3 VERY seasonal activities to entertain the kids with over the next few weeks

Looking for some new activities?

Trine Jensen-Burke

It’s almost December, and the countdown to Christmas has begun.

In homes across the country, children are getting restless waiting for Santa to arrive, and, as us mums know, it can be rather tricky to keep them from climbing the walls (and put a firm stop to your decorating, shopping and wrapping efforts while they are at it).

But if your tots are driving you bonkers right about now, fear not; we got you. Here are three easy peasy Christmas activities to get them involved in – that will hopefully make the time until Christmas pass just that little bit quicker.

1. Throw a cookie decorating party

Baking with kids can be a total head-wreck, so we suggest that you whip up the actual cookies for this yourself (or even better; BUY THEM!). Then all you have to do is cover the table, set it with your most Christmas-y crockery and let the kids go to town with frosting, sprinkles and edible glitter.

TIP: Aim to let them do three-four cookies each, that is PLENTY.

TIP 2: Use brown paper as an easy and disposable table cloth. Use a white marker to draw on placemats and label with each kid’s name.

TIP 3: Keep decor holiday-themed by choosing frosting, decor and sprinkles in red, green and white.

(Image via CamilleStyles.com)

2. Make food for Santa’s reindeers

This is another great activity that your kids will LOVE. Bonus: This Reindeer Food is actually for humans, and is all sorts of crunchy and gooey at the same time. Even better? It takes 10 minutes, and is the perfect sweet party favour!

Reindeer Food Christmas Recipe

1 box Golden Grahams Cereal
1 (11.5 oz) bag chocolate chip
1 bag Marshmallows
3 tablespoons of butter
¾ Cup maple syrup
½ cup red M&Ms

Instructions

In a large bowl empty the cereal box and put aside.
In a pot, mix the maple syrup, butter and chocolate chips. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring often.
Remove from the heat and pour the chocolate mixture on the cereal. Add the marshmallows right away to the cereal and mix all together until the marshmallows melt. Some of the marshmallows may not melt all the way and that’s fine.
Top with red M&Ms to give it a festive look!

(Image via The36thAvenue.com)

3. Make these adorable baubles for the tree

Christmas is THE time to participate in some cute DIY projects and festive crafts, and we are LOVING how cute and easy these arctic animal baubles are. Seriously. Put on the Christmas jammies, set up your dining table as a North Pole craft station and away you go. Only your imagination is stopping you on this one.

TIP: Art and hobby shops will more than likely have clear, empty plastic baubles like these. If not, Etsy is your friend.

TIP 2: Cover your table in brown paper (craft paper) and write instructions for the task ahead directly onto the paper.

(Images via KelleHampton.com)

So cute and easy, we bet adults will love getting their DIY on too!

PERFECT for our tree!

Have you any fun and festive crafts or activities you get the kids involved with in the lead-up to Christmas? Send us an e-mail and let us know at Trine.Jensen@Herfamily.ie

(Feature image via KelleHampton.com)