100 Activities for families for over the Christmas Holidays.... that DON'T involve a screen!

The holidays are almost upon us. That 'time off' that we've been so desperate for is nearly here but also so is no childcare time. We are the entertainers and the worst part is we are so so busy ourselves!

More and more of us are relying on the good old TV and Tablet for 5 minutes peace... Except it isn't 5 minutes is it, because as soon as they are on it they are ON IT and they DO NOT want to come off it. So then you feel the guilt settling in... good old guilt....

We know deep down (and also not so deep down) that the research is there:

Children who spend excessive amount on devices are more likely to struggle to regulate behaviour, are more likely to be irritable, it will disrupt their social interactions and can lead to sleep problems.

(Research taken from www.alinahealth.org)

But, todays world is difficult to navigate without them almost. Children see us on our phones a lot because we are replying to messages, many of us use them for work, it entertains them.

Weirdly, our children almost don't know what it is to be bored.

(Which is another post for another day)

OK, so we know they aren't great so let's see if there are some other things that we could do with our children.

I've created a list of activities to do not just over the holidays, but if you are feeling that you want to really try to have break from screens hopefully this will help!

100 easy activities for over the Christmas holidays…

Activities to do together

1.  Go into your loft/garage and find a box with old ‘stuff’ in. Your old junk is a child’s treasure – let them explore and ask questions.

2. Get some cardboard tubes or boxes (check your recycling) and poke some holes in them, Find a ball or marble and challenge your child/children to create a marble run!

3. Warmer/colder   Child closes their eyes and you hide an object in the room, if they are near it say ‘warmer’ if further away ‘colder.’ Extend this if you have an older child by saying ideas like ‘oooh oven hot, hot as Spain, cold as Antarctica.'

4. Sort your socks into pairs – take out all of your socks from all family members drawers and sort them into matching pairs – make it a race, who can do the most.

5.  Make a blanket den fort. Cushions, chairs pillows all the fun things. Invite the toys in.

6.  Make an art/paint wall – use your big cardboard boxes from Christmas and let them draw or if brave paint on it! If it’s massive let them go in it and draw inside! They’ll love it!

7.  Go old fashioned! Draw a map or picture, stain the paper with tea bag water (...tea/coffee).

8.  Make an easy bird feeder, really all you need is thick butter/lard/peanut butter and a bit of bird seed to roll it in or old cereal crushed up should work ok too. Hang it up – they’ll come!

9.     Make a board game together – an absolute favourite in our family. Let them pick the topic and create the places. Use ideas such as miss a turn, go forward 2 spaces, roll a 6 to continue etc

10. Blow up a balloon and see how long you can keep it in the air for.

11. Tallest tower – each go and get 5 objects from your house and see if together you can make them into a tower. Continue going to get more until your tower topples.

12. Baking – super simple recipes like shortbread, let them get involved and remember it is more about the process than the result.

13. Make some parachutes using tissues, hankies (are they still a thing?), or small plastic bags/materials, tie a toy figure under.

14.  Make some playdough together: here is my super easy recipe: 8 tbsp plain flour, 2 tbsp salt, mix together… separately make 60ml water + 1 tbsp veg oil (plus any scent or food colouring now), add together and knead, it should last a few weeks especially if kept in the fridge or airtight container.

15. Freeze some small toys overnight in different size containers (foil tins are great for this) take out of the mould and let them try to get the toys out using paint brushes, syringes (old calpol ones work well) and if brave – tools!

16. Get out their old toys – the ones stored in the attic or under beds etc and let them have a look through, create a donate pile and keep pile ( useful but they’ll also enjoy the sorting)

17. Create a balance scale using a coat hanger and two pieces of string tied to containers – old plant pots work well if you have them and can poke a hold in the top. Challenge your child to find things that balance -  the same weight.

18. Make a sensory bottle together – put rice or oats in and add some small things to find like a marble, straw, let them choose. Sellotape it up to stop it being messy.

19. Make play snow – mix two parts baking soda to one part white hair conditioner. Add some diggers and characters and you’ve made yourself a small world!

