December fills up fast. Between school events, shopping and wrapping, the fun parts can slip by. A short list helps. Pick a few activities, write them on the calendar, and you will have a December your kids remember.
These 25 Christmas activities for kids are things real families can do with normal supplies. They are split into four groups: indoor fun at home, outdoor and out-and-about ideas, Christmas crafts, and kind acts. Most cost little or nothing.
We also made a free printable pack for the quiet moments: a Christmas word search, a Christmas maze, two coloring pages, a Letter to Santa page and an answer key.
Free printables in this post:
What's in the Free Christmas Printable Pack
The pack is six pages and prints on regular US letter paper:
- Christmas word search with 12 words
- Christmas maze that leads a star to the tree
- Polar bear coloring page
- Snowman coloring page
- Letter to Santa fill-in page with a space to draw
- Answer key for the word search and the maze
Plain printer paper works for everything. Use cardstock for the coloring pages if your kids love markers, since markers can bleed through thin paper.
Download the free printable pack (PDF)
Indoor Christmas Activities at Home
Good for cold nights, snow days and the long wait for Christmas morning.
1. Bake and Decorate Christmas Cookies
Pick one easy dough, like sugar cookies or gingerbread, and make it a day ahead so it can chill. Baking day then goes faster and the dough is easier to roll.
For decorating, give each child a plate of cooled cookies, a small bowl of icing and a few sprinkles. Small bowls keep the mess down. A cookie sheet under each plate catches the sprinkles that miss.
2. Make a Paper Chain Countdown
Cut strips of colored paper about 1 inch wide and 8 inches long, one for each day left until Christmas. Loop the first strip and glue or staple it closed, then link each new strip through the last one.
Hang the chain where everyone can see it and tear off one link each night. For a bonus, write a small activity from this list inside each link before you close it.
3. Build a Blanket Fort for Christmas Movie Night
Drape blankets over the couch and a few chairs and hold them in place with clothespins or chip clips. Fill the inside with pillows and add battery-powered fairy lights. Never put plug-in lights under blankets.
Pick a family Christmas movie, make a big bowl of popcorn, and let the kids sleep in the fort if they want to.
4. Write a Letter to Santa
Use the Letter to Santa page in the free printable pack. It asks kids their name and age, what they were good at this year, something kind they did, and three things they would love for Christmas.
Younger kids can tell you the words while you write, then draw a picture in the box at the bottom. Mail it, leave it by the tree, or tuck it into a memory box to read again in a few years.
5. Take a Christmas Puzzle Break
Print the word search and the maze from the pack and set them out with pencils and a plate of snacks. The word search hides 12 Christmas words that go across, down and diagonal. The maze helps a star find its way to a Christmas tree.
The answer key is on the last page if anyone gets stuck. To use the puzzles again, slip them into a plastic sheet protector and use a dry-erase marker.
6. Set Up a Hot Cocoa Bar
Make a pot of hot cocoa and put the toppings in small bowls: mini marshmallows, whipped cream, crushed candy canes, sprinkles and a little cinnamon. Let kids build their own mug.
For little ones, cool their cocoa with a splash of cold milk before they add toppings, so nobody burns a tongue.
7. Do a Christmas Book Countdown
Wrap a stack of Christmas picture books, one for each night until Christmas, and let the kids unwrap one at bedtime. You do not need new books. Mix the ones you own with a stack from the library.
Wrap library books in a plain paper bag instead of tape-heavy gift wrap so the covers stay in good shape for the next family.
8. Have a Christmas Coloring Party
Print the two coloring pages from the pack: a polar bear holding a present, and a snowman in a snowy village. Put on Christmas music and set out crayons, markers and colored pencils.
Colored pencils work best for the small parts, like the scarf stripes and ornaments. When the pages are done, tape them in a window as a family art show.
Outdoor and Out-and-About Christmas Activities
Bundle up. A little fresh air makes the evenings at home feel cozier.
9. Go on a Christmas Lights Drive
Put the kids in pajamas, fill a thermos with cocoa and drive around after dark. Let each child pick a favorite house on every street.
Make it a game by looking for things like a star on a roof, a blow-up snowman, or a house with only blue lights. Many towns share a map of the brightest streets, so check your local news or town page.
10. Build a Snowman
The best snowman snow is wet and sticky, so try the day after a snowfall when it starts to warm up. Roll three balls, big, medium and small, and stack them. Pack extra snow around each joint so the snowman stays standing.
Use sticks for arms, rocks or buttons for eyes and a carrot for the nose. No snow where you live? Color the snowman page from the pack instead, or make a sock snowman by filling a white sock with rice and tying it in two places.
11. Take a Winter Nature Walk
Walk a park or trail and collect pinecones, small sticks, acorns and evergreen sprigs that have fallen on the ground. Give each child a paper bag for their treasures.
At home, put them in a bowl on the table, add them to a wreath, or use the pinecones for the bird feeders in the crafts section. Check the park rules first, since some parks ask you to leave everything in place.
