1. Locks Of Love – A lot of people go to the hair dresser and try out new hair-do’s for Christmas. If you have long hair, consider cutting your hair short for a change and donating your hair to Locks Of Love which makes wigs for kids who do not have any hair due to illness. Your hair will grow back and this is one of the most selfless gifts you can give to another person.
2. Name That Holiday Character – Play a charade game with family and friends. Act out holiday characters like Scrooge, Snoopy, Rudolph, Santa, Grinch, etc and see if people can guess who you are!
3. The Grinch – Gather your family and friends around and watch The Grinch That Stole Christmas. You can choose between the cartoon or Jim Carrey version. Wny not watch both!
4. Donate Old Toys – Gather all your old toys you don’t use anymore that are in good condition and give them to good cheer. Let someone else love them too.
5. Appreciate Community Workers – Call your local police, fire and ambulance departments and find out when your family and friends can pay them a holiday visit. Bake some goodies and make a card for the people who keep you safe and secure. Don’t forget hospital and 911 staff!!
6. Santa Parade – Find out when your community Santa Parade is and pack up your family and friends to go watch. Bring lawn chairs, blankets, hot chocolate or cider and popcorn. If your community does not have a parade don’t worry; the Santa Parade is always on TV!
7. Fireplace Safety – Use flame resistant rugs and fire screens in front of fireplaces. Never use lighter fluid or other flammable fluids to start the fire. Extinguish the fire before retiring to bed.
8. Gift Baskets – Making your own Christmas baskets is easier than you think! Throughout the year collect baskets of all shapes and sizes. Collect a “theme” of things to put in the baskets according to the person’s interests (sports, dance, pokemon, horses, etc).
9. Home Movies – Get the family together and watch home movies of Christmas past. This is a great way to remember the people who are no longer with you and to celebrate the ones that are.
10. Dripless Candles – Freeze your candles before inserting them into the candle holders, you’ll eliminate wax drippings.
11. Mixed Up Socks – Wear two different colored socks (maybe one red and one green) and see how many people notice. When someone notices, award them with a Candy Cane!
12. Sick Kids – You would be surprised how many sick children will spend their Christmas in the hospital. Contact your local kids hospital ward and find out how you can make the kids day brighter. Perhaps you can put on a Christmas show for them. Maybe you can sing carols together. How about making some homemade gifts and treats for the kids.
13. Make A Wreath – Create a holiday motif wreath and hang it on your front door. Hand Print Wreath, Hands Christmas Wreath, Hard Candy Wreath.
14. Start An Ornament Collection – Pick a theme such as snowmen, Santa’s, silver or blue, etc. Purchase or make one or two ornaments a year. When you go on holiday with family, try to pick up an ornament.
15. Have an M&M Christmas – Kids will love the recipes and craft ideas from Mars, Incorporated using M&M’s. Original and festive ideas. One of the best holiday sites for kids.
16. Stockings For Students – Make these paper stockings and place a candy cane and holiday greeting inside. Bring them to school and give them to all the kids in your class. Don’t forget your teacher too!!
Pinking Shears
Construction paper (red and green)
Glue
Markers
Tiny pom-pom’s, Holiday print fabric, Bows, Glitter or anything else. Metallic chenille stems
Use pinking shears to cut two identical stocking shapes. Glue the outside edge of stocking together (you can also use a paper punch and thread yard to keep it together). Draw stitches around edges and decorate your stocking anyway you want. Put your friends names on the stockings using tiny pom-pom’s or glitter glue. Form a loop with the chenille stems and glue it on the stocking. Fill with treats and bring to school.
17. Teacher’s Sticker Jar – Any teacher who uses stickers would love this gift! Start with a clean, dry glass jar (an old mayonnaise jar works well). Use acrylics paint and paint the lid a solid color. After it has dried, write the teacher’s name on the lid with a paint pen. Decorate the rest of the jar with paint pens, stamps, and/or stickers. Fill the jar with a variety of stickers that the teacher can use on classroom papers. You can find great stickers at the dollar store to fill the jar with.
18. A Christmas Carol – Take the time to read, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Learn how to appreciate what you have and give from the heart.