20. Draw some small pictures on a piece of paper. Keep it simple, maybe Christmassy. Then use a glass container dish (rectangular) and add a small amount of water and dark food colouring until you can’t see through it. Place the dish on top of the paper with the pictures on it. Use a straw and encourage your child to blow to see what pictures they can find. Or (and I can never get this to work) use a glass cup and place into the water, it should create a spy glass type effect!

21. Make some potions! Use food colouring, bit of glitter and add vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Use those old calpol syringes again or pipettes if you have them!

22. Heavy lifting (is actually really great for children as it works their gross motor skills) – find some old tyres or logs etc in your shed and transport them from A to B. If you have a wheel barrow great. If not carrying should be fine.

23. Make movable mini car using a roll, sticks and lids, decorate.

24. On an old wallpaper roll or large piece of paper draw car parking spots at either end and different tracks such as waves, zig zags, wiggles and practise driving toy cars from one end to another.

25. Grab your old CDs (if you still have any) and torches and practise reflecting light – can they catch it?

26. Similarly, if you have any glass, practise refracting light and see which direction you can make it go?

27. Cornflour 1  Slime! Cornflour (sometimes known as oobleck) can make like a slime type substance. 2 parts cornflour to 1 part water should work, add food colouring to the water to change consistency.

28. Cornflour 2  Fluffy! Add shaving foam and cornflour together and knead it to make fluffy slime!

29. Go on a sound walk – what can you hear in different areas?

30. Play blending games like I can see a b oo k and a l igh t. Can your child point to them or walk to them in the room? See if they can have a go too.

31. Make some mud kitchen meals – Our mud kitchen recipes come free with our Marvellous Mud Kitchens course see our mud kitchen recipes!

32. Have a toy tea party. Set it up with a blanket, cushions, cups, plates, cutlery. Decide who you are inviting, make invites set it up and provide some real snacks for your child.

33. Make paper aeroplanes and see how far you can fly them!

34. Practise throwing and catching a ball!

35. Make and fly a kite! Chances are there will be a windy day!

36. Go on a stick walk – one of my favourite things to do. Pick up different sticks and take them home, lay them out in order. Whoever has found the longest wins!

37. Create a home library. Practise sorting your books e.g. animals, monsters, pirates, princesses and create a pretend stamper or put mini sticker dots on each so that they have a system.

38. Clean out your cutlery draw. Do all the forks have matching knives (safe ones), how many spoons do you have? How many do you have of each item. – This is a good time for discussions about what your unusual utensils do. E.g. nutcrackers, potato mashers

39. Threading. Hole punch some holes in some felt or pieces of materials and then provide a piece of string and let them thread through – OR use your colander!

40. If you have window or chalk pens – try drawing (very simple) pictures on pieces of paper and stick it to the other side of your window so children can trace with window pens. Great to make a snowy scene.

41. Matchbox walk (or mini box walk) take a mini box with you on a walk and get your child to fill it with mini treasures. Matchboxes are fun for children because of the sliding motion but Tupperware boxes would work well too!

42. If you go for a walk around your local area, take a penny with you and let the heads or tails decide which direction that you should go (to a point).

43. When it gets dark it’s so fun to go and look at the Christmas lights where you live. Go on a lantern or a torch walk. Make a mini lantern and put a battery tea light inside. (You can make lanterns out of 2L plastic bottles, chop the top off and decorate with tissue paper or stickers)

44. Make salt dough ornaments.  250g plain flour, 125g table salt, 125ml water  Heat your oven to a really low setting, mix the flour and salt then add the water. Roll out and cut out different shapes (remember to make a hole if hanging). Make a circle and get your child to do a handprint – especially if little, is always a nice one. Lots of inspiration out there on pinterest. Bake for three hours. When cool you can paint them and hang them on your tree.

45. Don’t spill – this is a very fun game to play together as a family. Put a large glass or beaker in a tray and each of you takes it in turns to fill the cup with water. Whoever spills loses. It’s great for thinking about capacity and also control. You could use water bottles to fill or syringes near the end to make it easier.

46. Make some paper snowflakes. The trick is to always start with a square. Fold and keep folding until you make a small triangle then take little snips. Unfold and you’ll end up with some great snowflakes! Look at tutorials if you are struggling.

