How many days out around Christmas?

[middleagedandinarage]

Just booked my first christmas day out to a see santa and his groto. I think it's a good one. DC 6 and 3. Just wondered how many days out/things do you plan for christmas with the kids and when do you start? Weekends in december or jus the few days leading up to christmas? This is first year of school for us and I feel there's so much going out with school and usual extra ciricular activities, I don't want to make things too crazy busy in the weeks before. What does everyone else find works?

We've got a light trail thing 30th November, Santa and a panto in December. Maybe a Christmas market too but we might not bother taking kids to that. Kids 6 and 5. I think that's enough for us.

We're doing a light trail after school on the 18th, a Grinch afternoon tea on the 22nd, and then panto between Xmas and New Year.

We might try and get to one of the carol services at the local Cathedral as well, but that should probably be enough. They'll have plenty going on at school as well!

We've got our traditional trip to see some lights will probs do a shopping centre Santa visit but that's about it.
Was trying to find other things to do but I've realised I was just trailing the internet finding things to spend money on so decided to leave it at if something else comes up it's affordable and convenient for us we will just do it ad hoc.

We only do one Santa event each year - I don't want to ruin the magic, plus Santa is busy! Last year it was a Santa breakfast, this year it's a train ride to "the north pole". Other than that we don't do big festive events - usually a walk to see the Christmas lights, and my in laws are insisting on taking DS to the panto (and tried to book another Santa event but that one got declined). We'll do festive baking, watch a Christmas film and have a different evening putting up the decorations.

We do a light trail pretty reliably, go for a walk/drive to see lights locally to us, that's about it for outings!

When the kids are older I'd like to introduce a panto. But we're not there yet.

Not much at all! Well, now the kids are older we walk to the pub on Christmas Eve for a bit of festive spirit but when they were little still not really anything. To be fair the in-laws used to take them to the panto so we could do their wrapping so they did do that. And I would have their cousins round and do them a little Christmas afternoon where they’d make gingerbread houses and have a film and play some games.
But queuing up for a commercialised sit on santas knee for a photo and a naff ‘present’ for £20, queues of people on light trails, Christmas markets filled with the same 10 stalls just on repeat, ice skating with 3 non skating dc… sounds like hell to me.
They did used to quite enjoy walking through the neighbourhood and seeing the lights.
i know it makes me sound really grinchy and cheap, I’m not! I love Christmas and spend a fortune on other things but these events are just to get you to part with your cash in order to ‘make memories’ and my memories would just be queuing and their memories would be bored and cold 😂

We do a lot. I love Christmas and grew up somewhere without as many opportunities to celebrate so I do tend to book quite a few things. I have booked:
A screening of a Christmas film with a live orchestra doing the sound track
Light trail
Edwardian Christmas crafts at a stately home
A festive puppet show
Breakfast with Santa
Christmas fair at a soft play - they have lots of activities and rides etc
Panto

We're also quite active in our church so will do the christingle service, carol service etc there.

I love December!

I try to do something each Sunday leading up to it in December. With Christmas eve etc more chilled to see family etc.

We used to to FC whenever we could a slot, light trail at local EH and Christmas Eve drive around with the bloody elves to look at lights, more than enough. They did oanto with school and never really liked it.

We are taking our two to Lapland UK, a light trail at Beamish and to see the lights and have afternoon tea in London. We will do a few Christmas fairs as well but other than the food they won't be remotely interested in them so they are for me.

Ah I tell a lie we do also try and do a carol concert! I'd do it on my own though if DC didn't want to, definitely my highlight <3

We always do afternoon tea and light trail on NYE, go to a ballet, go ice skating and go to our local Christmas fair (NT place). Used to do a Santa visit until we did Lapland UK one year and now we can’t top that. DD also does a panto trip with Brownies. So quite a lot, tends to be one thing per weekend in December and often combine the ice skating and ballet as that’s a trip into London.

I don't think the number matters as such. More the size of the outing.

If you'd normally go to the woods for a walk at some point every weekend doing a lights trail each weekend instead isn't more physically draining.

I think a Santa visit, lights walk, panto and maybe pop up ice rink are nice activities.

We usually added in seeing reindeer at a garden centre and coffee and cake, maybe a Christmas museum display at our local free museum, sometimes the zoo to see their Xmas display. But these were things we'd do anyway but we sought out Christmas themed ones - but if I'm honest most of the stuff you'd do anyway the Christmas stuff will just be there when you visit as normal!!!

When they were younger, your kid's ages, we did.
Local Christmas fair with rides beginning December
Santa - which ours tolerated for an early present, usually after school around 18th December.

Panto - evening around 20th December
Did a local walk when it went dark, 21st/22nd December
Every now and again some NT Saturday light show Christmas market, this wasn't every year.
If we happened to be in the local shopping centre would do the Christmas train
We go and get tree around 17th December which they helped pick and "helped" carry home. And because it's a real tree it needs sawing, putting in a bucket of water before you can bring it in. Then let them decorate it.
One ice-skating session where we would push them around on plastic seals usually until we said no more.

And we did all their school nativity/pantos which were the best (last week of school) absolute festive cute chaos (usually our favourite outing) and carol singing if they did it.

But during December had more nights watching a kid's Christmas film chilled out indoors together. We had garden firepit at weekends with s'mores. Made some cards.

School did lots.