If you’re wondering how to keep kids busy during the holidays, we’ve compiled a list of Christmas break activities the whole family will love! Winter break is exciting for kids. No school and lots of free time. But boredom can soon settle in—especially when families have spent longer periods at home due to the pandemic. Beat the boredom and try some of these creative Christmas break activities for kids. This list will help you keep the spirit of the holidays alive! We’ve included a variety of activities for toddlers as well as older elementary school children. Whether you want to get outside or stay indoors, you’ll find inspiration to fill up your activity calendar.
35 Christmas Break Activities for Kids
- Take a winter nature walk. Up the adventure factor and use snowshoes!
- Go snow tubing at a local park or your own backyard.
- Have a holiday movie marathon (perfect if the weather is cold and dreary).
- Get competitive with family game night!
- Bake and decorate cookies! For kids who love baking, a personalized book like Baking Cookies Together is a sweet winter gift that has their favorite cookie recipe and photo. The gift set even comes with an apron for mess-free fun in the kitchen!
- Create a family vacation indoors! Who says you have to leave your house to go on vacation? Have a vacation at home by setting up a camping tent inside and making s’mores. Have a picnic on the living room floor or make a Hawaiian-themed dinner with music and alcohol-free pineapple drinks.
- Build a castle fort and defend it from the mysterious shadow trolls! Indulge in this imaginative play all day. All you need are chairs and a blanket to create a fun fort kids will play in for hours.
- Build a cardboard car. Recycle those leftover boxes from your holiday gifts into a cardboard vehicle kids can wear and ride! Cut a hole in the center of the box for the child’s body and add straps that go over the child’s shoulders. Decorate the box like a car and take a ride in your DIY cardboard-mobile!
- Read books out loud together. Gather around the fire or snuggle in bed for a cozy storytime. Personalized Christmas books are perfect this time of year and engage the child to practice reading, with their name in the story and illustrations!
- Make funny videos or TikTok videos. Let kids show off their goofy, silly side and make videos you can re-watch or send to relatives.
- Create a photo scrapbook. Smartphones are perfect for storing lots of photos, but we sometimes forget them in our camera roll. Print out some of your favorite photos and put them into a physical scrapbook. Kids can express their creativity and draw or write on the pages. Photo books are hands-on keepsakes you can pull out and enjoy every year.
- Make an obstacle course. Use household objects (pillows, couch cushions, chairs, etc.) to create a fun obstacle course around the house!
- Have a dance party marathon while you prepare dinner. Groove to your favorite holiday tunes and keep kids entertained while you prepare the family meal.
- Try simple science experiments. Use a magnifying glass to examine snowflakes up close. When the weather is below freezing, blow bubbles and watch the bubbles freeze!
- Make paper plate puppets and put on a puppet show. This activity includes a Christmas craft and a performance! Create a snowman and polar bear puppet from paper plates. Draw a snowman face on a paper plate and cover it in white glitter. To create the polar bear, cover a paper plate in cotton balls and glue on a face made from black construction paper. You can add a construction paper body or keep as-is and glue craft sticks to the back. Hold up your holiday crafts and put on a winter-themed show for the family! You can also zoom call relatives or grandparents and put on the puppet show via video conference.
- Make your own snowman bowling game and play at home! Draw snowman faces onto white plastic cups that are upside-down. Stack the cups into a pyramid and roll a ball to knock them over!
- Embark on a candy cane treasure hunt. Hide candy canes around the house, for kids to find!
- Put together a puzzle. Personalized puzzles, with the child’s name or photo, are especially engaging and rewarding. Kids will see their own name or image come together as they connect the puzzle pieces!
- Have fun with pool noodles. Foam noodles are ideal for indoor or outdoor play. They are especially fun to use in the snow! Battle with your foam noodle to be champion of the backyard! These lightweight weapons are kid-friendly and easy to use for the youngest of warriors.
- Bundle up and visit a playground.
- Send handmade “thinking of you” cards to relatives or grandparents, with a family photo inside.
- Make your own ramp and race toy cars.
- Go ice skating or bike riding.
- Play an animal sound game. Try to guess the animal that matches their sound! Play sounds of animals that live in winter climates, like the moose, wolf, penguin, owl, polar bear, and caribou. This winter game is fun and educational for younger and older kids.
- Make your own bird feeders and use binoculars to observe the birds in your backyard.
- Attend a drive-in movie.
- Go ice fishing and cook your catch for dinner.
- Visit the zoo to see the animals.
- Attend a holiday or craft festival outdoors. Lots of local breweries will advertise if a festival is happening nearby. Check social media for a list of possible events.
- Zoom call with relatives, friends, or grandparents. Check in with your loved ones and talk about all the things you’ve done during holiday break!
- Create a kids’ art gallery wall, with winter as your art theme! Have kids draw winter scenes on pieces of paper and display them on one wall like an art gallery display.
- Learn a new instrument. Holiday break is a perfect time to enhance your musical abilities! Toddlers can start with a recorder, tambourine, or xylophone. Elementary kids can learn a more complicated instrument, like a violin, ukulele, or drums. (Parents, we suggest investing in noise cancelling headphones for this activity!)
- Watch an educational documentary that’s kid-friendly on a free streaming video service. Learn about volcanoes, white lions, or the mysterious of the ocean from the comfort of your home!
- Take a good morning yoga class for kids to jumpstart your day.
- Redecorate a child’s bedroom. Give their room a refresh with new decorative items and a different furniture layout.