19. Visit Family – Now is the time to go and visit all your relatives that you haven’t seen in a while. Bake some tasty treats and bring them with you as a gift.
20. Make A Gingerbread House – Most grocery stores carry these kits around Christmas time at a reasonable price (between $10.00 – $15.00). You are not limited to the candy in the kit. Decorate your house anyway you want. Use tube icing to write messages on your house. Purchase a small plastic Santa and sleigh and add it to the roof of the house! Be creative! You can even make one from scratch with the help of your parents. Tips For Making A Gingerbread House or Nettie’s Gingerbread Page.
21. Frosty Snowball Toss – Take a large cardboard box and cut out a snowman shape. Paint and decorate the shape to look like Frosty the Snowman. Cut a good size hole in belly, or cut a mouth hole. A small amount of christmas M&M’s or Hershey’s Kisses wrapped in plastic wrap and tied with ribbon. Make 5 bags each of each of the following colors, red, green, blue, gold and silver. Each child gets one color. If you have more than 5 kids, let them play in teams and increase the bags to 7 each. Lean your snowman up against a wall, far enough away so the opening is not against the wall. Let the kids take turns trying to throw their “snowball” through the hole (one try per bag). The most snowballs of the same color wins! Let the kids eat the snowballs when done.
22. Enjoy The Snow – There are lots of ways to enjoy the fluffy white stuff that falls for what seems like forever! Check out our Winter Fun section of the site.
23. Tour The Lights – Pack everyone into the family car and take a tour of all the Christmas lights in your community.
24. Light A Table – If you have a clear glass table, attach a strand of mini-lights below the top (around edges or strung across). Cover with sheer fabric like tulle.
25. Cookie Exchange Party – Here is a great excuse to gather friends over at your home. Have each guest being a dozen or so cookies along with 10-12 copies of the recipe on festive recipe cards.
26. Make Garland – Decorate your tree with garland you made. The great thing about this is that you can choose the colors and themes to match your tree and decor perfectly! Bead Garland, Jingle Bells Garland, Mitten Garland, Peace Garland. Try stringing popcorn and cranberries too!
27. Place Cards – Having a large group of people over for Christmas dinner? Print out these place cards to add color and joy to your table.
28. Share Traditions – At your slumber party of get-together, have all your friends share their family traditions with everyone. Who knows, maybe you will inspire each other to start new traditions in your families! You will be surprised to see how many multi-cultural families there are and how interesting the diversity is.
29. Wrapping Station – Make a wrapping station in your home. You can put all the supplies in a laundry basket so you know where everything is! Your station should include the following supplies, a flat surface on which to work (preferably a table), comfortable chair, wrapping paper, gift bags and boxes, tissue paper, ribbon, bows, small ornaments, bells, gifts, flowers and candy to decorate pages with, pens (metallic or colored ink), gift tags, greeting cards, stamps, string, plain brown paper to wrap mailed packages, black permanent marker to address packages, scissors, tape, tape measure and meter stick.
30. Gift Tags – Don’t buy gift tags this year. Make your own or print out ours and use them on your gifts.
31. Visit Santa – Santa is always at the mall at Christmas. He is waiting to hear from all girls and boys of every age. Get a picture taken and send it out with your Christmas cards.
32. Make Your Own Ornaments – Ornaments made by the hands of ones we love are the most treasured holiday gifts of all. Sit down with your family and create beautiful memories that will hang on your family tree forever. Acorn Elves, Coffee Filter Angels, Felt Ornaments, Jigsaw Ornament, Candycane Reindeer.
33. Rudolph Dash – You will need red circles cut out of red construction paper and Vaseline. Choose teams. Have the first player on each team put Vaseline on their nose and then put the red circle on their nose. Run from the start line to the finish line and back. If the nose falls off, add more Vaseline, reapply nose and start again. First team to complete the task wins!
34. Sand Art Brownies –
Add to wide mouth quart jar in this order:
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 + 1/8 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Vanilla Chips
1/2 cup nuts
Include a recipe card with instructions for making the brownies:
Combine contents of jar with:
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
Pour into a greased 9×9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 27-32 minutes
35. Reindeer Smooches – Give The Youth Online Club’s Randy the reindeer a great big hug and kiss. He’s one of the reindeer being trained to help Santa.
