43 Fun Christmas Activities for Kids, Adults, Families, and Everyone In Between

Gather your whole crew, including those adorable furry pals, and get set for a festive photoshoot that screams Christmas joy. There are oodles of ways to turn your merry snapshots into a memorable event, whether you're going for the traditional look or aiming for some playful and cheeky fun. First things first, sort out everyone's holiday outfits, and then scout out the ideal spot. Maybe you could venture to a nearby mountain for a dash of wintry excitement, or jazz up an at-home session with some jolly props to really make those holiday photos pop.

Now that you've captured that picture-perfect Christmas shot, it's time to dive into crafting and sending your delightful Christmas cards. Explore Minted’s unique holiday photo cards designed by independent artists around the globe. (And take a peek at our handy Christmas card etiquette guide to make sure nobody gets left off the list.)

Holiday season is all about crafting wonderful memories. While you have the option to simply grab a Christmas tree from a nearby superstore or one of those temporary setups in parking lots, why not take the opportunity to make tree shopping an adventure for everyone? Plan a little road trip to a charming Christmas tree farm and personally handpick the tree that you believe will shine the brightest in your home. While this approach might take a tad more time, the resulting memory will stay with you just a little bit longer too.

Decorating the Christmas tree is a tradition that ignites family connections. From unboxing Christmas ornaments from storage, buying new ones, to placing them just right on the tree are truly delightful for the whole family. To turn up the holiday joy, consider playing some festive Christmas tunes (or your beloved holiday movie) in the background. Keep the mugs filled with cider and eggnog, adding to the merry atmosphere as you hang those ornaments. Drape a festive tree skirt around the base of the tree, setting the stage perfectly for the pile of gifts that everyone is waiting for.

Pro Tip: If you have younger children, we recommend getting them involved by getting a second, smaller tree. That way, they can reach and decorate this tree to their heart’s delight! It’s among our very favorite Christmas activities for kids.

The first or second weekends following Thanksgiving are usually the best time to hang Christmas lights before other holiday hustle and bustle takes over. Make this Christmas chore extra fun by scheming for ways to make sure your house has the best holiday light display on the block. This is a great way to show off your creativity and spread holiday joy! You could go for a sophisticated monochromatic theme, or perhaps you might opt for the classic multi-colored bulbs and a jolly reindeer on the lawn. It's never too early to start pondering the design or color scheme that could steal the show!

Decking the halls in the main areas of your home is always a festive and fun experience. From hanging personalized stockings and other decor on your mante, to swapping your usual throw pillows and tea towels for something more festive, or even adorning your Christmas tree with photo ornaments, there are plenty of ways to get creative.

In addition to decorating your living spaces, it never hurts to bring a bit of festive cheer to your gift wrapping station! When it comes time to wrap gifts, think of fun ways to display all of your wrapping paper and other supplies, turn on some Christmas tunes, and make sure you have a plate towering with holiday treats nearby.

If you want to go above and beyond, you can also host an elf training session for a fun way to teach your family how to wrap gifts (and to lighten your own gift-wrapping load).

Here’s a fun Christmas activity idea if your family and friends are spread across the country. Grab a calendar and start to plan a virtual meeting with 12 different friends or family members spread out over 12 days. Send out your meet-up requests in advance so you can have your “12-Days of Christmas Calls” all finalized well in advance. This will make the two weeks leading up to Christmas seem to fly by.

Turn recipe testing into a festive pre-Christmas event! Instead of waiting until the big day to try new dishes, gather your family for a menu tasting party. Not only does this help prevent any cooking surprises on Christmas Day, but it's also a delicious way to get everyone excited about the upcoming feast. Set up your kitchen like a test kitchen, complete with score cards for feedback and plenty of sampling plates.

Here's how to make it fun and practical:

• Try out new recipes you're considering for Christmas dinner
• Get honest (and helpful!) feedback from your taste-testing crew
• Practice the timing of multiple dishes to avoid holiday cooking stress
• Snap photos of successful dishes to reference for plating and presentation
• Create detailed shopping lists based on the winning recipes
• Label your favorite serving dishes for each course
• Make notes about oven temperatures and timing for the actual day

Pro Tip: Take plenty of notes about what worked and what might need adjusting. Your future self will thank you on Christmas morning! Plus, any "not quite perfect" dishes make for delicious leftovers – after all, practice makes perfect.

