For many of us, Christmas is an exciting time of year that promises an extra burst of fun, friends, family and food. Christmas is a great occasion to celebrate, especially with your children. Irrespective of your religion, Christmas is a joyous time – a time of sharing, a time of giving, and a time to spread love and warmth. To keep with the festive spirit of the season, here are 6 games and activities you can enjoy with the whole family this December.

1. Decorate the Christmas Tree

One of the most important Christmas traditions is setting up and decorating the Christmas tree. This is a great way to get the family together to kick off the festive season. Spend a weekend morning together setting up the lights, tinsel and decorations to create your very own family Christmas tree in your home. Additionally, you can also use this as a time to create homemade Christmas ornaments using pinecones, nutshells and arts and crafts supplies.

2. Make Christmas Cards

This is a good way to tap into your little one’s written and artistic skills while having fun. Start by writing a list of all the people – friends and family members – your kids want to create Christmas cards for. Inspire your kids by showing them a few festive symbols – Santa, Christmas trees, snowflakes, bells and Rudolf. Cut out cardboard or clips from a magazine and get sticking! Use pencils, stickers, glitter and koki pens to add more colour and festivity to your cards. Let your kid’s creativity reign, and help them write out sayings or letters to each person receiving a card.

3. Pin the Nose on the Snowman

This Christmas game is most definitely one that includes a lot of laughter. You’ll need a big open space to ensure no one gets hurt while blindfolded. Use white paper to make an outline of a snowman. You can ask your kids to help decorate the snowman with a pair of eyes, some buttons and even a black top hat. Cut out a few orange-coloured ‘carrot’ noses for the kids to attempt to attach to the face of the snowman while blindfolded.

4. Write a letter to Santa and the Elves

It is that time of the year again. Santa is accepting letters from kids across the globe. Get your kids to write a letter to Santa explaining what they are thankful for this year, and what they have achieved lately in school or at home. Additionally, they can write a little list of what they want for Christmas. Gather some arts and crafts supplies and let the creating begin. Be careful not to use anything that may smudge – because Santa needs to be able to read their handwriting. Once your kids are happy with how their Santa letters have turned out, it is important to mail it to the right place. Write Santa’s address on the front of the envelope and don’t forget your return address;
Santa,
123 Elf Road,
North Pole, 8888

5. Candy Cane Hunt

This is the perfect Christmas game to encourage your kids to get outside. Hide candy canes or other Christmas themed sweets around your garden and let your kids search for them. Provide your kids with little stockings or decorated brown paper bags for them to collect and carry their findings. For added fun, you can include a few festive toys they can use over the holiday.

6. Decorate Christmas Cookies

Decorating cookies to eat and share with loved ones is a wonderful Christmas holiday activity. It is also a great idea for homemade gift ideas for friends and family.
Provide some sugar sprinkles, chocolate chips and other toppings to decorate the cookies with. Coconut shavings make for great Santa beards and colourful balls can be used as Christmas tree decorations. Put sheets of parchment paper on cookie sheets for decorated cookies so the icing can set. Make sure you make your cookies ahead of time so they will be cool for decorating.

Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Next, stir in the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour. When the cookie dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Roll out the dough on floured surface, ¼ to ½ inch thick, depending upon the size and depth of your cookie cutters. Cut the cookies and place them about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake six to eight minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe
Ingredients:

• 1 cup confectioners’ (icing) sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
• Food colouring

Directions:
In a small bowl, stir together icing sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond or vanilla extract until icing is smooth and glossy. Add a bit more corn syrup if icing is too thick. Divide into small bowls. Add food colouring to each bowl. The icing can be applied in one of several ways, depending upon the age and skill level of the kids doing the decorating. Dip half the cookie into the icing and spread the remainder of the icing using the back of a spoon or a paintbrush. Hereafter, your kids can add whatever decorations they desire. More older kids, you can use piping bags for more intricate and detailed designs.

December is a time for festive celebrations with the ones you love. Take this time to appreciate the little things and create special memoires with those around you.