Hi friends! How are you? Since we’re heading into holiday break in a couple of weeks and many of us will have the kiddos at home, I wanted to share some ideas for fun at-home activities we could do. I think a lot of us are used to having the kids home WAY more than normal – I laugh at the fact that they used to be at school all day, four days a week and now it’s two if I’m super lucky – but I could always use extra ideas and inspiration.
I’m sharing some of my faves here and would LOVE to hear your ideas, too!
At-home Holiday Break Activities to do with Kids
– Play a board game or do a puzzle. Turns out the kids LOVE board games. Their favorites are Guess Who? and Zingo but they’re also huge fans of Charades and Pretty Pretty Princess.
– Decorate gingerbread houses. This is an activity I look forward to each year!
– Indoor scavenger hunt. Make a list of things they can find around the house, including special ornaments or decorations. On the same note, the girls love these scavenger hunt workouts for kids. Liv’s PE teacher assigns them each week and they always look forward to doing them.
– Baking! We love baking holiday cookies. This is my go-to holiday cookie icing.
– Glow stick dance party. Turn off the lights, grab a bunch of glow sticks (bonus points if you have a disco ball), blast some music, and have a dance party!
– Karaoke. These bluetooth mics work awesome (depending on your definition of “awesome” with magnified little kid voices hahah) and they thoroughly enjoy taking turns belting out to Kidz Bop.
– Salt dough ornaments
– Popcorn, hot cocoa, and a holiday movie. Elf is always a home run. This weekend I was in an old movie mood, so we also watched White Christmas and Meet Me In St. Louis.
– Make the orange and clove crafts from our childhood
– Felt Christmas tree. This is excellent if you have toddlers! I made one when Liv was little but they sell them now.
– Indoor camping. This was a weekly treat during the beginning of ‘Rona times. It was a signal that the weekend had arrived when we were just flying by the seats of our pants and every day felt pretty much the same.
– Set up an indoor obstacle course
– Fashion show. Let them raid your closet and put on a fashion show.
– Make some gorgeous unicorn ornaments
– Tie dye dish towels for easy holiday gifts. I use these dish towels and they make an awesome easy gift. We gave some to my parents over the summer with a loaf of fresh sourdough.
– Car wash for their dolls or toys. Give them a bucket of soapy water and a couple of sponges, so they can give their toy cars or dolls a bath. This ends up being quite a bit of fun!
And…. don’t be afraid to let them be a little bored. That’s when creativity naturally happens and they figure out how to do what they enjoy.
When ‘Rona first hit and schools closed, I was constantly trying to come up with activities for the kids. I didn’t want them to feel the same fear and anxiety I was feeling, so I tried to make things as fun as possible and was basically their cruise director. Then, I crashed and burned. It was too much and one day, I was like, “Just play with the hose outside” and they had the best time. I stopped constantly trying to keep them occupied and now they run off and play together for hours.
While there have been some obviously horrible parts about this whole situation, a bright side is that they’ve had the opportunity to just be kids and play. This past year is the most we’ve ever been together at home as a family. Really looking forward to the time when this is all a distant memory, but trying to hold onto and magnify the good moments as much as I can. <3
So, tell me friends: any awesome at-home holiday activities you’re doing with the kids this year?
xo
Gina
More fun, free or super low-cost activities to do with kids here.
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