50 Fun Family Christmas Activities At Home And Outside

It’s Christmas!

Or nearly, anyway.

December might be the busiest month on your calendar: work parties, school plays, family gatherings, just to name a few. That’s why it’s important to slow down and embrace the holiday spirit with your family.

Have a break from the shopping, celebrating and cooking and jump into some family quality time before the days get swallowed up by holiday plans.

But what should you do?

You don’t have time to plan Christmas activities.

That’s not a problem. Here are 50 Family Christmas Activities At Home wrapped up and ready for you.

Most silly Christmas sweaters at the ready?

Let’s find the fun this Christmas.

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50 Family Christmas Activities At Home

Family Christmas Activities At Home

Celebrate Christmas the fun way with these tried and tested family activities to do in the warmth of your home.

1. Decorate the Christmas Tree: Isn’t this everyone’s favorite holiday tradition? Whether you love choosing a real tree or getting the trusty artificial tree from the attic, this has to be the best part of Christmas. Trim the tree with ornaments, lights, and garlands. Make it a family event, complete with hot chocolate and holiday music.
2. Hold a Gingerbread House Making Party: They are SOOO hard to make. You will just end up spending the day eating fresh gingerbreads. What’s not to love? This is a fun Christmas activity to do on a bad weather day as it takes a long time.
3. Bake Cookies: Gather in the kitchen to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. Gingerbread men, sugar cookies, and snickerdoodles are popular choices. This is a great Hygge activity too.

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4. Christmas Movie Marathon: Have a cozy film night with classic Christmas movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Home Alone,” “The Holiday” and “A Christmas Carol.” Don’t forget the leftover gingerbread and hot chocolate station.
5. Write Letters to Santa: Help the kids write their letters to Santa, and don’t forget to send them to the North Pole. This is always a fun activity in our house.
6. Christmas Craft Day: Set up a crafting station with supplies for making homemade ornaments, paper snowflakes, holiday cards, and candles.
7. Advent Calendar Fun: Fill your own fun advent calender (mine is a steam train replica for the kids). Open it together daily in December and enjoy the small surprises, activities or chocolate inside.
8. Christmas Carol Karaoke: Sing your favorite Christmas carols and songs together, or have a karaoke contest. Please inform your neighbors first.
9. Make a Christmas wreath: You can always go to a wreath making workshop, but if you are thinking of the Christmas budget, this can be done with a little prep at home. Have a look at this video from Laura at Crafty not Shifty: Three Ways To Make A Christmas Wreath.

10. Holiday Puzzles and Board Games: Play Christmas-themed board games or work on jigsaw puzzles as a family. Make this into a new Christmas eve tradition.
11. DIY Gift Wrapping: Make gift wrapping a creative event with homemade wrapping paper and personalized gift tags. Use up old cards and reuse wrapping from previous years if you have any.
12. Gingerbread House Decorating: Assemble and decorate gingerbread houses with colorful candy canes and icing. Then eat it on Christmas day.
13. Christmas Themed Scavenger Hunt: Create a fun Christmas scavenger hunt by hiding clues and treasures all over your house.
14. Read Christmas Stories: Gather for story time and read classic Christmas stories or books about the holiday season.
15. Hot Chocolate Bar: Set up a hot chocolate bar with various toppings like marshmallows, whipped cream, and sprinkles.
16. Secret Santa or Gift Exchange: Plan a gift exchange within the family, with a budget for each gift. You could even have a yearly theme to make it more fun.
17. Winter indoor den: Create a wintery retreat with cushions, blankets and electric candles and fairy lights.
18. Family Photo Session: Dress in your holiday best and have a family photoshoot, or make funny holiday-themed photos.
19. Holiday Cooking Challenge: Have a friendly family cooking competition to see who can make the most creative or delicious holiday dish. Get the entire family involved and share your creations when you have finished.
20. Candlelit Dinner: Enjoy a special holiday dinner at home with candlelight, festive tableware, and a delicious menu.
21. Christmas Music Jam Session: If you have musical instruments, play and sing Christmas songs together.
22. Volunteer or Acts of Kindness: Encourage the spirit of giving by volunteering together or performing acts of kindness in your community.
23. Have a Christmas Clear Out: Maybe not the most fun activity, but a great way to teach your kids about letting go and gratitude for what you have. You can then donate these old toys and items to a local charity.

Outdoor Family Christmas Activities

It might be cold outside, but that doesn’t stop you from getting out and enjoying nature at its most sparkly time. Wrap up warm and head outside with these fun Christmas activities.

