One thing that we can always count on during the holiday season is that our kids will be out of school and looking for some things to do. The dilemma for a lot of parents is that while you definitely want your children to enjoy themselves, you also want to make sure that they at least do a little bit of learning in the process. That can be tough, but it’s certainly not impossible.
If you’re looking for some fun holiday activities that are also educational for children, we have five ideas that should work out perfectly for your child and even the “holiday kid” inside of you:
Make Christmas cards. Do you remember when you got out some construction paper, cotton balls and a few markers and made some Christmas cards for your grandparents while growing up? It’s something that family members never get tired of receiving from the children in their family. So, why not make it a project for your children? If they are old enough to go online, encourage them to look for creative ways to make cards from taking a picture and turning it into a postcard to making a mini-collage that they can send as a Christmas card/sentimental gift.
Teach them how to bake. Whether it’s a gingerbread house, some cookies with Santa Claus on them or some homemade candies, baking is a skill that a child can carry throughout their entire life. Plus, if you decide to make a cooking show out of it (by videotaping the baking experience) or holding a baking contest, it’s all the more reason why they’ll be excited to do it.
Handcraft some Christmas ornaments. The standard yellow, red and green balls that hang from the tree are OK, but it’s the handmade ornaments that really make the holidays special. There are plenty of websites online that can walk you through how to make all kinds of ornaments from things like Play-Doh and paper mache. All you need to do is go to your favorite search engine and put “how to make handmade Christmas ornaments” in the search engine.
Get out a map. Some families put up the Nativity scene in their homes. Others prefer to the magic of Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and their elves. Either way, these people/characters come from certain place whether it’s Bethlehem or the North Pole. Some of the top urban planning schools or elementary schools may have discussed these things already in class, but it could be fun to have your kids look these places up and then have them either do a small show-and-tell or a play at home to share some of the things that they discovered.
Share a gift. The sooner that a child learns about the power of charity, the more of a blessing that they can be to others within their community and abroad. One way that you can teach a child about the power of giving is to have them provide you with a list of what they would like for Christmas. After you have narrowed down a couple of options, then ask them who they would like to give an identical gift to who may be less fortunate. It could be a child at their school or a non-profit organization in the community. Soon, they will not just find themselves excited about receiving, but giving to others as well. Something that we all know is one of the greatest reasons for the holiday season.
This is a guest post written specifically for this site. Opinions expressed are of the author.
