It’s the most wonderful time of year! While the children will most likely just want to head straight for the day itself with all the fun of opening presents and Santa’s arrival, but there are so many fun seasonal Christmas activities for kids to enjoy in the coming weeks. We’ve picked 50 for you to choose from, guaranteed to keep your little elves happy!

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We’ve compiled a free checklist for these Christmas activities so you can work your way through them and keep track of all your favourite family fun!

You can download the Christmas activities checklist here – don’t forget to make note of your favourites!

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50 Christmas Activities for Kids

Make Pine Cone Decorations

Collect pine cones, dry them out and then decorate with either glue and glitter, white paint with glitter mixed in or spray paints. You could try these simple pine cone crafts or use them as part of your table decorations.

Make a Mantelpiece Christmas Advent Decoration

You will need 4 white or red church style candles, candle holders, then assorted holly or other greenery, ivy leaves are nice too, set up the 4 candles along the mantelpiece and wrap the greenery around the candles. Decorate with bits of tinsel or glitter to make them sparkle. Light a new candle on the 4 Sundays before Christmas.

Make Edible Christmas presents

From chocolate treats and cookies to sauces, here are some fun homemade food gifts to try. Of course you’ll need to make a few batches to practice and test before you do the real ones…!

Make Santa Ornaments

This cute lolly-pop stick Santa ornament is made out of only a few items (8 miniature lollipop sticks, paint, cardboard, glue and some string), but the result is fab.

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Paint a Handprint Snowflake

Paint 6 handprints in a circle but not overlapping. With your finger draw 3 white lines to connect the opposite prints and make a star shape.

Christmas Tree Walk

Wrap up well and go for an evening walk to look at all the neighbours’ Christmas decorations, lights and trees.

Make Mulled Drinks

Why not mix up some mulled wine for adults and some spiced apple juice for kids. This will really get the house smelling delicious! Here’s a lovely recipe for non-alcoholic Hot Mulled Cider.

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Make Christmas Trees

Use paint, toilet rolls, and a few decorations to make this lovely Christmas ornament craft to give as a gift to family and friends! This is a great project for a winter’s day.

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Wrap Presents

Get creative with your Christmas present wrapping styles this year, and get the kids involved to help make it a new festive tradition. We always pop on a movie and have a few treats while we wrap the pile of gifts!

See the Christmas Lights

Go see the Christmas lights in your nearby village or town or city. Or if you know of nearby householders that decorate their house and garden with fancy Christmas lights, take a drive by to “ooh and aah” at them.

Go Ice Skating

Head off to one of the ice skating venues located around the country and enjoy some ice skating. Many of them have special kiddie rinks and penguins to hold onto if your child is new to ice skating.

Make a Penguin Mask

Here’s a quick and easy paper plate penguin mask craft for little kids. All you need are 2 paper plates, yellow card or paper, Glue, Scissors and Elastic!

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Sing some Christmas Carols

See how many Christmas Carols you can remember the words to and enjoy some carolling together!

Watch Christmas Movies together

Christmas time is all about snuggling up in front of a cosy fire and watching a festive movie! Here’s 39 Great Family Christmas Movies, as picked by Mykidstime parents.

Bake Christmas Cookies

Have fun making some Christmas Cookies together. Try these White Chocolate & Cranberry cookies, or we have lots more festive ideas in 10 Easy Christmas Cookies

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Watch ‘The Snowman’

Settle down, snuggle up and watch the wonderful animated movie, The Snowman – one of the best Christmas films!

Enjoy Games Together

Are you on the hunt for ways to entertain the kids during the festive season? With plenty of holiday parties in the works, having some fun Christmas party games for kids up your sleeve is a good idea. And, let’s face it, a party is always more fun with games – no matter what age the players!

Make a Gingerbread House

Make an old fashioned gingerbread house. Or how about making a whole Gingerbread Village?!

Make Homemade Bird Treats

Be kind to our feathered friends by making some homemade bird treats for them.

Create a Christmas Play

Have the children put on a Christmas play or a puppet show. (Don’t forget to film it!)

Visit Santa

Make a special trip to see Santa. Check out our 50 Magical Places to See Santa in Ireland this year.

Buy and Donate a Toy

Buy and donate a toy to a local children’s charity or to your local hospital.

Read Some Christmas Books

From the classics to new favourites, give bedtime a Christmas makeover with one of these magical Christmas books.

Don’t forget to check your local library for their Christmas books to help keep costs down.

Make Cards and Gifts for Teachers

Do you buys gifts for your child’s teacher, minder or coach? Here are some great gift suggestions that are sure to bring a smile!

Make Special Cards

Use stamps, glitter, paints and create a special set of Christmas cards to send or give to family and friends.

Make an Orange Pomander

Make an orange pomander studded in the pattern of your choice with cloves as a special gift or to give an amazing festive scent to your home. Perfect for getting you in the Christmas mood!

