Keeping Children Busy During Christmas Break

For many of us, Christmas break has begun. The kids are home for the holidays, and that means it’s time to figure out to entertain them while they are around. If you live in a place where there is snow, you can usually keep them busy for an hour or so at a time, out playing. But at some point they have to come in, and there are days that it is too cold to go outside. In such cases, it helps to be prepared with activities.

Family Fun and Keeping Up with School

This is a good time for family togetherness. When your children are home, it offers a great opportunity to spend quality time together as a family. Board games can be a good way to spend time together, and you can also watch a movie together. Make some popcorn and enjoy the time. If you do special Christmas baking, that can be one way to keep your children occupied for some of the day. Making a gingerbread house is one of the fun projects that I save to do with my son during the holiday break. (We buy a kit.)

You can also set aside time for your kids to keep up with school work. Set aside time each day for them to read. You can also go to educational websites that offer fun games that will keep them learning throughout the holiday break. This will give them something to do, and ensure that they are ready when it is time to go back to school.

Christmas Craft: Cookie Bag

You can also plan Christmas crafts for your children to enjoy. There are a number of easy crafts that children can make during the Christmas break, and one of them is a cookie bag. If you do Christmas baking, you have your children make cookie bags to hold the treats you share with neighbors. Before you begin, this is what you will need:

• Paper lunch sack
• Acrylic paint in desired colors
• Foam stamps in desired shapes
• Paint brush
• Craft glue
• Glitter in desired colors
• Ribbon

First, open the back to make sure that it is not stuck together anywhere. Then close the bag and lay it down. Make sure the bottom lays flat as well, instead of having it fold up. Punch a hole in the top of of the bag so that you can tie it shut with ribbon. Use the acrylic paint to color the stamps and then put the shapes on the bag where you would like. Fill in with the help of a paint brush. You can use the glue to spell out the word “Cookies” on the bag, and cover it in glitter. (You can also write “Popcorn”, “Candy” or some other treat that you fill the bag with.) You can also decorate the shapes you stamped with glitter before the paint dries.

Before placing the treats inside, wrap them in plastic or wax paper so that grease spots don’t mar the outside. Once you have the treats inside, you can tie the bag shut with the ribbon. Use wrapping ribbon and curl it with scissors to increase the festive look.