Ideas for a Christmas Family Program

You and your family can spend most of the holiday season sitting around eating, drinking and watching television, but spending Christmas with family members should be more meaningful. Activities like a Christmas program help your family to form a solid bond and can become a yearly tradition that everyone treasures. They can be heavy on religion, though not all are. They should always be enjoyable and make everyone smile.

Some Christmas family activities focus on creating things together. One is setting up a mini Christmas village on a tabletop with DIY and store-bought pieces. You can have all the materials ready ahead of time and work as a team to put it together. Other traditional activities include making popcorn garlands and building snowmen.

Baking cookies together is never a bad idea but make sure to have all the ingredients on hand before getting started. Families also like winter scavenger hunts, whether they are indoors or outdoors. Families with younger children may enjoy spending Christmas Eve in sleeping bags around the tree. Mom and dad might want the couches, though.

To further cement Christmas and family connection, you can look into putting on your own Christmas program in your home. Some websites offer free, downloadable programs to use, and besides the script, all you need are some homemade costumes, props and a camera or mobile phone. At least a week before Christmas, distribute copies of the script, assign everyone a part and gather what you need. You can even play some Christmas music in the background as an extra touch.

There are many Christmas plays for kids that are used in schools or at church, and there is no reason you can't try these at home. If there are more characters than you have players, have family members play more than one part or invite friends. You can choose plays for different grades, from preschool through 8th grade. Look for names like "The Santa Claus Play," "The Christmas Questions" and "Bells Across the Snow."

For more variety, you might want to try a site like Pioneer Drama. Its offerings might be more sophisticated, but you will have to pay fees to license them. You can keep these Christmas family plays forever and use them year after year. It can be fun to have participants play different parts, and the program can evolve and be made better over time and with practice.

Though watching television all day is not the best way to spend the holiday, there is nothing wrong with watching a classic Christmas movie, like ‌Elf‌ or ‌Miracle on 34th Street‌ to get the whole family into the holiday spirit. You can also take a Christmas lights tour with your loved ones. Some neighborhoods arrange trolleys for this. Be sure to wear your ugly Christmas sweater or a Santa hat and bring along snacks or hot cocoa.

Older kids may like to go ice skating on Christmas, but you may need to buy tickets in advance and do it earlier in the day when there are fewer crowds. Sledding is less expensive. You can also plan ahead by purchasing gifts that can be used on Christmas Day, like family-friendly games. Alternatively, you can buy a baking kit to make cookies as a new Christmas tradition. Christmas cookie decorating is a kid-friendly way to enjoy a family Christmas party, plus: sprinkles! Don't forget the hot chocolate and eggnog to go along with the cookies.

Oftentimes, the best Christmas party is a DIY Christmas event. Trade wrapped gifts, host a funny white elephant gift exchange or see who can come up with the silliest wrapping paper. Play a fun game, such as Pictionary or trivia; sing Christmas songs; or have a snowball fight during your holiday get-together. All in all, the goal is to have fun!