1. Give the kids washable markers and have them draw holiday borders around the bathroom mirrors.
- Cover pine cones with nut butter, suet or shortening and then roll them in birdseed.
- Cut oranges into halves.
- Cut bread into holiday shapes with cookie cutters and spread with suet and birdseed.
- Make cranberry and popcorn garlands….
7. Decorate yourselves for the holidays. Put curling ribbon in your little girl’s hair (yours too!). Wear jingle bells around your ankles so you jingle when you walk. Wear red and white stripes. Pin bows on like brooches….
8. Make advent booties. We did these for years and I’ve seen fancier versions online lately but ourse were marvelously fuss-free. All we did is gather all of our old baby socks and decorated them together with fabric paint, buttons, baubles, ribbon and even markers. We put a number from 1 to 25 on them and I hid them each day of December with little treats inside for each child. They all worked together to find the day’s sock and sometimes I’d whisper clues to the youngest. Some of the treats inside were quarters, dragon tears, slips of paper promising neat activities with me, Hershey kisses and tiny toys.
9. Make snowmen out of stiff mashed potatoes with an ice cream scoop (lay the snowman down on the plate, stacking won’t work!). Offer things like baby carrots, olives and peas to personalize him.
10. Go running together. Maybe it doesn’t sound magical to you, but children love to run and it’s a great way to spend time together and get healthy. It reduces stress, helps your heart, gets some fresh air and sunshine, and is just all around good for you. It also makes your child feel great when he or she can leave you gasping behind! 🙂
Have a magical week!