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Christmas Activities for Kids: 30 Easy Ideas for December

December is full of waiting: for school to finish, for visitors to arrive, for Christmas morning. These 30 Christmas activities for kids fill that time with something fun, and most of them use things you already have at home. They suit kids aged about 3 to 10. Pick one a day, or save a few for a rainy weekend.

Christmas crafts

  1. Paper snowflakes. Fold a square of paper into a triangle twice, snip shapes along the edges and unfold. Tape them to the windows.
  2. Paper chain countdown. Make one loop for every day until Christmas and tear one off each night.
  3. Salt dough ornaments. Mix 1 cup flour, ½ cup salt and ½ cup water, cut shapes, bake on low heat until hard, then paint.
  4. Sock snowman. Fill a white sock with rice, tie it into two balls and add buttons and a scrap of fabric for a scarf.
  5. Pinecone trees. Paint pinecones green and add sequins or pompoms as baubles.
  6. Handmade wrapping paper. Use potato or cork stamps and paint on brown paper.
  7. Gift tags. Kids decorate tags for the family presents. Try our free printable gift tags.

Christmas baking and kitchen fun

  1. Decorate cookies. Bake simple sugar cookies (or buy plain ones) and set out icing and sprinkles.
  2. Hot cocoa party. Make a "cocoa bar" with marshmallows, cinnamon and candy canes.
  3. Reindeer snack mix. Mix cereal, pretzels, raisins and a few chocolate buttons in small bags.
  4. Gingerbread house. A kit or graham crackers and icing both work. Expect the roof to fall in at least once!

Christmas games and movement

  1. Christmas bingo. Call out festive words and race to fill a line. Get our free printable Christmas bingo cards.
  2. Indoor scavenger hunt. Hide small things around the house and give clues. See our Christmas scavenger hunt list.
  3. Christmas charades. Act out a reindeer, wrapping a present or a melting snowman.
  4. Freeze dance. Play Christmas songs and freeze when the music stops.
  5. Pin the nose on the reindeer. Draw a big reindeer and cut out red paper noses.
  6. Christmas trivia for kids. Easy questions about Santa, reindeer and snow. Our Christmas trivia questions have plenty to start with.

Cozy and calm activities

  1. Blanket fort and a winter story. Build a fort, add fairy lights and read by torchlight.
  2. Christmas coloring pages. A perfect quiet-time activity while dinner cooks.
  3. Holiday movie night with popcorn and pajamas.
  4. Write a letter to Santa. Use our free letter to Santa printable.
  5. Make a Christmas wish list, with one wish for someone else.

Out and about

  1. A walk to see the Christmas lights. Give each child a list of things to spot.
  2. Make a bird feeder from a pinecone, peanut butter and seeds.
  3. Visit a Christmas market or a local winter fair.
  4. Collect natural decorations like holly, pinecones and evergreen sprigs.

Kindness at Christmas

  1. Do a kind deed for a neighbor, like shoveling snow or delivering cookies.
  2. Choose a toy to give to a child in need.
  3. Make thank-you cards for teachers, mail carriers and bin collectors.
  4. Call or video-chat a grandparent and sing them a Christmas song.

Turn it into a countdown

The easiest way to fit these activities into December is an activity advent calendar: write one idea on a card for each day and open one every morning from December 1 to 24. See 24 advent calendar ideas for kids for a ready-made order.

Want it printed and ready? The Wiggle Wonders Christmas Countdown Kit has 24 illustrated activity cards, number labels, a color-in countdown tree, a letter to Santa with a reply from the North Pole, gift tags and coloring pages, plus a 29-page Winter Break activity pack. It's $10 as an instant download and takes about 20 minutes to set up.

For bigger kids and the whole family, the Family Christmas Game Night Pack has 7 printable games, including bingo, trivia and scavenger hunts.

Get it ready to print