36. Christmas Crossword – Try and complete our holiday crossword puzzles! Puzzle one and puzzle two.
37. Color A Picture – We have over 35 holiday pictures for you to color and decorate your room with.
38. Boxing Day – Do you know what Boxing Day is and what you are suppose to be doing on that day? Check it out.
39. The Christmas Garden – There is more than just Holly, Mistletoe and Poinsettia to the season. Find out what kind of plants are associated with the Christmas holiday season.
40. Gingerbread Kids – Make a few gingerbread people to use to decorate your tree, garland or to eat! Make one for each member of your family and put them on their plates at Christmas dinner.
41. Hang Christmas Stockings Early – Encourage family members to leave little notes in each other’s stockings that shares something they like/love about the person. How about a few notes on good deeds you know the person did. Get plates of goodies and glasses of eggnog, hot chocolate or cider and read the notes on Christmas Eve.
42. Festive Eggnog –
6 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 cups milk (this is not a typo)
1 tsp vanilla
Whipped cream
Ground nutmeg
In a large saucepan beat eggs, sugar and salt together. Add 2 cups of milk and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon with a thin film. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 cups of milk and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Pour into a festive pitcher and then into glasses. Garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg on top.
43. Tree Trimming Party – Plan a tree trimming party! Invite family and close friends to share some treats and drinks, sing carols and decorate a Christmas tree. Ask everyone to bring one special ornament for the tree.
44. Fresh Cut Pine – Decorate your hallways and entrance ways with fresh cut pine. There is nothing like the smell of pine during the holidays.
45. Put It In The Mail – If you don’t get out all your Christmas greeting cards and packages in the mail by December 6th, you risk the chance of people not receiving them! Make sure your letter and packages have the proper mailing address and postal/zip codes on them. Always put your complete return address on the upper left hand corner of your mail.
46. Slumber Party – Plan a slumber party for your cousins and friends. Send out invitations early so arrangements can be made by the parents to make sure their kids are available for your party. Make sure you have fun treats and activities to do. Rent a Christmas movie to watch while snacking on popcorn snowmen.
47. Give Yourself A Present – After all your Christmas shopping is done, take the left over money and buy a present for yourself. Or, save your money in the year for a special present at Christmas. Wrap it up and put it under the tree.
48. Christmas Music – Play carols whenever you are doing something for Christmas. Trimming the tree, baking, cooking, house cleaning, wrapping gifts or filling out greeting cards. Have a cd or tape in the car too!
49. Display Greeting Cards – Hang a garland near your entrance way and hang the holiday card you receive. Guests will enjoy seeing their own cards displayed.
50. Scavenger Hunt – Get your friends together and go on a Christmas Scavenger Hunt!
51. Become a Secret Santa – Have your family or friends exchange names for Secret Santa fun! Each day or one day a week, leave a small surprise (candy, card, ornament, etc) with a note saying, “From your Secret Santa”. Reveal who you are on Christmas day!
52. Homemade Greetings – Make your own holiday cards this year! A homemade card will show how much thought you put into your family and friends and will be cherished for years to come. Greeting Card, Pop-up Card, Tree Greeting Card.
53. You’re A Great Teacher – Older kids might want to consider finding out what their teacher collects. How about a picture of you in a nice frame with your name and the date underneath. Add a card that tells the teacher how much you appreciate the effort they put forth for their class. for more ideas check out this site, Lesson Bank.
54. Kris Kringles – If you have online friends, set up a Kris Kringle program! It’s easy to do and will only take a minute or two a day to surprise your friend with something new right up until Christmas!
55. 12 Days of Christmas – Do you know the true meaning of the song? Let’s live it this Christmas!
56. Christmas Tree Facts – Learn all there is to know about the tradition of the Christmas Tree. It’s a tradition that started overseas.
57. Christmas Traditions – Traditions Around The World is a site that is a must see. I think it covers almost every country in the world!
58. Chocolate Logs – This is my mother’s recipe and it is to die for! We make it every Christmas and it is always one of the first treats to go.
