We are big time holiday saps, our house becomes a light
infused toy shop basically the day before Thanksgiving as we soak up every
ounce of the holiday season.
With that, we also divulge into an assortment of traditions
meant to bring joy to our family and additional perspective each year, and
because tis’ better to give than receive, we’re going to share them with all of
you (we’re still trying to make it to the tippy top of the nice list).
1. Gingerbread Neighborhood
Sure, buying the ginger bread house kits and making a
standalone detached single family unit is fun and all, but you can kick things
up a notch by building your own housing development (and you don’t even have to
check with the county on zoning laws).
Buy 2-4 gingerbread
house kits, and grab yourself at least a 24” x 12” piece of cardboard. Wrap the
cardboard in aluminum foil, and then spread frosting over one side to create
your snow covered base of your neighborhood.
Then, strategically place your kits as individual houses
with enough space between neighbors for privacy. Once finished, add some
components to the neighborhood that warrant paying HOA fees, such as bushes,
tress, or even melt blue jolly ranchers to make a lake )no joke, we did this one
year).
This neighborhood now creates a fun centerpiece for any
table, and also showcases each family members individual creativity!
2. Dollar Tree Gift Guessing
If you can splurge $10-$15 at a local dollar store, grab a
few random items (seriously, the more random the better) and put them in boxes.
When you get home, put the boxes on the table, and leave a
note with a cryptic clue about each gift. Invite your friends or have your
family try to write down their guesses to each item on their own note pad.
After every one has filled in their guesses, open each gift,
and whoever has the most accurate guess, gets the gift!
3. Bless a family
A simple idea that makes an incredible impact for both a
family you choose, and for your family’s perspective as well. OneSimpleWish can
connect you to foster kids in your area that are looking for a gift or wish
this season. Have your kiddo be involved in selecting a toy, (or better yet,
have them either work to buy a toy or donate one of their wish list items for
them). Having your kiddo see the impact they can have on others can spark a
spirit of generosity that could last a lifetime!
4. Cookie Randomizer
Decorating cookies is always a timeless tradition, but you
can add a spin to it by adding some chance to things! Choose up to 6 different
frosting colors (white, blue, red, green, yellow, orange – your welcome) and 6
different candies. Assign one color and one candy to a number on a
corresponding dice, and roll them. When a number and candy comes up, you have
to make that kind of cookie!
You can even throw in another dice for the type of cookie if
you really want to shake things up!
5. Christmas Crawl
This is a great Christmas eve game for your kiddos. Take inventory
of the decorations in your house, and count how many decorations of different
types you have (nutcrackers, ribbons, Christmas T-rex’s, etc). Once counted,
make a sheet for your kiddos or guests to try and walk around the house and
count how many decorations of each type there are. Make sure to give them a
time limit, and a somewhat short one, so that they don’t have all day to
meticulously count each item.
At the end of the clock, count who was the closest for each
category, and closest overall, and award small little gifts for each winner!
There you have it, some fun holiday traditions that you can implement today to maximize your joy this holiday season. These traditions are great to experience every year, and you can add another annual tradition to your family by checking out a Jordan Kent Skill Camp this year!
We hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday
season this year!