47. Snowball fight! Crumple up some white paper or wrapping paper and each have a certain amount. Sit at either end of a room and maybe create a barrier defence each (sofa cushions should work well). Then aim and throw – lots of fun!

48. Ice ramp – put some toys in ice or just use ice. Get some kitchen foil and create a ramp using card or wood if you have it – the ice should help it to slide.

49. What’s in the box? Put an item into an empty cereal box and ask your child/children to guess what’s inside. Demonstrate some questions first and let them listen. If they are really struggling let them feel what’s inside and then guess. Swap over and let them pick an item - see if they can answer your questions.

50. Put some great music on and play musical statues or have a dance competition…. Or just dance!

Independent Activities

51. Treasure hunt – pictures or objects, make it Christmassy, see how many they can find.

52. Christmas collage - chop up lots of bits of wrapping paper/old cards and see if they can glue to make a collage picture.

53. Make a mini den for a soft toy, gather all the sticks and leaves to see if you can keep the rain out!

54. Make some reindeer food. Get dried oats and add a bit of cereal as well as some spice mix! Let your child/children mix up the different ingredients and put in a neat little bag or box to leave out on Christmas Eve.

55. Chop up old Christmas cards into large pieces to make easy Christmas puzzles.

56. Give your child a spray bottle with a bit of lemon in it and let them go around the doors and windows (it keeps spiders out!)

57. Roll a big piece of old wallpaper on the floor and give them some pens or pencils.

58. Give them some old wrapping paper or if you can spare it kitchen foil and let them ‘wrap’ some presents. Provide them with some bows and decorations if you have them or make gift tags out of old cards.

59. Get your laundry basket and move it into a new area, take all the clothes out and have your child practise throwing them in. It’s so novelty and they get a mini workout!

60. Stick some tubes (wrapping paper/toilet rolls/kitchen rolls) to the wall with sellotape and let them roll characters, balls etc down them. If they get stuck – even better! They’ve got to find a poking device to poke them out with.

61. Cut out some different size circles and ask your child to draw dots in the circles – ta daaa – homemade googly eyes. Add them to sticks, play doh drawings to give personality and create characters.

62. Make a mini garden – give your child a baking tray, let them go outside and gather a few bits of foliage, twigs, pebbles etc give them a fork to act as a rake and a spoon to be a trowel.

63.  Get baking paper and torches and see if you can make shadow puppets!

64. Mark on masking tape centimetres or define your own measurements and send toy cars or marbles down a tube to see how far they can go.

65. Set this up for them – roll a dice and have different activities on cards/paper to select so eg 6 jumping jacks  5 arm stretches.

66. Grab your recycling, Sellotape, masking tape, decorations and make some junk modelling (a good one for the googly eyes).

67. Get cleaning! Fill a tub or bowl with soapy water and grab an old toothbrush or brush, find some older toys and give them a good scrub. Works brilliantly with old toy cars that have been outside or dolls that have got grubby, even old lego that has got a bit dusty!

68. Put cotton wool in cookie cutters and add water (get those syringes out again) Add food colouring and after a while remove. They should set after a while. If you add water again, they’ll expand.

69. Let your child have a really good sort through your Tupperware – stack, fill, match the lids. Make two piles, ones with lids and ones without!

70.  Target practise!  Use chairs, tin cans, toys etc and throw balls. If you hit one then take a step back!

71. Let them loose with your camera and ask them to find as many objects that are green – see how many they can find. Change colours. If you want to stretch them, see if they can take photos of all the circles in your house.

72. Cut out a square in a piece of carboard (e.g. back of a cereal box) and stick sellotape all the way across so that it fills the square. Make it a nature window or an art window. Let your child go and fill it with grass, leaves, petals (if you can find any) or chopped up pieces of paper, feathers, whatever takes your fancy!

73. Try shadow drawing. Use torches or bright lamps and stand figures like farm animals or dinosaurs up to create the shadows. Even if you child doesn’t want to draw, it can be fun experimenting with the shadows.

74. Give your child some safety scissors and some old wrapping paper or cards and let them chop away. Extend by challenging them to cut long bits, circles, triangles etc if they are a bit older.

