.

Kids put on a show.

Chocolate-eating game: everyone sitting in a circle, take turns to throw a dice. First to roll 6 puts on hat, scarf and gloves, tries to eat a chocolate bar with cutlery. You get as long as it takes the next person to roll a 6. You need a bar of dairy milk or something in paper with foil (do they still exist?) so the first person has to rip open the packaging!

Mission Impossible assault course with a pompom snowball (or pickled onion, or mince pie!) on a spoon, try not to drop it.

Wrote poems or limericks, or invemt a winter story. Have a list of words you must include, or rhyming pairs.

Make a family Xmas quiz for zoom - could have questions like 'who are 9 pigs in blankets and threw up in granddad's wellies in 1986' type thing! Great for kids to learn of your family's memories.

My youngest is twelve , next one after that is 16 and both are far too cool for last years Christmas stuff. She still loves baking and decorating so ginger bread people and house, mice pies, cup cakes, cinnamon rolls etc will all be done. I'm getting a Lego Harry Potter Lego set for myself and was thinking of getting a big Harry Potter great hall set and us doing that as a family and putting the festive figures in there. Bonus in that we can redo it every year or week it in in the future and get another.

We are huge crafters so clay tree decorations, freshly foraged green wreaths, hot chocolate spoons will be made too. I also make scented Santa's from old machine wool card centres and felt and trimmings. Stuff them with pine scented pot pouri and they are lovely. The kids give them as gifts to teachers and friends parents etc

My sister and I have decided to put together and donate 40 Christmas Eve boxes to our food bank. So lots of fun finding the bits for those and making them up. I'm also going to do some present parcels for my nephews school to raffle off.

Other than that I imagine we will have some trips to the cinema to watch the Christmas movies. Go roller skating. Easy a shed load of popcorn and hot chocolate while watching miracle on 34th and singing carols while we decorate the tree.

Just saw a link to this thread so I’m jumping on! Christmas can be a bit dull in our house at the best of times TBH.

One thing I’m hoping to introduce is a pick and mix present type thing - the DCs usually help us choose presents for each other anyway, but I thought it might be fun to give them a few quid each and take them to Poundland go choose really random things, one or two per person, that then get put in a box with the things others chose. Low budget but might be a laugh to try and guess who chose what on the day itself too.

Indoor snowball fights are so much fun. My two had a bucket each last year and all visitors were pelted on arrival.

This is lovely! We enjoy driving around to look at Christmas lights. Which is free and socially distanced!