Making Christmas special for older teens.

[GargoylesofBeelzebub]

I thought they (DS 17, DD 15) were a bit past the magic of Christmas and a bit eye rolly over Christmas activities, but last year they said they thought Christmas felt a bit flat.

Any ideas that won't break the bank? Everything I seem to read seems to be for younger kids.

Mine are young adults. We’ve been to a ‘glow/light’ show at a local stately home. They enjoyed that.

You're never too old a pantomime! Or maybe another Christmas show or concert?

I think with older kids you can revisit some of the things that made Christmas fun. We have a trip to the garden centre for one new decoration a year. I take part in a village activity where people decorate a window and always rope DD in to help.
Go carol singing if you can find anywhere doing it.
Late night shopping for a browse and hot drinks.
Cheesy Christmas PJ's at the beginning of December.
Wrapping presents/writing cards with Christmas music and nice snacks.

We did a classical music Christmas concert last year which my older teens loved (but we always did a kids classic Christmas concert & decided we had outgrown it)

There are Christmas films we "have" to watch that everyone looks forward to. We also watch BBC Pride & Prejudice in the weekends run up to end with the snowy weddings 😆 adored by one of my teens but not the other! I have friends who do the same with the Harry Potter films.

my teens still like printing our cards & doing Christmas baking too

gingerbread house making competition in pairs is a huge hit here. As complex as you like - and we get friends on social media to judge it anonymously. Started that one in lockdown, but have continued - structures have got more ridiculous each year.

Definitely make it more of a season if you can, than just the day. We now have a more relaxed Christmas day.

We join another family and go to the cinema together, teens have known each other since they were young and it's a nice meet up.

I usually organise a weekend before Christmas at a theme park or similar. Last year at Europa Park after the park closed we had cocktails and a lovely dinner and then more drinks in the hotel bar with a DJ which was different but great fun.

This year we'll stay in London mid December, see a concert and the F1 exhibition along with some shopping, view the Christmas lights and a meet up with some London based family for dinner.

Christmas market, helping with menu, decorations and Christmas prep including coming up with a new tradition for example murder mystery dinner party game.

Following for ideas.
I posted this last year but I really cocked up with my teen.
Instead of his Christmas eve box I decided as he was eye rolling last few years at new pjs and hot chocolate sticks etc to get him a box of fancy chocs instead.
I had 2 phone calls from his wee pals, one of them actually video called me and said, "Oh Lauren even Rose West gets her kids Xmas eve boxes, you messed up girl!" 😂😂

So this year I'll not be so brazen to leave out the Xmas eve box for him but he also doesn't seem to want to do the things we have traditionally done.

I have younger dc who still love all the magic but teens seem to just want cold hard cash with all their activities and its not the easiest time of year for that is it?

Family Christmas pjs
Take a wander round some Christmas markets, get a hot chocolate
Get them to help decorate the tree
Include them in dinner prep, put some music on, teach them a recipe
Film nights with snacks
Late night Christmas shopping, get them to help choose gifts for family or do a secret Santa
Ice skating
Game night

We've kept our traditions of an advent breakfast on the first weekend in December, and an at home afternoon tea on the last day of term, from them being little. Our last believer hit secondary school a couple of years ago, but when I suggested there was no point now they were all horrified!

We also try to do a Christmas Market trip, find a film during December and get them all to the cinema with meal out (or chips on the way home depending on finances) then spot Christmas lights on the way home. Also have a Christmas jigsaw on the go, festive bedding on and a hot chocolate station in the kitchen. I love an Edinburgh overnight in December, with theatre trip depending on what's on, but we spent so much last year I'm not sure I want to make it an annual thing.

Last year we did late night shopping for secret santa presents, so sent everyone off with 10£ to buy preferably charity shop gifts, then met up for a Costa hot chocolate.

Youngest Dd always decorates the Christmas cake, and I try to get them involved in picking the food to order and wrapping paper etc so they're part of the build up. I dreaded them growing up and us losing the magic, but so far it's still just as nice.

Mine are 14 and 16 and still want the same routine we have done for years. We have a caravan near the coast and always go the weekend before Christmas to put the tree up and see the lights at the garden centre nearby, then have a Christmas meal in the pub.

We also go the cinema Christmas Eve and then the elves drop their Christmas Eve box off on the doorstep when we get (they think it’s hilarious I still do this and go along with it).

I have looked at going to see a Christmas film with the concert orchestra this year but not booked anything yet and both kids love a wander round a Christmas market.

I love all these ideas! Especially the Christmas afternoon tea. I don't have kids yet but I think I'll borrow that ❤️

Visit a Christmas market
A Christmas light switch on event in a large town
A walk through Christmas lights in a stately home type place, lots do them at Xmas
Late night Christmas shopping
A panto
Christmas films
Bake together
Arrange a Christmas party for their friends and your friends, nibbles and crackers and Christmas music

Go ice skating.

That is so rude of his friends.

I second this, we love a gingerbread house! 14 year old daughter and I will spend ages doing them over the course of a couple of weeks. Obviously we don’t eat them but I fully tile the roof with cinnamon grahams so it takes a while! Love the voting element, might have to try that this year

Mine are in their 20s now, but have all come home for Christmas so far. We try to include a walk in the woods and lunch or drinks in a pub afterwards, a few board games, log fire, and get them chopping up some firewood, escape room in an envelope game, some kind of painting or crafty thing, films on TV but also a cinema trip and some kind of live theatre/comedy.

Depends on the teen, surely. At that age, I just wanted it all to be over and to get away from my family to see my friends.

DS (18) has mocks in Jan so he claims he doesn’t want to do anything apart from revise. Any ideas for teen boys?

Mini gingerbread house competitions. Then we put them all together on a tray with small fairy lights and we have a Christmas village.

Secret Santa. Last year we went to a charity shop and the challenge was to buy something within 10 minutes for a maximum of £2. I received the ugliest popcorn bowl ever made and dd makes me use it.

They put some sort of family quiz together, with photos and alternative answers. Lots of cheesy and some embarrassing but funny memories. We stream it to the TV.

We live by the sea so go for a walk on the beach. Last year it was -28 or something and the sea was frozen way out. DS insisted he didn’t need his thermal gloves but nearly died with shock after two minutes. So he will receive gloves as a reminder from me from now on.

Make a Spotify playlist. Five songs each, noone is allowed to complain.

I've known them since they were little, it was only a bit of fun 😊

They've actually said that they want Christmas to be more special though.

Great ideas. Apart from ice skating. We all hate ice skating! 😂

We now have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve to make Christmas Day much more relaxed.

And two pantomimes. One with family at the beginning of Dec and one just us on the 27th.

We are going to a sunny beach with our teens, l thought last year was a bit flat. We have never done this before but I'm excited for a change.

At that age I liked more physical stuff - gathering armfuls of ivy to decorate the house, etc. Maybe making home made cranberry sauce. Things that felt low pressure and felt like a contribution.