12. Visit a Christmas Tree Farm
Even if you use a fake tree, a tree farm makes a fun outing. Many have hayrides, hot cider and wreaths for sale, and kids love running through the rows.
Wear boots and gloves, and check the farm's hours before you go. A lot of farms are only open on weekends in December.
13. Go Caroling on Your Street
Pick three or four songs everyone knows, like Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls, and print the words. Practice once at home.
Let a few neighbors know ahead of time, then knock and sing for a minute or two at each door. Keep it short and early in the evening, and bring a small treat to leave behind.
14. Have a Christmas Scavenger Hunt
Hide a few Christmas things around the yard or the house, like a candy cane, a bell, a pinecone and an ornament. Write simple clues for older kids. For little ones who cannot read yet, draw a picture of each item.
Put a small prize at the end, like new Christmas pajamas or a mug ready for hot cocoa.
Christmas Crafts for Kids
Set out an old tablecloth or a few sheets of newspaper, and these crafts clean up fast.
15. Make Salt Dough Ornaments
Mix 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt and about 1/2 cup of warm water into a smooth dough. Roll it 1/4 inch thick, cut shapes with cookie cutters, and poke a hole in the top of each one with a straw.
Bake at 250°F for about 2 hours, flipping them halfway, until they are hard and dry. Paint them once they cool. Salt dough is not food, so keep it away from pets and toddlers who might taste it. For a keepsake, press your child's hand into a circle of dough before baking.
16. Make a Snow Globe in a Jar
Use a small clean jar with a tight lid. A grownup glues a small plastic figure, like a tiny tree or animal, to the inside of the lid with waterproof glue. Let it dry overnight.
Fill the jar almost to the top with water. Distilled water stays clear longer. Add a spoonful of glycerin to slow the snow down, then a spoonful of white or silver glitter. Screw the lid on tight, run a line of glue around the edge, and flip it over.
17. Color, Cut and Hang Paper Ornaments
Print our 12 free Christmas ornaments to color on cardstock. Kids color them, cut them out, punch the hole at the top and add a piece of ribbon.
Write the year and your child's name on the back of each one. In a few years these will be the ornaments everyone looks for first.
18. Cut Paper Snowflakes
Fold a square of paper in half to make a triangle, then in half again. Fold that into thirds like a cone and trim off the uneven top.
Cut small triangles, half circles and notches along the folded edges, then unfold it slowly. Printer paper and coffee filters are thin enough for small hands to cut. Tape the snowflakes to a window.
19. Make Pinecone Bird Feeders
Tie a long piece of string around the top of a pinecone. Spread peanut butter or vegetable shortening over it with a butter knife, then roll it in birdseed on a paper plate.
Hang it from a branch you can see from a window and keep a bird list. Use shortening if anyone in your house has a peanut allergy.
20. Make a Handprint Reindeer Card
Trace your child's hand on brown paper and cut it out, or paint their hand brown and press it on paper. Turn it upside down. The palm becomes the reindeer's face and the fingers become the antlers.
Add googly eyes and a red pom pom or a red thumbprint for the nose. Glue it to the front of a folded piece of cardstock and write a note to grandparents inside. Need a ready-made shape? Our free reindeer and gingerbread templates work too.
Kind Christmas Activities for Kids
Giving is part of Christmas, and these small acts help kids feel it.
21. Deliver Cookies to Neighbors
Bake an extra batch and pack a few cookies on paper plates or in small bags with a handwritten tag. Kids can ring the bell and say Merry Christmas, or leave the treat on the porch with a note.
Add a short list of ingredients to the tag in case anyone has a food allergy.
22. Make Cards for a Nursing Home
Call a local senior living home first. Ask how many residents live there and how they would like cards dropped off.
Kids draw a picture and write a short note, like Merry Christmas from Ava, age 7. Skip the glitter, since it gets everywhere. Many residents keep these cards on their walls all winter.
23. Pick Toys to Donate
Before new gifts arrive, have kids go through their toys and choose a few in good shape to give away. It also makes room for what is coming.
Many toy drives only take new, unwrapped toys. A trip to buy one toy for a child the same age is a great lesson too. Fire stations, churches and shelters often collect toys in December.
24. Leave Treats for Delivery Drivers
Set a basket on the porch with water bottles, granola bars and wrapped candy. Let kids make a sign that says Thank you! Please take one.
Drivers work long days in December, and this small treat means a lot. Check the basket each evening and refill it.
25. Make Thank-You Cards for Helpers
Make a list with your kids of people who help your family all year: the mail carrier, the bus driver, teachers, the crossing guard and the librarian.
Each child makes a simple card with a drawing and one sentence about why they are thankful. Hand them out in the last week before Christmas break.
Pick five or six ideas, not all 25. A few relaxed, happy evenings beat a packed list that wears everyone out.
Print the pack, save this page, and come back whenever you need a new idea for a cold afternoon.