What are simple Christmas activities to do at home with kids?

Decorate the tree together, bake one batch of biscuits, watch a single Christmas film with hot chocolate, make paper snowflakes, write letters to Santa. Pick three or four and repeat them every year.

What can kids do on Christmas Eve to stay calm?

An early dinner, a bath, pyjamas, one short Christmas story, and a small ritual like leaving a snack for Santa. Predictable beats exciting on December 24.

What are good Christmas activities for toddlers?

Sensory bins with pine cones, hanging unbreakable ornaments on the lower branches, finger-painting cards for grandparents, singing one carol every evening before bed.

How do I keep kids entertained during the school holidays without spending a lot?

Plan one outing per week and one home activity per day. A walk to see lights, a baking afternoon, a board-game night, a craft session. Variety with rest in between beats a packed schedule.

For families

Christmas Activities for Kids

Quick answer

Christmas with kids is easier when it has a shape: a small number of activities, repeated every year, with rest days in between. This guide collects calm, low-cost activities you can spread across Advent without burning anyone out by December 23.

Baking together

Baking is the activity kids remember most. It is messy, slow, and the result is edible. Pick one recipe and repeat it every year — that repetition becomes the tradition.

Gingerbread biscuits with cookie cutters
Iced sugar cookies decorated by hand
Mince pies (older kids can shape the lids)
Hot chocolate stirrers with melted chocolate and sprinkles
Reindeer-faced fruit plates for snacks

Crafts you'll actually keep

The best Christmas crafts produce something you genuinely hang on the tree the next year. Aim for ornaments, garlands and cards over disposable glitter projects.

Salt dough ornaments baked in the oven, then painted
Paper snowflakes for windows
Orange-slice garlands dried on a radiator
Pine-cone painted ornaments
Hand-drawn cards for grandparents

Books and stories for cosy evenings

A nightly Christmas story is one of the gentlest December rituals. Build a small shelf of festive books and read one a night through Advent. Sprinkle in a fact or two from our growing list of Christmas facts to keep older children curious.

Picture books for under-5s, one per evening
The Jolly Christmas Postman, with the little envelopes
The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve
A short chapter of A Christmas Carol for older kids
Audiobooks in the car on the school run

Outdoor activities

Wrap up warm and get out of the house at least once every weekend. A walk to see local lights after dinner, a short hike on Boxing Day morning, a trip to feed the ducks with stale Christmas bread. The cold and fresh air resets everyone, especially the adults.

Small outings worth doing

One outing per week is enough. A trip to a local Christmas market, a visit to a town centre with lights, a single afternoon at an ice rink, a community carol concert. For a rainy afternoon in, our Christmas Movie Picker chooses the film for you. Skip anything that involves a long queue and a tantrum. Quiet wins.

Calm Advent rituals

Small repeated rituals beat one big day out, especially with younger children. Pick three and keep them every year. The anchor for most families is an Advent calendar opened together each morning, and a simple Christmas checklist on the fridge so older kids can see the week ahead.

Open the Advent calendar together every morning
Light one candle each Advent Sunday at dinner
Add one ornament per child to the tree, every year
A single Christmas song before bed
Letters to Santa, posted (or "burned" in the chimney)

Christmas Eve, made gentle

The day before Christmas is the one to protect. Early dinner, bath, pyjamas, one short story, lights out earlier than feels right. The build-up is the magic. The exhausted late night rarely is. For the present pile itself, our age-by-age guide to Christmas gifts for kids keeps the morning calm.

Frequently asked questions

What are simple Christmas activities to do at home with kids?: Decorate the tree together, bake one batch of biscuits, watch a single Christmas film with hot chocolate, make paper snowflakes, write letters to Santa. Pick three or four and repeat them every year.
What can kids do on Christmas Eve to stay calm?: An early dinner, a bath, pyjamas, one short Christmas story, and a small ritual like leaving a snack for Santa. Predictable beats exciting on December 24.
What are good Christmas activities for toddlers?: Sensory bins with pine cones, hanging unbreakable ornaments on the lower branches, finger-painting cards for grandparents, singing one carol every evening before bed.
How do I keep kids entertained during the school holidays without spending a lot?: Plan one outing per week and one home activity per day. A walk to see lights, a baking afternoon, a board-game night, a craft session. Variety with rest in between beats a packed schedule.