Christmas Countdown: Activities!

I don’t mean to be one of those annoying Pinterest-y mothers talking about the perfect Christmas activities, but we are having a lot of fun with our countdown calendar. 

The boys especially love the activities related to food, such as drinking eggnog, making gingerbread houses, and making hot chocolate. They are excited when we get home from school and select an activity.

Here’s our full list of things we choose from:

• Drink eggnog
• Drink hot chocolate
• Visit the Zilker Tree
• Visit 37th Street lights
• Visit Christmas house at 1912 Crystal Shores 
• Go ice-skating 
• Attend the Cherrywood Art Festival
• Make bagged lunches and deliver them to homeless people on the street
• Make a gingerbread house
• Write a letter as a family to reminisce about the year
• Make handmade holiday stamps
• Make gift-tags and cards
• Cut down an evergreen tree (or buy a potted one and plant it after Christmas)
• Decorate the tree
• Make origami paper cranes
• Wrap presents
• Write little notes to colleagues and neighbors
• Make baked goods for colleagues and neighbors
• Deliver baked goods and notes
• Decorate the house
• Write cards to family
• Make felt balls
• Watch a holiday movie
• Have a pillow picnic under the tree
• Ride bikes around the neighborhood to look at lights
• Cut out snowflakes
• Write a love letter
• Collect branches and pine cones and spray paint them for decoration
• Dance to holiday music
• Read a book about Kwanzaa
• Read a book about Hanukkah
• Cover the house in candles
• Hang mistletoe and kiss
• Make a list of what we’re thankful for

I reduce the stress by keeping a standard lift of Christmas ingredients I need within our Meal Plan document. Then I check that box and the ingredients automatically get added to my list!