Whether you’re shopping for gifts or are filling your cart with a holiday grocery haul that would make Santa proud, there are plenty of ways to add some festive fun to Christmas errands. Here are a few ways to add a bit of holiday cheer while you’re out and about:

• Wear a festive outfit — don’t save your favorite holiday sweater just for Christmas day!
• Treat yourself to a holiday-themed drink or snack to fuel you as you shop.
• If you’re taking kids along, turn your shopping trip into a scavenger hunt.
• Decorate your car with reindeer ears and a red nose.

Nothing beats a craft that you can eat when you’re finished! Many supermarkets sell gingerbread house kits around the holidays. These kits will usually include the bare essentials to build four walls and a roof, so make it personalized and festive by heading to the candy aisle and selecting a few custom treats that will add to your child’s design of the gingerbread house. Here are a few ideas on how some popular candies may be incorporated:

• Plain or peanut butter M&M’s - can be used for colored roof tiling.
• Gumdrops - can be used for colored roof tiling.
• Small candy canes - can be used for wall decorations or fence posts.
• Shredded coconut - can be used for snow on the roof, or dyed green for grass.
• Pretzel sticks - can be used for fence posts or logs for a log cabin.
• Red vines - can easily be bent and wrapped around corners and edges.
• Marshmallows - can be used to make snowmen or little snow bundles.

Is there anything quite as nostalgic as baking Christmas cookies? Turn your afternoon in the kitchen into an opportunity to make heart-warming memories by getting your family involved. Depending on how old your child is, they may be able to help you make the cookie batter. Let them decide if they want to add in chocolate chips, coconut, cinnamon, and even food coloring. Pick out some holiday-themed cookie cutters and let your child play pastry chef. If you have any leftover candy from the gingerbread house decorating, be sure to add them to the sugar cookies.

This fun Christmas activity with kids is super easy to set up and execute. Most of us have paper lying around the house, but you can add some artistic flair to the project by buying some colored construction paper or origami paper. Fold up the paper numerous times and have your child cut out some creative designs. (Pro tip: Browse online for some stencils to create some really fun patterns.)

Once unfolded, you can hang the paper snowflakes on the Christmas tree, from the mantel, or tape them to the wall. You could even include one of the hand-made paper snowflakes with your holiday card that you mail off to your family and friends. This is also a great activity to do on Christmas Eve as the kids countdown to bedtime.

If you have snow on the ground, this is a must-do activity for the kids! Arm them with some carrots, charcoal, twigs, and clothing like hats, scarves, and mittens — then see what their creative minds come up with. For an extra festive touch, bring out some durable Christmas ornaments to decorate your snowy friend. Shatterproof ornaments work great as buttons or can be carefully hung from sturdy branches for a truly magical winter display.

When it's too cold to build real snowmen, bring the fun indoors with the Blizzard Buddies Magnetic Dress Up Game. Kids can cozy up and design their own jolly snow friends across two charming winter scenes, mixing and matching from 36 delightful magnetic pieces. It's the perfect way to keep the snowman-building tradition alive on those too-cold days, and its travel-friendly size makes it ideal for holiday road trips or quiet afternoons at home.

If you live in a beach destination, bring the shovels and buckets to the sand and construct a sandman. Sunglasses, sunscreen, water floaties, and a Santa hat really pair nicely with a sandman. Lastly, if you don’t have snow or sand to use as a medium, you could have your child tape three white paper plates or white balloons together. Give them a box of markers or crayons and design a fun snowman that can be displayed in the living room or on your child’s wall.

Does your child have a favorite Christmas movie? If not, this might be the year to start a tradition of watching the same holiday movie every December. Many cities host showings of Christmas movies as part of their holiday community activities, but if you’d rather stay home, there is no shortage of movies you have access to. Just be sure to add some extra fun to an at-home movie night by wearing Christmas-themed pajamas and prepping some of your favorite holiday treats to have on hand.