Send Christmas Cards

Share the workload and have an assembly line going to write and address this year’s Christmas Cards. Youngers kids could help lick stamps or tick off the list.

Make a Christmas Newsletter

For your friends and family abroad, why not create a short newsletter that can be printed and included in your Christmas cards to update them on your family’s news.

Make Reindeer Food

Make your own magical reindeer food by combining some porridge oats and edible glitter in a decorated envelope to help Rudolph and the other reindeer find your house. Then on Christmas Eve, sprinkle the reindeer food outside your home and head to bed to await a treat in the morning!

Make Gingerbread Men

Make your own gingerbread men and decorate them. Gingerbread men are fun to make, decorate and eat – and they make the house smell deliciously Christmassy too, so there’s no excuse not to have a go!

Create a Snow Globe

Using a jam jar, glitter, some baby oil (to make the glitter fall more slowly), water and any little Christmas decoration figure e.g. a snowman. Glue figure to the inside of the lid, add glitter & baby oil and fill up to water (allow room for your figure). Screw lid on tightly and shake!

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Make Christmas Present Gift Tags

Make your own Christmas gift tags with a fun reuse and recycle craft project. Cut up last year’s Christmas cards (use a craft scissors with a decorative edge if you have one), make a hole with a hole punch, and thread through some ribbon.

Make Reindeer Poop

Reindeer Poop makes a funny gift for the kids’ friends (and some family members!).

Get a clean jar with a lid, fill with chocolate covered raisins or Maltesers, decorate with stickers/ribbons, then attach a label saying Reindeer Poop.

Another fun alternative is a jar filled with white marshmallows, labelled as Snowman poo!

Make a Dish for Christmas Dinner

Get each child to make a part of the Christmas dinner, many things can be made in advance and frozen or stored.

They feel such a sense of achievement and part of the festivities when they serve their contribution. e.g. Christmas Pudding, Cranberry Sauce, stuffing, bread sauce, trifle, soup, or something sweet for dessert.

You could also have fun naming your favourite Christmas recipes after a family member e.g. Teresa’s Terrific Trifle or Sammy’s Sage Stuffing!

Christmas Colouring

Print off some Christmas colouring pages, get out all the pens and crayons and set up a colouring station at the kitchen table. Then set up an Art Gallery once the fabulous pictures are finished to show them off to other family members.

Crack Some Christmas Jokes

See who can tell the funniest Christmas Joke that gets everyone giggling or rolling about laughing. The winning joke is the one that gets the most laughs! Here are some Christmas jokes to get you started!

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Make a Christmas Magazine

Set up a family News Desk at the kitchen table!

• Decide on what stories are going to go in the magazine. Could be a profile of someone in the family, maybe an interview with a grandparent, will someone take photos or draw pictures.  Maybe there could be a fun corner with a puzzle or a joke in it.
• Decide on what story or item will go on what page, maybe write down on a mini magazine plan on a sheet of paper.
• Gather together the materials you’ll need to make up the magazine: paper, pens, photos, any other materials to decorate the magazine.
• Have fun putting the magazine together!

Follow Santa’s Progress on Christmas Eve

As the excitement builds on Christmas Eve with the imminent arrival of Santa Claus, one fun thing to do with your child is to see exactly where Santa is on his global journey. We asked Mykidstime parents what Santa trackers they use so here are the best Santa tracker websites guaranteed to make Christmas Eve extra fun!

Try Out Christmas Apps

Try out some of Christmas Apps available for smartphones or Tablets.  Here are 5 Christmas Apps reviewed by Mykidstime parents.

Head to the Panto or a Christmas Concert

There is always a local panto near you to enjoy with the kids over the holidays. Get practising your Boos and “He’s Behind You”‘s!

Read “The Night Before Christmas”

Get everyone in their PJs with some hot chocolate or warm milk and read the old classic “The Night Before Christmas“.

Have a Clear Out to Make Room For New Presents

In the run up to Christmas, it’s a great excuse to have a good clear out to make room for new presents and drop off old unwanted ones to a charity shop.

Turn Your Shed into a Santa Grotto

For a bit of festive fun, turn your garden shed into a Santa Grotto – your kids will love it, and you will be the talk of the neighbourhood!

Collect Holly

Take some scissors, a shopping bag and some gardening gloves, put on the warm boots and coats and head off to collect some holly at a woods or hedgerow near you. This is such a lovely seasonal plant to show off by your Christmas candles or as a centrepiece for your Christmas table.

Go Star Spotting

Bundle up warmly and head outside to see if you can spot the stars as the weather becomes colder and the skies are clearer and darkness falls earlier so you should get the ideal conditions on a clear night to see some of the constellations.

Make Your Own Mince Pies

Have a go at making your own mincemeat and mince pies! These little gems are delicious warm with a cuppa or as an easy Christmas dessert with cream.

Make a Family Christmas Video Message

Make a special family Christmas video message to send to relatives abroad. Smilebox is also nice for making personalised photo style e-cards with music.

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