Free or cheap Christmas activities

[Staywildandwander]

We’re making an activity advent calendar for DC (10, 8, 1) and are trying to keep costs down.

I wanted to start a thread with free or cheap activities to keep the kids entertained over Christmas to see if anybody else had any ideas

We have paid to see Santa but other than that I have:

Watch a Christmas film
Write Christmas Cards
Christmas Shopping (the bigs want to buy for the baby)
Christmas crafts
Baking and decorating shortbread
Read Christmas stories
Visit some reindeer (they have some at out local garden centre)
Visit a Christmas market
Christmas dance party
Put the tree up
Homemade Christmas quiz

Any more suggestions?

Walk around and look at people's Christmas lights) decorations??? Does your local garden centre have a display/ meet Santa??

I have garden centre on there for the reindeer but yes - we’ll find a good street to look for decorations! Thank you

Make paper chains
Make snowflakes
Sing Christmas carols
Make a wreath with foraged items
Make wrapping paper
Go to a carol concert

Decorate a gingerbread house (always buy extra white icing as the one that comes with the kit itself is dreadful!)

Make pomanders (my now 9 and 10 year old love doing this each year)

Make cheap bird / squirrel feeders (we use empty coconut shells and fill them with peanut butter and dried nuts / fruit)

Go to Christingle/A carol concert

Make paper snowflakes

Go for a walk and find houses with good Christmas lights

Go holly hunting and get a few sprigs to decorate the house

Play Christmas themed consequences/charades

Play Christmas film bingo - there are pre-made cards you can print off - they have things like ‘snap ball fight’ or ‘Christmas Carol’s being sung’

I'd break down the Christmas crafts one to different things.

Make a greenery wreath for the door

Put Holly sprigs up

Make an ivy garland for the stairs

Make mince pies (or jam tarts with Christmas tree shapes on if they don't like mincemeat)

My mum made us tie up pairs of wrapped square chocolates into a parcel with cotton thread to hang on the tree. I didn't question this. Years later she said she did it to keep us busy, it was incredibly fiddly!

Have a kitchen disco specifically to introduce your children to the magic of A Christmas Gift for You by the Ronettes.

Make an orange pomander with cloves and ribbon for the tree.

Some fantastic ideas here; I'll add another few suggestions:

Download an app for December night sky and pick out the constellations
Gemini meteor shower spotting (between 4-20th December; peaks around 14-15th)
Jolabokaflod (Icelandic book flood on Christmas Eve)
Christmas tree festivals
Build a tin can stove and cook hot chocolate outdoors over it
Make popcorn garlands
Make origami stars
Ice skating

We do this every year with DC who are 6 and 8 now. Their favourite activities are:

• a scavenger/treasure hunt
• a family sleepover in the living room with Christmas lights
• pancake breakfast
• Christmas lights drive to the fancy houses in the town over
• party food dinner on last day of school

We have done this before and had

Outdoor:

• Christmas lights walk (found good streets in advance)
• winter walk and snowman (we were lucky with weather)
• Local department store window display
• Carols (with local church in town square)

Cozy

• Movie with popcorn/hot choc
• Build family Lego set
• Christmas theme bingo
• Charades
• draw your own elf (where one person does feet/legs/body/head & you pass paper round)

Crafts

• Making cards for grandparents
• Christmas tree decorations
• paper chains
• tissue paper baubles to put up in window
• Footprint reindeer pictures

Baking

• gingerbread house
• biscuits
• mincemeat/pies
• roasting chestnuts
• mini Christmas cakes

Inside out and about

• find best gift for £1 (charity shops)
• nativity or Christingle church service
• explore national trust house
• visit local shopping centre to see decorations & free mini panto
• theatre trip to see nutcracker

Most of them were free