The countdown to Christmas is still going strong at our house. Of course, we’re celebrating a bit differently this year. Even without some of our favourite activities like: The Santa Claus Parade, visits with our close relatives and loved ones, festive holiday parties and all of our Christmas event traditions – we’re still bound and determined to make it as cozy, magical and full of holiday family connection as any other year would be.
In hopes of helping you and yours to find as much joy in the season, we wanted to share our official family list of 30 ‘Must Do’s’ to make the holiday season more magical!
Fun note: They can all be done inside the home or out in nature – whatever feels right!
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1. Make paper chains and cut-out snowflakes to hang up all over the house;
2. Make and decorate a gingerbread house;
3. Collect pine cones, paint and decorate them and make into mini Christmas trees;
4. Play Christmas-themed charades;
5. Catch up and eat a bunch of treats from your advent calendar (if you missed a few days). If the kids are all caught up and the parents aren’t – maybe let them indulge in an extra treat… this will put a smile on their faces, for sure;
6. Watch ‘The Nutcracker’ virtually as a family;
7. Make a Christmas wreath;
8. Make and decorate GF gingerbread cookies (check out our family recipe here);
9. Make more paper chains and hang them over the windows;
10. Make personalized ornaments (get a kit or just go DIY-style);
11. Watch back-to-back Christmas movies;
12. Come up with a Christmas kindness family project that allows you to give back to your community/those in need;
13. Make GF Bits & Bites (we just posted Jenn Grant’s family recipe to our Instagram highlights – head over there to check it out);
14. Go for a night tour to look at all of the Christmas lights in your neighbourhood;
15. Draw snowflakes and holly with chalk all over your sidewalk or driveway (as long as there isn’t a layer of snow covering it – haha);
16. Make a Christmas gnome in your yard using a tomato cage and hats/fabric you have around the house (tip: potatoes work perfectly as gnome noses);
17. Have a Christmas-themed scavenger hunt;
18. Play board games;
19. Have a fire and make roasted candy cane s’mores;
20. Do some Christmas baking and make tins of goodies for all of your neighbours to drop off at a safe distance – this is sure to make them smile! If you’re short on time, you can use the cookies from our Holiday Cookie Package as a base and just decorate them with icing and sprinkles;
21. Make beaded candy canes with pipe cleaners;
22. Watch a holiday parade or a Parade of Lights from a past year virtually;
23. Make dried fruit garland;
24. Make and decorate sugar cookies;
25. Make an outdoor birch tree reindeer;
26. Drink hot chocolate (our fave flavour is candy cane);
27. Go for a Christmas hike and decorate a tree for the birds and squirrels with ornaments from nature;
28. Wrap your holiday gifts with craft paper and decorate with stamps and ribbon;
29. Have a sleepover underneath the Christmas tree;
30. Decorate the table with Christmas decorations and have a family bubble holiday party in the middle of the day!
Just a few ideas to bring the magic back to the holidays, even if we’re still stuck dealing with this pandemic. What’s on your holiday ‘must-do’ list?
Stay safe out there, everyone. Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
Love,
The Brunn Family
Jen, Aidan, Asha, Sadie & Teddy (our puppy)
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