With cards and gifts to send, food to prepare and relatives to accommodate it is easy to forget that the ‘Magic of Christmas’ needs a little help getting started.
Here are five ideas for including and amusing your children while you work on that seemingly endless to-do list.
- Picking the Tree
A real tree looks spectacular and the aroma of fresh pine will add to the atmosphere of your home (particularly when combined with the smell of gingerbread baking!). Bringing your children along when you go to buy the tree allows you to tick the task off your list and help them to feel involved.The website of the British Christmas Tree Growers Association provides a helpful directory of approved growers who have pledged to meet the association’s code of practice.
- Visiting Santa
Santa’s grotto can be found at school fairs, shopping centres and Christmas markets; you could combine the excursion with shopping or seeing a light display but be aware that many require advance booking and some charge a fee to ensure attendance.This activity has the added benefit of encouraging good behavior and sibling harmony, at least for a few days, lest your child find themselves on Santa’s naughty list!
- Christmas Markets
Markets come in many shapes and sizes, from craft fairs in a town hall to sprawling German or Victorian-style affairs that transform city centres into chocolate box Christmas scenes.Not only are such events useful for finding unusual gifts but also often provide child-friendly entertainment such as fairground rides, craft sessions and, of course, a chance to tell Santa what they’re hoping for in their stocking.
- Carol Service
Churches will hold many services, nativity plays and concerts over Advent and Christmas to which all of the community are invited regardless of whether or not they are regular members of the congregation. Ask your local Church about Christingle or Carol services that are aimed at younger audiences and use them to get everyone in a festive mood.Hearing the Nativity story may remind your children (and you) that the meaning of Christmas is not about getting the biggest and best gift; spending time rather than money and being grateful for one another.
- Pantomime
‘Panto’ is a long-established Christmas tradition in England and many other countries around the world (“Oh no it isn’t!”) a chance for audience participation, the use of well-worn catchphrases and seeing television personalities on stage (“Oh yes it is!”)
