One of the best parts about Christmas is that it brings everyone you love together into one place — so why not dedicate as much time as possible in the leadup to the holiday to making memories you’ll cherish forever? The following 37 Christmas activity ideas are a great place to start when it comes to planning your holiday season. So put on your ugliest Christmas sweater and let's dive in!
Christmas Prep, Festive Edition.
It’s easy to get caught up in everything you need to do ahead of December 25th — but why not use your list of errands and tasks as an opportunity for a bit of festive cheer? Here are a few ways to make decking the halls, checking your list, and preparing a Christmas feast just a little bit more fun.
01 Create a Fun Family Photoshoot
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.
02 Order and Send Out Unique Christmas Cards
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. Use Minted’s Text Us Your Photo service where we help you find card templates that fit your photos best. Take a peek at our handy Christmas card etiquette guide to make sure nobody gets left off the list.
03 Head To A Christmas Tree Farm
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. And guess what? In some cases, you might even get the chance to do a bit of tree-cutting and load it up for the ride back. While this approach might take a tad more time, the resulting memory will stay with you just a little bit longer too.
04 Decorate the Christmas Tree
Decorating the Christmas tree is a tradition that ignites family connections. From unboxing 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.
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.
05 Put Up Christmas Lights
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!
06 Turn Your Home into Santa’s Workshop
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 mantel, to swapping your usual throw pillows and tea towels for something more festive, 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).
07 12-Days Of Christmas Virtual Calls
Here’s a fun Christmas activity idea for those with type A personalities, or 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. Minted has some great themed virtual backgrounds you can download for free — we suggest using a different one for each call!
08 Christmas Shopping
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.
Christmas Activities for Kids and the Whole Family
When it comes to planning Christmas activities for kids, remember to keep your family’s personality in mind. Are you a crew of energizer bunnies? Then pack your days full of outdoor activities. Are you more low key? Plan a few festive nights in to help recharge your batteries between Christmas parties.
Here are a few of our favorite ideas the whole family can enjoy.
09 Build a Gingerbread House
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.
10 Make Gingerbread Men or Sugar Cookies
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.
11 Cut Paper Snowflakes
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 Minted 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.
12 Build a Snowman
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.
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.
13 Watch a Christmas Movie
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)
14 Make Popcorn Tinsel
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 popcorn (preferably non-buttered) 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.
15 Take a Picture With Santa
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.
16 Go for a Christmas Lights Drive
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.
17 Launch a Candy Cane Hunt
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!
18 Listen to Christmas Songs
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 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. It’s the perfect solution for what to do on Christmas Day after the gifts have been opened!
19 Make Holiday Popsicles
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.
20 Decorate Pine Cones
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
21 Complete a Holiday Craft Kit
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. Share pictures of their creations on social media or in your holiday card so friends and family can feel as if they were involved with the fun. You could even encourage your children to give their creations to someone special as a heartfelt holiday gift.
22 Send Holiday Cheer to Service Members
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.
23 Sing Loud For All To Hear
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. We’ve compiled a holiday playlist that includes classics and newer tunes to please everyone. Channel your inner buddy and spread that Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear!
24 Volunteer
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!
Christmas Activities for Adults
The magic of Christmas isn't just reserved for little ones! There are plenty of ways for adults to get into the holiday spirit. Here are a few of our favorites.
25 Make Spiked Hot Cider or Hot Cocoa
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.
26 Show Off a Holiday Sweater
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.
27 Attend a Tree Lighting Ceremony
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.
28 Complete a Holiday-Themed Puzzle
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. 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!
29 Make a Wreath
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
30 Watch a Drive-in Movie
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!
31 Visit Ghosts of Christmas Past
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.
32 Go Skating
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.
33 Sing Loud for All to Hear
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:
34 Treat Yourself to Some Self-care
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.
Christmas Party Activities
Christmas is just one of those times of year where everything is better when family and friends are involved! While almost all of the ideas we’ve already listed in this Christmas activity guide can be turned into a party, these are a few of our favorite dedicated Christmas party ideas.
35 Host A Holiday Game Night
Round up your friends and get your competitive energy on! 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.
36 Start a Secret Santa Gift Exchange
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.
37 Host a Christmas Trivia Night
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.
38 Host Your Own Paint and Sip
A new activity that has grown in popularity over the last decade is a group painting class that will guide you step-by-step through painting a work of art. 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.