Here is a list of popular kid-friendly Christmas movies:

• Frozen (rent online)
• Elf (rent online)
• Jingle All the Way (rent online)
• I’ll Be Home for Christmas (rent online)
• A Christmas Carol (rent online)
• Home Alone (rent online)
• Polar Express (rent online)
• The Grinch (rent online)
• The Santa Clause (rent online)
• Arthur Christmas (rent online)

Start a meaningful new tradition by creating a family holiday time capsule. This activity not only preserves precious memories but also gives everyone something special to look forward to next Christmas.

Here's what to include:

• Write letters to your future selves about your current holiday hopes and dreams
• Add this year's holiday card and family photos
• Include children's handprints decorated as reindeer or snowmen
• Save snippets of wrapping paper, ribbon, or gift tags from special presents
• Keep ticket stubs from holiday events and shows
• Include newspaper clippings or printouts of major events from the year
• Save holiday artwork or crafts (or photos of larger pieces)

Pro Tip: Use a festive, weatherproof container and store it with your holiday decorations. Next Christmas, make opening last year's time capsule part of your decoration tradition, then create a new one for the coming year. It's amazing to see how everyone (and their handwriting!) changes from year to year.

You don’t want to go overboard on this one, or else your whole house will smell like popcorn. Get out the thread and needle, pop some plain popcorn and let your children create a lanyard of kernels that can adorn the Christmas tree or Christmas mantle. You could even pair this activity with watching one of the Christmas movies recommended above.

Our list of Christmas activities for kids would not be complete without a visit or picture with Santa! Who knows, you might even secure the perfect picture for this year’s holiday card. If you are planning for additional holiday photoshoots around the house with your child, we have a great list of tips for taking pictures of children.

Make some hot cocoa, pour a cup for each member of the family, and head out in the car in search of the best Christmas light displays for some memorable family bonding. You may know a couple of neighborhoods that always go above and beyond each winter. Some cities and towns even have a professionally made light display or experience that charges admission. If you are lucky, you will come across a light display that is synched up with music for one of the most memorable Christmas activities for families.

Think of this Christmas activity for kids as the wintertime equivalent of an easter egg hunt. All you need to do is spread some candy canes around the house (and perhaps rope in an older child to help you hide them), and then set your little ones loose to collect them in a Christmas stocking. Then, give out a prize for the largest collection to add to the excitement!

You could pair this at-home Christmas activity with almost all of our other suggestions to boost your holiday spirit to the next level. Whether you tune in to a holiday-specific radio station or find a holiday-themed channel on a streaming service (you can even check out Minted’s Holiday playlist on Spotify), you can rest assured knowing there are plenty of options for Christmas songs around the clock. If you play a musical instrument, you could learn a few Christmas songs and print the lyrics for your children to sing along as you play.

Making your own Christmas popsicles is one of the most colorful Christmas activities for kids on our list. With a simple popsicle mold and a few ingredients, you can make this activity come to life. And if you’re looking for what to do on Christmas eve to distract the little ones from all those gifts, this is it!

• To make an all-green popsicle: In a blender, mix pineapple, banana, apple juice, spinach, and coconut milk. Add in more spinach if you desire a darker shade of green. Pour the mixture in the mold and freeze.
• To make an all-red popsicle: Use all the same ingredients as above but substitute strawberries, raspberries, or cherries in place of spinach. You could even use a combination of all three of those options!
• To make a half-green half-red popsicle: First, start with the green mixture and fill the popsicle mold halfway. Freeze the mold overnight. The next day you can then fill the rest of the mold with the red mixture and freeze again for at least four hours.

Pine cones fall during late autumn, so the timing is perfect for a fun Christmas activity involving art for your kids. Whether you collect some pine cones off the ground or purchase them at the local craft store, your children are bound to have some fun making them their own. Some decorating tools include:

• Glitter
• Glue
• Colorful cotton balls
• Paint
• Ribbon
• Beads
• Googly eyes

Purchase a fun craft kit and have your kids focus their concentration on stitching an elf together from scratch, building a toy airplane or train out of wood, or decorating ornament molds with fluorescent paint gel. This is one of those rare Christmas activities for kids of all ages, from toddlers to teens. For young builders who dream of winter wonderlands, Minted's Ice Castle Model Building Kit lets them create their own magical frozen palace. As they paint and assemble their castle, inspired by fairy tale architecture, they'll bring to life an enchanted landscape complete with a penguin friend to guard their icy creation.

