10 Activities to Do with Your Kids over Christmas Break

Happy Monday! If you have school-aged kids, this is probably the first day of their Christmas Break.  Are you wondering what you’re going to do with them for two weeks?  If your kids are anything like mine, they like to be busy.

Even though Luke is home with me all the time, it’s different when Meghan is home, too. If I don’t plan a few fun activities, they will inevitably get bored and end up fighting with each other.  By having some fun activities we can do at home, there will be less TV watching and less bickering.

Here’s the list of activities I’ve found for us to choose from during our Christmas break.  Some of them Meghan and I will do during Luke’s naps, others we can all do together.  I hope you find something here to keep your kids busy during Winter break!

Activities to Do Before Christmas

1.  Make ornaments.

These Salt Dough Ornaments from the Happy Housewife will keep the kids busy and be a keepsake you will have forever.  They would make great gifts, too!

I also think these, these, and these are all super cute (and easy!), too.

2. Do some baking.

This is the first thing on our list to do as Meghan’s been asking me to let her bake and decorate Christmas cookies for weeks.  We’ll be gifting the results. 🙂

3. Build a Gingerbread House.

There’s no need to buy a special kit. You can totally make this work with graham crackers and royal icing.  Make sure to buy plenty of pretty candies to decorate with! Check out this post from Kelly Moore  for great info on how you can DIY your own gingerbread house.  If you have older kids, I think it’d be so fun to have a contest!

4. Make an Egg Carton Christmas Tree.

I love this one because Meghan would love the process, and it doubles as a fine-motor activity for Luke.  Check out Sugar Aunts to find the directions for this Fine Motor Egg Carton Christmas Tree.

5.  Make some Paper Straw Snowflakes.

I love this one because it makes everyone happy.  The kids love crafts, and I love things that actually look cute.  I happened to pick up some cute Christmas colored paper straws from Target, so when I saw this one from Echoes of Laughter, I knew we’d be making these Easy Paper Straw Snowflakes.

Activities to Do After Christmas

6.  Make your own Play Snow.

 

This play snow is made with just shampoo and baking soda! I know both kids will love playing in this, especially since we currently don’t have any of the real stuff outside. Check out Huckleberry Love for the directions to make Play Snow.

7.  Make a Handprint Suncatcher.

This is a fun one to do on an especially cold and grey day when you are stuck in the house.  It’s a multi-step project that will make your kids feel proud of the end result! Check out Homegrown Friends for directions on how to make these adorable Handprint Suncatchers.

8.  Play a game of Snowman Slam.

I love this Snowman Slam game from Growing a Jeweled Rose. This is one that I will have Meghan help me make the materials during Luke’s nap, and when he’s awake we can all play together. Fun!

9.  Turn a cardboard box into something new.

You will likely have a lot of empty boxes after Christmas.  Why not turn them into something fun?  A pirate ship?  A castle?  A foresee this taking up a lot of time.  After your kids help you create and decorate, they have something new to play with! Check out this post from ikatbag for some fun ideas.

10.  Play a game of Winter I Spy

Luke is obsessed with playing I Spy.  It’s one of the games we play the most in the car.  I thought he’d love this winter paper version we can play at home.  You can find the printable here at The Pleasantest Thing.

I hope these ideas will help you keep your kids busy this Winter Break! If you like finding fun kid activities, follow my Cute Kid Stuff Pinterest Board. I’m always pinning fresh ideas!

Speaking of pinning, if you’d like to pin this post, please pin the top image.  If you’d like to pin any of the activities, please pin from their original sources. Thanks!