24. Christmas Lights Tour: Take a drive or walk through your neighborhood to admire the festive holiday light displays.
25. Visit a Christmas Tree Farm: Choose and cut down your own Christmas tree as a family outing.
26. Decorate Your Garden: Christmas decorations don’t have to stay indoors. Turn your garden into a magical winter wonderland, light the fire pit and warm the hot chocolate.
27. Ice Skating: Find a local outdoor ice skating rink and enjoy gliding on the ice.
28. Build a Snowman: When there’s snow on the ground, have a snowman-building competition.
29. Winter Hike: Explore a nearby nature trail, park, or forest preserve while enjoying the winter scenery.
30. Outdoor Caroling: Bundle up and go caroling in your neighborhood or at local nursing homes.
31. Visit a Christmas Market: Many cities set up outdoor Christmas markets with crafts, treats, and holiday goodies.
32. Outdoor Nativity Play: Stage a family nativity scene or attend a live outdoor nativity play in your community.
33. Christmas Litter Pick: Show older kids that Christmas is about giving to the wider community as well as getting presents. Get involved (or arrange your own) Christmas litter pick in your local community.
34. Christmas Parade: Attend a local Christmas parade and enjoy the floats and holiday cheer.
35. Holiday Scavenger Hunt: Create a Christmas-themed scavenger hunt in a park or your backyard.
36. Outdoor Movie Night: Set up an outdoor movie screen and watch a Christmas movie under the stars. Don’t forget the sleeping bag, blankets and warm drinks.
37. Bonfire and Roasting Marshmallows: Gather around a bonfire, toast marshmallows, and tell Christmas stories.
38. Tobogganing or Sledding: Find a local hill and enjoy sledding down with your family.
39. Outdoor Picnic: Pack a festive picnic and enjoy a meal in a nearby park or scenic spot. Maybe take some beautiful books of poetry with you and make it magical.

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40. Nature Crafts: Collect natural items like pinecones and twigs to create Christmas decorations.
41. Reindeer or Santa Fun Run: Many communities host holiday-themed fun runs or walks in costume.
42. Volunteer Outdoors: Participate in outdoor volunteer activities like cleaning up local parks or helping at your local animal shelter. You can get all the whole family involved in volunteering. Show your children that Christmas is about community.
43. Stargazing: On a clear winter night, take your family stargazing and look for constellations. Don’t forget the hot chocolate and blankets.
44. Nature Wreath: Go on an invigorating winter walk and collect natural materials to make into a Christmas nature wreath.
45. Winter Picnic: Get all your family members together for a winter picnic. Yes, a picnic, even in winter. That’s what soup is for. It’s fun to spend time outdoors together and see how beautiful nature is through all the seasons.

Family Christmas Activities To Create Memories

When you have young children, it can feel like an eternity until you get to lie in on a Sunday or have a meal interrupted again. But this time will pass all too fast. Why not try one of these family Christmas activities to create beautiful memories to look back on?

46. Create a Family Cookbook: My son’s autumn orange cake inspired this idea. If you love cooking as a family, create your own family recipes and turn them into a family cookbook. Take photos and have this printed as a keepsake.
47. Write a Christmas carol: Listen to your favorite carols and Christmas songs, then have a go at writing (and performing) your family carol. Jingle bells has nothing on you. Make it as silly or poetic as you like and don’t forget to record the finished song and play it on Christmas morning.
48. Build a year scrapbook: Go through the thousands of photos you have taken this year and print out a few for each month. Use these as the basis of your family scrapbook alongside tickets for holidays, events and other special memories.
49. Read a Christmas Story a Day: Take time out of your day to read a story a day in the month before Christmas. This is a great way to step back from the madness of the holiday season and take a well earned mindful family rest. I love A World Full Of Winter Stories by Angela McAllister.
50. Make a Christmas History Box: Ask your child to fill a shoebox with keepsakes from this year. Christmas ornaments, magazine cut outs, even sweet wrappers (make sure they are clean) and tape them up inside a box. Write a future letter to your family about what life was like this year, then put the box away in the attic.

Do you have enough Christmas activities to keep you go through the Christmas season?

I hope so.

Do you have a favorite family Christmas activity that you feel should be on this list? Drop me a message below with your great ideas and I might add it to the next update.

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.

Andy Rooney

Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year.

You don’t need to spend lots of money and worry about the perfect Christmas. Spending time with your family and friends is more precious than any gift you can buy.

So find yourself a new Christmas activity and have some holiday fun.

Happy Christmas to you.

Amanda x

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