59. Christmas Memory Game – Place an assortment of ornaments and decorations on a tray. Let the children study the tray for one minute. Cover the tray with a cloth. Tell the children how many items were on the tray and ask them to write down the items they remember. The person who remembers the most items wins!
60. The Night Before Christmas – It just isn’t Christmas without the traditional reading of The Night Before Christmas. Get your pyjamas’s on and curl up beside the fireplace with a glass of eggnog.
61. Keep The Tree Alive – Learn how to pick and have a perfect Christmas tree this year.
62. Gift Wrapping Ideas – Ten original gift wrapping ideas for the holiday season. You would be amazed at what you can do with things around the house.
63. Puzzle – Try and complete these holiday jigsaw puzzles. You can change the difficulty level and shape of the pieces for each puzzle.
64. Peanut Butter Rice Krispies – Add some peanut butter, corn syrup and chocolate icing to an old kids favorite to make something special this Christmas.
65. Stove Top Potpourri – Simmer a pot of water, orange peels and cinnamon sticks on the stove. Makes your kitchen and home smell like good home cooking.
66. Snowball Toss – Toss one at your friends and family. Great fun!
67. Chocolate Spoons – No hot chocolate is complete without a chocolate spoon to stir is with.
68. Decorate the Table – Turn your table into a Christmas centerpiece! Angel Placecards, Napkin Rings, Placemats, Reindeer Placemat.
69. Centerpiece – To create an easy centerpiece for your table this Christmas do the following. Get a garland that will fit nicely along the center of the table. String gold glitter beads through the garland. Get some clear bulbs and decorate them with glitter glue. Place the bulbs along the garland. Add a few festive bows. Place four candle holders in your garland. Place long tapered candles (gold, red or green) in the holders. The reflection from the flames make the glitter sparkle.
70. Melted Snowman – Give a funny gag gift to a friend or family member along with their real gift. Take a slightly round rock and paint it white. Paint on a snowman face, happy or sad. Add a little black hat made out of felt and two toothpicks or small twigs for arms and you have a melting snowman.
71. Art Supplies for Teachers – Did you know that teachers have to buy many supplies out of their own money?! A great gift for your teacher this year would be a decorative box filled with craft supplies. Thank the elves for dollar stores! You can find beautiful boxes and loads of craft supplies at a fraction of the price.
72. Gingerbread Open House – Take a look at these amazing gingerbread houses. Ginny’s Gingerbread House, Gingerbread Houses, La Tour Eiffel in Gingerbread, Gingerbread House Patterns.
73. The True Spirit Of Giving – Read O. Henry’s classic, “The Gift Of The Magi“. Learn the true meaning of unselfish love.
74. Go Carolling – Get family and friends together and head on out to your neighbour’s houses and sing carols at their front doors.
75. Treats For The Travelers – Santa and his Reindeer have a big job to do on Christmas Eve. Because they work so hard they get pretty hungry. Leave them a tasty treat this Christmas Eve. Try cookies, bars, fruit cake, carrots, apples, oats, milk, eggnog or juice!
76. Reindeer Food – Make sure Santa doesn’t pass your home today by spreading Reindeer food on your front lawn or balcony.
77. Take A Hay Ride – Ask your parents to plan a night of fun for you and your friends. Take along blankets, carolling books, hot chocolate and a camera.
78. Say Thank You – Traditionally December 27th is the day to write thank you cards to people who sent you gifts. Make sure you remember to thank your family too!
79. Exchanging Gifts – If you need to exchange a gift that is too big or small, remember that someone put thought into your gift. Don’t return the item for a refund and blow the money on candy or entertainment. Exchange it for the same thing or at least something similar. You don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings needlessly.
80. Christmas Tongue Twisters – Seven Santas sang silly songs. Sarah skis super slow. Running reindeer romp ’round red wreaths. Pretty packages perfectly packed in paper. Tiny Tim trims the tall tree with tinsel. Santa stuffs six striped stockings. Kris Kringle crunches candy canes. Clever Carol carries crimson candles carefully. Short shoppers shop for soft, short shirts. Santa’s sleigh slides on slick snow. Candy cane cookies keep kids coming. Comet cuddles cute Christmas kittens carefully.
