Christmas Fun With The Little Ones

I hear those bells jingling now! Christmas is in a couple of weeks and if you have a little one like I do, they are bursting with excitement. There are so many fun activities you can do with your preschooler during the Christmas season.

Here are a few ideas on some Christmas fun to share with your little one.

Give Them Their Own Tree

Most likely you have a tree in the living room or family room that your whole family decorates together. This is great fun, but if you have little ones hanging ornaments may not be so easy for them. This year I bought my daughter a miniature tree of her own. I went to a value store and bought a small tree for $4.99 then I hit the Dollar Store and bought some unbreakable ornaments and tiny lights. I probably spent about $10-$11.00. She had a blast decorating her own tree in her room. Little kids will love having their own tree to add their personal touches to.

Advent Calendar

Advent Calendars are a great way for your kids to count down the days until Christmas. Young children have a different concept of time than we do, so the calendar is a great way for them to count down to Christmas. Behind each door on the calendar I put a small piece of candy, like a Hershey Kiss. This year we also added a piece of straw behind each door. Every day she eats a piece of candy she takes out a piece of straw and builds a bed that will be completed on Christmas for a small figurine of baby Jesus.

Good Deed Game

This game is done with the straw and has the same concept as the above activity. Basically, your child needs to do a good deed to get a piece of straw to build Jesus’ bed. The deed can be as simple as helping a sibling clean up or helping you in the kitchen. For every good deed they get a piece of straw and by Christmas you have a bed for the baby Jesus. You can use a small baby doll to represent Jesus in the manger.

Make Christmas Cards or Gifts

Grab some art supplies and have your child create Christmas cards to put on the gifts. Relatives love homemade cards! One year I gave Anya canvas and paints and she painted a picture on canvas for each of our family members as gifts. They loved it! It was a gift from the heart that cost little to no money, but meant a lot.

Throw a Baking Party

All kids love to bake cookies and what better time than the Christmas season. Call some friends over and have a baking party. Now, four year olds and baking may be recipe for disaster so keep the number of children to a minimum, my suggestion is 3-4 kids. Make some sugar cookie dough beforehand, get out the Christmas cookie cutters and let the kids cut out the shapes and decorate the cookies with frosting and sprinkles. Purchase a few small baskets from a dollar store and have them fill it up with cookies and exchange them with their friends. This is a yummy way to nurture their gift of giving.

There are a number of activities that you can do with your preschooler that will invoke the Christmas spirit. During the season read the story of the birth of Jesus on a regular basis. If you have a manger display you may want to act the story out with the figurines. Do good deeds together. Take time to cozy up, watch the tree lights, and sip on hot chocolate with your little one this Christmas season.

Copyright © Chere Williams, Moms of Faith, All Rights Reserved