Transform a cozy corner of your home into a magical holiday reading space. Hang twinkly lights, add festive pillows and blankets, and stock a basket with Christmas stories. Make it extra special by creating "reading tickets" that kids can exchange for story time with parents, complete with hot chocolate and cookies. This creates both a festive activity space and encourages family bonding through reading holiday classics.

The brave members of our armed services often sacrifice holiday time with their families to keep us safe all around the globe. One of the most meaningful Christmas activities for families to do together is to send Christmas cards to soldiers serving abroad. It’s fairly simple to find organizations that can coordinate the details, and messages from the homefront can make a huge difference in morale for those who can’t come home for Christmas.

Caroling is one of the wonderful Christmas activities. Whether you organize a group of singers to carol at a nursing home, take your family door to door around your neighborhood or simply gather around your home’s digital device for a singalong, this is one of our favorite things to do any time of year. Channel your inner buddy and spread that Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear!

As the old saying goes “it’s better to give than receive,” and the holidays are definitely a time for giving. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities to collect and deliver food to the needy or clean up the community you live in year-round. You could even organize toy drives to give gifts to kids who don’t have as much. If your family is wondering what to do on Christmas eve, there’s likely a soup kitchen in your town that could use volunteers to serve a hot meal to those in need. Just think how much more your kids will appreciate all they have!

Warm up this holiday season with a festive cocktail that will put you in the Christmas spirit. Just add a touch of peppermint schnapps to your favorite hot cocoa recipe and top it off with whipped cream. Pair your potent potable with other fun Christmas activities, like watching a holiday movie or singing Christmas carols. For even more themed adult beverage ideas, be sure to read through our post on holiday cocktail recipes featuring vodka, gin, or whiskey.

If you have that ugly Christmas sweater in the back of your closet, don’t forget to show it off at least once. Whether you wear it around the office to bring a smile to a colleague’s face or show up to your weekly happy hour with friends rocking it, Christmas sweaters have a way of spreading holiday joy. If you don’t have an ugly sweater in your wardrobe yet, maybe this is the year to add it to the wish list. We have some other great ideas for your Christmas outfits in a separate post you may enjoy reading through.

Once December 1st rolls around, be sure to keep an eye out for any Christmas tree lighting ceremonies that may be hosted near you. Oftentimes the tree lighting ceremony includes other holiday entertainment from school bands, professional singers, or dance troops. It could be a fun date night if you paired a nice dinner out followed by a tree lighting ceremony.

Crack open a challenging puzzle with a winter or holiday theme on December 1st and aim to have it complete by Christmas morning. A 500- or 1000-piece puzzle should be a perfect size. Of course, if you’re looking for what to do on Christmas eve and you don’t want to go out, a puzzle pairs nicely with a hot toddy and some festive music. For a truly enchanting experience, try Minted's Nutcracker Puzzle – a sugar plum dream come true with its gorgeous color palette and shimmering gold foil details that capture the magic of the beloved holiday ballet. Consider posting a photo update to social media each week with your progress. Once done, you can re-gift the puzzle to a friend or neighbor to complete! It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

There are many DIY Christmas wreath ideas that will walk you through how to construct a beautiful wreath for your holiday home decor. You could start with a plain premade wreath and add decorations. Or, for a more hands-on approach, purchase a styrofoam ring at a craft store and then begin attaching your own materials. Some materials to consider using include:

• Pinecones
• Pine limbs
• Wine corks
• Ribbons and bows
• Wrapping paper
• Christmas ornaments
• Candy
• Bells
• Garland

Drive-in movie theaters are making a comeback and just in time for the holidays! Check to see if any local venues will be hosting one of your favorite Christmas movies like Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, or Love Actually. Though this is one of those fabulous Christmas activities for kids of all ages, it is especially fun for us grown-up elves!

Turn your creative time into a festive gathering by inviting friends over for a sophisticated crafting session. Set up different stations around your home, put on some Christmas jazz, and let the creative energy flow while catching up with friends. Design elegant holiday centerpieces, craft handmade gift tags, create custom wrapping paper, or make winter-scented candles together.

