50 things to do at Christmas {25 Days of Christmas}

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear. ~Elf

Ooohhhhhh my goodness!! I.  LOVE.  CHRISTMAS.  I really, really ..... really ..... love Christmas. I always have. To me, the whole month of December is just magic. I love the family togetherness; the cold, bundle-up weather; the fires; the food; the music and singing; the cookie-making; the movies; the laughing people; the presents. I love that people slow down and pause long enough to be extra kind to their neighbors and friends.

And I love contemplating how all of this peace and goodwill is because of God's amazing love for us in coming to be with us in such a visible and vulnerable way. A baby. God could have come to us in a way that demanded our attention, but instead, He chose to to enter this world the same way we do -- totally dependent on a mother. He entered in such a humble way among humble people -- our King and Savior. Wow! It's really mind-blowing.

Because this time of year is so special to me, I love to celebrate for WEEKS. Last year for the first time, we did 25 Days of Christmas for the whole month of December leading up to Christmas Day. My husband still talks about how much he loved it, and I know we're creating memories that the kids will have for years to come. Pretty much every day we did something, whether it was a simple craft or riding the Christmas train or baking treats. It was more fun than I've ever had!

One thing that I learned though is that kind of thing doesn't just happen. It requires lots of planning and coordinating! And really, all that needs to happen in November (any homemade gifts of course have to start way before that!). Here at DefrumpMe, we are going to have our own 25 Days of Christmas this year -- every day from December 1 through Christmas Day, we will be posting about something fun we are doing to celebrate this joyful time of year. So if you'd like to be involved, start making your lists and filling up your calendars now! I thought I would list some ideas to get your mind going. Some of these are pretty standard traditions, but maybe some of them will be new to you. I'm hoping to squeeze them all in! :-)

After you compile your list of ideas, sit down with your family and rate them on a scale of 1 to 5. Find out what they would like to do, and make those things your priorities.

Christmas Activities

For those of you around Northwest Arkansas, I included some links and dates to local events. Look for this information in the small gray text. All events are free unless I indicate otherwise.

1. Create a CD, Pandora station, or iPod playlist with your favorite Christmas songs. Have it ready as background music for all the other fun stuff you're going to do! 
2. On Thanksgiving afternoon, start a new tradition of making Christmas ornaments. Imagine trimming your tree when your kids are teenagers and looking back at those little ornaments you made so long ago!
3. Participate in Angel Tree or another charity drive where you and your family get a chance to give to others. (Watch for Susan's post about this, coming soon)
   Locally, check out the Cobblestone Project for great ways to volunteer.
4. Movie night with favorite Christmas treats. Actually, Christmas movies all month long!! :-) 
5. Some of our favorite Christmas movies:
   A Charlie Brown Christmas
   The Nativity Story
   The Muppet Christmas Carol
   How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the old cartoon!)
   White Christmas (can't include my husband here, ha!)
   I also have a lot of new ones I want to try this year!
6. Take your little kids to the dollar store to pick out gifts for their siblings.
7. Have a cookie decorating party. This is a long-standing tradition in our family!
8. Get family pictures taken.
9. Go out for a cheap dinner (pizza at Sam's? Favorite BBQ?). Keep it the same every year (for tradition's sake!), and then drive around and look at lights. Research ahead of time to see if there are any extra wild and wonderful light displays in your area.
   In Springdale, check out the Hull House



Annual cookie decorating 2008. Sara (bottom left) was such a baby! Oh my!!

10. Visit a Living Nativity.
    Rolling Hills Baptist Church in Fayetteville has a great one, including camel rides, dress-up, and snacks. This year it's on December 3
11. Attend your local Christmas parade. Or, make your own parade at home!
    Rodeo of the Ozarks "The Spirit of Christmas" Parade on November 26 at 6pm
    Rogers Christmas Parade on December 5 from 7-8:30pm
12. Visit a tree farm and choose and/or cut down your own tree.
13. If you are within a few-hours drive of Branson, Missiouri, visit Silver Dollar City. Their Christmas celebration is fantastic. This is one of the pricier things you can do, but SO fun!!!
14. Go on a train ride.
    Arkansas Missouri Railroad Christmas Train from Springdale to Rogers - 45 mins; $10 for adults, $5 for kids 4+
15. Decorate a gingerbread house.
16. Check your local botanical gardens for any Christmas events.
    Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks GardenLand Express; $4 per person age 5+, weekends starting November 20. Also a pajama party Dec 16 at 6p
17. Make a Christmas card for a soldier.
18. Have a Minivan (or SUV/Sedan ;-) Express! Watch Polar Express, or another Christmas train movie. Then, after putting kids to bed early (but before they fall asleep!), gather them up and present them with their golden ticket while the conductor (dad) whisks them off to the car for more lights and Christmas music. (More about that here)
19. Decorate your Christmas tree while sipping hot chocolate and listening (and dancing!) to Christmas music. My husband and I still have small children, so we like to make this a date night after the kids are in bed. We leave the bottom portion of the tree empty for the kids to add some ornaments later.
20. Let grandma take the kids shopping for Mom and Dad, while said parents enjoy a dinner out during the busy holiday season.
21. Bake a Christmas treat and visit an elderly relative or church member who needs encouragement.
22. If you make New Year's resolutions, write them on a slip of paper and put them in your stocking. Next year you can see how you did!
23. This one is just for the girls -- have sparkling cider and give each other pedicures! Or Mom gets to do them all if your girls are too small. :-) Christmas music and/or a movie is a must!
24. Go shopping for Christmas ornaments. Each person can pick out a favorite ornament, or one that represents a special interest or event that year. We like doing this while our local Hobby Lobby is having their half-price ornament sale (usually right after Thanksgiving).
25. Attend a Christmas play or musical production put on by another church. (And the little kids get to do something fun and new in the church Sunday school!)
26. Make Christmas cards for friends and families.
27. Let the kids open a present on Christmas Eve -- new pajamas! Not only is this a fun tradition, but it ensures they will be dressed in cute pjs for Christmas morning pictures. :-)
28. Visit your town square if they decorate for Christmas. We are fortunate here to have a very festive, fun town that takes part in the Lights of the Ozarks with literally millions of Christmas lights, hot chocolate, carriage rides, and more.
29. Have a simple potluck Christmas party with some of your best family friends.



