Older Children Christmas Activities
- At this age, many kids enjoy activities that include giving of their time and energy. For those who like to cook or make things in the kitchen, gifts in a jar provide an opportunity to work with food and make gifts they can be proud of giving. Purchase a book with gifts in a jar recipes or find them online. Recipes may include hot spiced tea mix, hot chocolate, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and soups. The dry mixes will go into canning jars. Cut decorative Christmas fabric to cover the lid and hold it in place with a beautifully tied ribbon.
- Ornament exchanges is one activity your child may enjoy hosting. Have them decide, with some help from you, how many of their friends to invite. Finger food makes easy-to-eat refreshments and your tween can even bake ornament-shaped sugar cookies. For an extra touch, allow them to create ornament-shaped invitations out of Christmas colors such as red, green, gold or silver card stock or by using printed word art. Ask each guest to bring an inexpensive wrapped ornament, and get the party going by playing White Elephant. During this game, gifts are swapped back and forth between guests, every time someone chooses to take a gift from another person.
- Purchase fabric paints, which are available in all colors, including Christmas hues such as red or green, metallic and glitter paints. T-shirts and sweatshirts made of 100 percent cotton work best. Wash the clothing first to adjust for sizing. If your tween needs help with designs, buy transfers that can be painted on, or create your own design. To achieve a watercolor effect, the fabrics can be slightly wet to allow the paints to seep together. After the paint dries, iron the shirt on the wrong side to set the paint. This activity is easy to do at home or with a group of friends at a youth event.
- Christmas crackers are a much-loved part of British culture that is becoming a tradition in many American homes. Christmas crackers are tubes packed with candies and trinkets including inexpensive necklaces, erasers, small ornaments and matchstick cars and covered with Christmas wrapping paper. Pull both ends of the cracker at the same time and the treats will empty out. While these items can be purchased, they are more amusing to make. Start with a small empty toilet paper tube and fill it with small candies or trinkets. Wrap the tube with wrapping paper, leaving 4 inches of paper off the end of the tube, then tie them with a colorful ribbon. For some added pop, personalize the cracker with glitter paint.