75. Beads and pipe cleaners make great mini ornaments – also excellent for threading.  You can make stars, candy canes, trees and circles. Make sure age appropriate as small beads could be swallowed.

76. Give your child some pegs and make a small washing line with string (supervise depending on age and child). Let your child see if they can peg cards, pictures, whatever they like really!

77. Crumple up small bits of wrapping paper and let your child blow them with a straw.  Make little bridges to see if they can get them through.

78. Pine cone ornaments. Roll pine cones around in white paint. Add a bit of glitter if you have any. Ta daaa – ornament! They’ll love rolling them around too – use a baking tray or tuff tray if you have one.

79. Sellotape tinsel or long strips of wrapping paper across your hallway and challenge your kids to get through without touching. If you have any jingling bells to add to them, even better!

80. Make an outline of a Christmas tree with masking tape on the floor. Get your child to look for household items that can represent the baubles or tinsel!

81. Coin machine. (Check age appropriate) Using a box make different size slots or notches and give your children some loose change. Let them push the coins through. How many coins are in the box? How much does it weigh? Do all the coins fit in the same slot?

82. Containers and scoops. You will need a sensory item such as flour, rice, oats etc and then provide some different size containers and scoops. You could also provide different ‘flavourings’ like herbs and spices. Use a deep tub/bowl or a tuff tray if you have one.

83. Toss the socks. Roll some socks up into a ball and then aim at your laundry basket. If you have a few different baskets you could place them at different distances and see if it makes it easier/harder.

84. Stamps! Use potatoes – chances are you’ve got a few around at this time of year. Cut out shapes for your child beforehand. Put some paint in a tray and let them get stamping!

85. Numbers and colours. This is a great maths activity. On a big piece of paper draw lots of spaced out dots. Child rolls a dice and picks and colour – maybe have some pens to pick from and they need to circle that amount of dots using the matching colour. You can extend this to have a dice with the numeral rather than the amount and match.

86. Dress up box – find some of you or your families more interesting items e.g. feather boas, hats, old sunglasses etc and let them have a dress up.

87. Explore your old jewellery. Chances are you have a selection of jewellery that you haven’t worn for years, the big hoop earrings, the giant necklace. Let them have a look through and sort into piles of treasure and not treasure.

88. Balancing baubles – use different sized tubes eg toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, make tubes out of rolled up card or paper and get a few different baubles off the tree and see if your child can balance them independently!

89. Put post its all over your house and see if they can peel them off. Extend by putting symbols on them and have a tick list e.g. How many stars? How many trees?

90. Button box (age appropriate) If you have a button box or your parents or grandparents do, let your child/children explore. They can sort into colours, sizes, shapes. They sometimes be threaded depending on the size of the holes.

91. Make a sensory bag. Provide a zip lock bag, some glitter and clear hand soap if you have it. Maybe some little items eg buttons, beads etc

92. Set up a masking tape road and plan into different sections. Add lego blocks or duplo and make a town or city!

93. Set up two tubes on a wall that feed into 1 tupperware box. Give your child a dice and some pom poms or counters/buttons. Roll once and put that amount down one tube and then again and put that amount down the other tube, count how many are in the Tupperware altogether at the end – you’ve just created an addition machine!

94. Let your child/children wrap some elastic bands around a tin or Tupperware box – homemade guitar!

95. Introduce lego bricks or duplo to your playdough and count the shapes.

96. You’ll need a wooden floor - Create a masking tape square and add balls or marbles and a sweeping brush. Tell them the aim is to keep them all inside the square.

97. Consider supervising - Fill some glasses with different levels of water and use a teaspoon to create different sounds and make some tunes!

98. Use empty egg boxes and paint green. Cut out and arrange into a Christmas tree shape. Glue used lids to act as the baubles.

99. Look for an old suitcase in your storage or attic. Get it out and leave it open. Invite your child to do some packing for a pretend adventure. Where would they go? Is it hot or cold there? What will they need to take?

100.     Let them make an obstacle course using your sofa and cushions etc….. can they play ‘The Floor is Lava!?’

Having written all this, if you are watching a lovely family film together or if you are playing an interactive game together, if it brings you and your family joy then embrace it.

I hope this list has helps you to create some wonderful Christmas memories with your families!

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Love,

Emma x