Our sad-but-oh-so-happy little gingerbread train last year

30. Bake a birthday cake for Jesus. Our church even has a birthday party for Jesus where we all bring gifts needed at the church and the children open them. It is such a fun tradition!
31. Read the Christmas story from Luke on Christmas Eve.
32. Have a special, traditional Christmas breakfast that your family will say, "It's just not Christmas unless we eat......" For us, this breakfast is cinnamon rolls, quiche, and fruit salad.
33. Have a "sleepover" around the Christmas tree. Lay out pallets on the floor, watch Christmas movies, and eat special treats. Then carry the kids to their beds as they nod off.
34. On Christmas Day, give the family a new game. Then play it that afternoon! 
35. Put on a simple Christmas skit of some kind and video tape it. Imagine the hilarious and nostalgic video marathons this will create in years to come!
36. Go Christmas caroling at a nursing home. (Be sure to call ahead to arrange this.)
37. Dress up for a fancy, candlelight Christmas dinner one night. Even if it's just for chicken nuggets.
38. Make Christmas crafts and homemade decorations (look for another post coming soon!).
39. Sing Christmas carols around the piano or guitar after dinner one evening.
40. Attend a local Christmas concert or ballet. This one probably won't be free!
    The Walton Arts Center has lots going on this year! The symphony is doing a Christmas Pops concert, and the Nutcracker will be on, as well as It's a Wonderful Life. Check other local theaters too.
41. Drop the kids off at grandma's or a babysitter's, and attend a candlelight service with your hubby.
    {JBU Candlelight Service Dec 8-10, 6:30p}
42. Attend a special event at your library. They are bound to have fun stuff! Our library even has a gingerbread decorating party.
    Other local library events: Kindersongs Family Christmas Musical Show (Fay)
43. Paint ornaments at a local pottery store. (Be sure to plan this enough ahead of time to allow for the glazing and firing -- usually about a week.)
    Locally, we have Crafty Cottage in Bentonville
44. Give each child a new ornament that represents something important they did that year -- started soccer or ballet, got braces. :-) I have a friend who gave her kids an ornament shaped like Texas, because they had moved there that year. This is another great, nostalgic tradition.
45. Amber's family did a twist on the white elephant game when she was growing up. Gifts that ranged anywhere from an old shoe to a DVD player were wrapped and bid on (each person started out with 15 $1 bills). Of course, you didn't know what you were bidding on! Sounds like tons of fun!!
46. Have a Christmas party full of fun, minute-to-win-it games. The games are simple enough that kids can do it. See how another blogger did this here. Totally going to do it this year!
47. Elf your neighbors and friends!
48. Have a "favorite things" party with your girlfriends.
49. If you have small children, wrap up your favorite Christmas books. Open and read one each night. If you have older children, pick a favorite Christmas book (like The Christmas Carol) and read a little bit each night around the Christmas tree.
50. Set up candles (or Christmas lights, if you're concerned about safety) in your bathroom, and give the kids a candlelight bubble bath. Or take one yourself! :-)  (Susan's 5-year-old daughter still talks about this one!)

But most of all, keep in mind that anything can be a special event if you make it that way. As the moms, we can give our children and families the precious gift of joy and peace at Christmas. And we can also ruin what should be the happiest time of the year! So lets resolve together this year that we are going to have a fun, peaceful, joyful, Christ-filled season, however that may look in our homes.

Do you have any favorite Christmas traditions or plans?

Follow my Christmas board on Pinterest to keep up with everything I'm finding on the internet!

Linking up at:

New Nostalgia's Anti-Procrastination Tuesday
Raising Arrows
Homemaker on a Dime's Blog Hop