Create an inviting atmosphere with good lighting for detailed work, a shared materials table for swapping supplies, and a festive beverage station with mulled wine or spiced cider. Don't forget to take plenty of photos – they're perfect for sharing on social media or including in your holiday cards. Sometimes the "happy accidents" of crafting make for the best stories and most unique creations!

Nostalgia for the good old days always runs high during the holidays. So transport yourself back in time by attending The Dickens Fair. This international Christmas tradition takes place in cities around the world with people dressed in Victorian garb, speaking in old-timey vernacular and reliving the quaint sentiments of a long-ago London that Charles Dickens still haunts.

Many northern cities transform ponds, parks or other public spaces into outdoor ice skating rinks for the holidays. If you’re in a warmer climate, consider the Venezuelan Christmas tradition of roller skating to church to feast on tamales with their community. Going skating is a great Christmas activity for sneaking in a little exercise while embracing the season.

With all the things to do for Christmas packing your schedule, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Many people experience elevated stress at this time of year, whether it’s from spending too much money, revisiting tense family situations or simply overextending yourself with Christmas activities.

Carve out a little time for self-care as a gift to yourself this year. We’ve got great ideas for how to beat holiday stress, but you may find your own method for keeping perspective. Whether you treat yourself to a massage or simply reach out for help planning Christmas activities for kids stuck at home, you’ll be better able to enjoy 25 days of Christmas ideas with a clear head and a peaceful heart.

Round up your friends and get your competitive energy on! Kick off game night with Minted's No Coal Card Game, a festive twist on "Old Maid" where players scramble to get rid of their cards while avoiding being stuck with the coal. You can include an ugly sweater contest if you like, but we’ve compiled a great list of Christmas games for adults with a few kid-friendly options included, as well, that get everyone into a festive spirit.

This is one of our favorite ways to bring a bit of festive cheer to the office! Even if you and your coworkers work remotely, a Secret Santa gift exchange can help your team feel connected to each other. Consider using Christmas interactive posts online to coordinate remote and in-person colleagues, then peruse our Secret Santa gift ideas for fun, personalized work-appropriate choices.

If you and your friends are Jeopardy lovers, this one's for you. Prepare a list of 10-15 Christmas questions and invite everyone over for a festive night of trivia. For extra festive flair, include a few questions that involve matching Christmas movie titles with their posters, naming Christmas songs based off a 30-second clip, and creating anagrams of popular holiday phrases.

Once the kids are tucked in bed, it's time for the adults to enjoy their own holiday movie magic. Queue up some sophisticated seasonal favorites like Love Actually for romance, The Holiday for charm, Die Hard for action-packed thrills, or While You Were Sleeping for heartwarming comedy. Make the evening extra cozy with holiday cocktails, a warm throw blanket, and plenty of festive snacks.

Pro Tip: Create a custom drink menu that pairs with each film – perhaps a London-inspired cocktail for Love Actually or a hot toddy for Die Hard. Check out our collection of 22 Christmas cocktails for inspired pairings.It's the perfect way to unwind during the busy holiday season!

Take your taste buds on a worldwide holiday adventure by hosting an international Christmas feast. Journey from German Christmas cookies (lebkuchen) to Italy's Feast of the Seven Fishes, warm up with Swedish mulled Glögg, and finish with a spectacular French Bûche de Noël (yule log cake). Invite friends to each bring a dish from a different culture's Christmas tradition, along with recipe cards to share.

Pro Tip: Set up stations for each country with small cards explaining the history and significance of each dish. Create a little recipe booklet of everyone's contributions – it makes for a wonderful holiday keepsake and could even become the star of next year's holiday cards to far-flung friends and family!

An activity that has become hugely popular over the last decade is a group painting class that will guide you step-by-step through painting a work of art while you sip on an adult beverage (or two). There are plenty of online video tutorials you could play on your smart television or computer that will guide you through creating your own masterpiece. For even more fun, look for a tutorial that focuses on a holiday theme like Santa’s workshop or a winter wonderland. Just make sure to have plenty of your favorite adult christmas beverage on hand to help get the creative juices flowing.

There you have it! We hope this list got you inspired to fill your holiday season with festive activities both big and small to help you make memories with those you love most.