Every year I procrastinate with Advent or holiday activities. I always intend to create something great but when the season comes, I have a difficult time embracing Christmas as early as Zeb does.
This will be our last Christmas here, so we’re really trying to make the most of it. We hung lights outside for the first time in years and are planning our entire month with activities or events. Or, trying to. It’s difficult to find traditions that speak to us personally, in a spiritual but non-religious way, and also include plenty of time spent with family and friends.
We intended to start the Advent traditions off yesterday with decorating the Christmas tree. (Yes, we’re on the “real tree” side of the debate.) But we apparently got the National Lapoon variety of tree; the dang thing wouldn’t stay up! After nearly an hour of recutting and readjusting, it was bedtime for a very grumpy husband and a postponement of our Advent kickoff.
I’ve started compiling a list of ideas to run by the guys. Then we’ll decide together which ones we’d like to do. I suppose, we’ll likely combine some of these ideas or fill in any open nights with movies or stories or do nothing at all.
Here are the Advent activities I’ve come up with so far:
- Decorate the darn tree already!
- Christmas movie and homemade caramel popcorn
- Homemade Christmas cards
- Make pine wreaths from Justin tree hackings
- Making salt dough ornaments
- Letters to Santa Not this year, maybe we’ll try Letters of Gratitude & Prayer
- Family Game Night with friends
- Gift shopping with dinner out
- Homemade eggnog night
- Visit the Magical Forest (decorated park with charity proceeds)
- A children’s production of The Nutcracker
- Walk the neighborhood to see the decorations
- Make Christmas cookies
- Holiday productions
- Something to do with candles would be nice
- Homemade gifts for family
- Volunteering for a charity
- Play Christmas songs on the piano together
- Make pinecone bird seed feeders to decorate an outdoor tree
- Angel Tree shopping
- Making paper snowflakes or other holiday origami
- Read The Christmas Carol or other stories together
- Party with our local unschooling group
- Gingerbread houses or Christmas Trees made from sugar cones
- Gift wrapping night
- Sledding, if there is enough snow, or ice skating
- Christmas Eve dinner with family
- Stuff stockings and open a small gift on Christmas Eve
Any more ideas?
I'm Tara Wagner, life coach and creator of the 
These are great ideas, I will be sharing our ‘new to us’ holiday celebration soon! Sounds like so much fun!
Wow, you have a ton of ideas. We’re going to make cookies, and I’m trying to knit and sew a few gifts. But not many real family traditions. No, we do drive out to see the lights at the lake every year.
ah i was looking for a list like this. thanks for sharing!
Great ideas… Try this. http://www.christmasjars.com/main.php
We already did a ridic amount of snowflakes… not putting up the tree since we don’t know if our move will be during or right after Xmas. Or it may not coincide with Xmas at all and I’ll have avoided putting up my tree for no real reason. Blah. We normally do an advent calendar, but that ended up with the decorations we decided not to put up. I dunno if we’ll do anything else. I enjoy the holidays, but it’s always been more about ambiance for me than actual activities.
Having an outdoor bonfire with some hot chocolate and marshmallows is always a fun night on our list!!
Wow, that’s a huge list! Can I come over and wrap gifts with you? I never have enough to wrap and I looooove doing it!
I want to visit our local “mansion” which is decked out for the holidays, as well as Zoolights at the zoo. The zoo is all I’m holding myself to this year, though.
I’m decorating some ornaments, but I want to know how to make salt dough ornaments–that sounds like fun!
And okay, I just knew there had to be a debate about the Christmas trees. Not that I’ve given it too much though, but a real tree seems much more earth-friendly than a fake one that will end up in the dump some time down the road and not be able to decompose. And yet we bought one anyway. I never thought I would.
Wow, I think you’ve got everything covered! We do s’mores in our fireplace on the solstice. Love Olivia’s idea and agree that hot chocolate is a must, especially with peppermint candy canes as stirring sticks!
Yikes about the tree. We had a tree like that as a kid. It fell right over onto my sister, my dad wasn’t home so we had to call the neighbors to come over and help lift it off her. It is one of my FAVORITE holiday memories to bring up to her every year. It was hilarious (she wasn’t hurt).
@5orangepotatoes LOL I can see that being a fave holiday memory…well, for everyone but your sister perhaps. I hope she can laugh about it now!
You can get free admission tickets to Magical Forest at some Shell stations. If you’re interested.
As for ideas…Pomanders are fun. As well as applesauce ornaments. I do both of these things with the boys.