81. Christmas Website – Have family send you photos, recipes and family greetings. Put them up on a website and build your own family holiday community online where family members can see what is going on with each other. Don’t have access to the Internet? That’s OK! Do the same thing but make a newspaper to send to family.
82. Make A Memory Book – Get a scrapbook and put together pictures, recipes, quotes, good deed lists, dried flowers, gift tags and anything else that made this Christmas special. Be sure to label the book with the proper year.
83. Feed The Birds – String popcorn and cranberries on thread and hang on a bush or tree. Spread pine cones with peanut butter, then roll or sprinkle in birdseed and hang on trees. This will provide fat for warmth. If you place these items where you can see them clearly from your window, you will enjoy watching as much as the birds enjoy eating.
84. Donate Non-Perishable Goods – There will be children this Christmas who will not receive a hot meal let alone presents. Collect Non-perishable goods from family and friends and donate them to local shelters and food drives.
85. Snow In July – Make a snowball and put it in the freezer. Bring it out July 4th and guess how long it will take to melt.
86. Rose Bowl Potpourri –
Rose Bowl
Potpourri
Strand of 15 mini-lights
Lace Doily
Holiday Ribbon
Place mini-lights in a rose bowl with cord hanging out the back. Fill with potpourri. Cover with lace doily. Use the ribbon to secure the doily in place. Plug in the mini-lights and room will be filled with the scent of potpourri.
87. Get Baking – Now is the time to join mom or dad in the kitchen and learn how to make all those family treats and meals that you love so much at Christmas. I bet your parents will appreciate the help in the kitchen.
88. A Real Tree – Instead of putting up an artificial tree this year, get mom and dad to take you out shopping for a real tree. The smell of pine is wonderful and makes your home even more festive!
89. ‘Tis The Time For Cleaning – Want to make mom and dad happier this holiday season? Do your house cleaning part! Keep your room clean and pick up after yourself. Offer to help with light house cleaning chores. The more time mom and dad has from doing the mundane, the more time they have for fun and games with you!
90. Don’t Forget Your Pets – Pets get a little anxious at Christmas time. So much is going on around them that it is confusing and sometimes they get forgotten. Make this Christmas something special for your pet. After all, they are family too.
91. Peanut Butter Squares – A must have for all the peanut butter lovers at Christmas. Peanut butter, marshmallows and coconut!
92. Snowman Pillow –
One white bed pillow
Stocking cap or toque
Scarf
Large Buttons
Orange felt scrap (cut in a carrot shape)
Pair of mittens
Hot Glue Gun (parents help required)
Glue a stocking cap to the top of a white bed pillow, pulling the corners of pillow under the cap. Tie a scarf around the pillow about 1/3 of the way down. Glue on button eyes and mouth. Glue nose to face. Glue buttons down the front. Glue mittens to the front for the arms. If you want, you can sew the things on the snowman and this way you can wash him when he’s dirty.
93. History of Santa – Educate yourself in the history of Santa. Learn all you can about where Santa came from and why he is so important to us today.
94. Stocking Stuffer Ideas – Sometimes thinking of things to put in a stocking is hard. Check out this page for dozens of stocking stuffer ideas!
95. Test Your Memory – Study the picture carefully. Then answer the questions.
96. Invitations – Having a Christmas party this year? Print out these holiday invitations to send to friends and family.
97. Coupon Books – Make a great stocking stuffer that family members will love. Print out a few pages of these coupons, staple them together and put them in mom and dad’s stockings this year.
98. Alphabet Booklets – These are a great for young children just learning to identify their ABC’s. These booklets can be printed out in color or black and white.
99. Carolling In The Shower – Make singing the in shower festive by making this cool holiday shower curtain!
100. Snow Angels – Lay down in the snow and move your arms up and down. Next, more your legs out and in. Get up carefully and see the angel you left in the snow.
101. Write to Santa – At least two weeks before Christmas, sit down at your desk or table and write a beautiful letter to Santa. Make sure you give your letter to mom and dad so they can make sure it gets to Santa in time!