What are Some Things We Can Do with our Kids during Christmas Break?
It’s Christmastime! That means families and old friends get together, sing Christmas songs, have a party, and just have a great time. It also means that….the kids are off for Christmas vacation!! Even if your kids’ schools call it winter vacation, the kids are going to be home for about two weeks! And you thought the long summer vacation was finally over and you had some time to yourself!
Not!!
Later on in this article, we will talk a bit about gaming at Jackpot Capital online casino. We might even mention spinning the reels hoping to score a big progressive jackpot. But even if you just play some of our online games in free play mode as a way to unwind after the kids have finally gone off to sleep, Jackpot Capital casino is at your service!
All of that for later. For now, let’s talk about some things you can do with the kids this Christmas season.
Indoors or Outdoors
You can’t keep the kids indoors all the time and you don’t want to be outdoors all the time either especially if it’s gotten quite cold. So, some activities have to be indoor activities and some have to be for the great outdoors.
Play in the Mud or Snow
Everyone loves to play in the snow. If there is a hill nearby, you can take the kids snowboarding. They will not get tired of lugging the snowboard up the hill time after time. You will also want to help them even if it’s just to stay warm.
The older kids can make a snowman, have a snowball fight, or play football in the snow. If you do play a sports game in the snow we suggest that part of the rules should be that the kids have to roll around in the snow whenever they fall down!
That rule alone will make you a heroine in their eyes (and a hero if you’re a guy!) The promise of hot chocolate will also be a big incentive for the kids to roll around in the snow.
Mud presents a different challenge to the adults. First of all, when you are deciding whether to give away your kids’ old clothes keep this great Christmastime activity in mind. There is nothing better for the adults than to have kids play in the mud wearing clothes that they would never wear otherwise!
If you are having guests from out of town, tell them about the muddy plans and remind them to bring clothes for frolicking in the mud! Kids love to get dirty, especially when they know that you approve!
Have a Crafts Afternoon
There will surely be a day with relentless rain or snow. So, even the kids will want to stay indoors. Make sure you're well supplied with paper, glue, scissors, paint, and markers to make crafty items.
Tell the kids that everything will go up in or out of the house as more Christmas decorations. It helps to promise hot chocolate, too! So, always make sure that you have enough milk, sugar, and cocoa for great hot chocolate and don’t forget the marshmallows.
A lot of adults are all thumbs when it comes to arts and crafts projects so do some due diligence and learn a few artsy projects before the kids come home from school to stay!
One of the easiest and best Christmas projects is to make happy Christmas signs with the kids’ help. There are a million (at least) ideas for signs you can put in the house. We made a “Yield for the Caribou” sign one year and a couple of kids made caribou costumes for themselves unbeknownst to us and what fun that was as all the adults had to yield to the caribou!
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Make Cookies
Invite your kids’ friends to a cookie making extravaganza. Their mothers will probably invite your kids to do something at their house to return the favor! Little things to go on top of the cookies always makes cookie baking a lot of fun. Get a good cookie dough recipe that will be easy for the kids to mix. They have to mix the dough by hand. That way they get to lick some dough while they mix and they do most of the work while you watch, cringe, and smile.
Christmas Music
If someone in the family plays guitar or piano, then the whole family can join in and sing together. If no one plays, you might join another group, watch and sing along to a YouTube clip, or sing a Capella. The kids will like to learn a few new Christmas songs especially ones from classic movies. The key word for this activity: hot chocolate!
Go for a Family Hike
This shouldn’t be a huffing and puffing hike. If it has just snowed, the kids will like to see a forest area with trees and meadows covered in beautiful white snow.
You can also include tobogganing or ice skating on the family hike afternoon.
Make Christmas Cards
Instead of sending out a single Christmas or New Year’s card with a staged family photo, have each kid make his or her own Christmas cards. You can have the kids make several. They can send one to Grandma and Grandpa in Florida, another to the cousins in California, another to friends in another country altogether and so on.
If the kids get really into this project, they will talk among each other as to the best type of card to send to family members and friends. If your kids have a favorite teacher, they might like to make a card especially for her or him.
Watch a Happy Christmas Movie
The whole family can enjoy a Christmas movie on television or on the laptop computer. The key is to make the movie appropriate for everyone. The little ones will probably fall asleep during the movie which will help the adults relax.
Online Gaming
We said that we would talk about online gaming during the long Christmas vacation. We understand that most adults, especially those with children but even most adults without children, will have less time to play online casino games at this time of the year than normally.
Our suggestion is to use online gaming as a way of unwinding. Whatever you did with the kids that day, from getting them covered in mud or getting them covered in cookie dough, or any other day long activities you planned, you will want to unwind after everyone has gone to sleep.
Playing a few spins on slots is a great way to unwind as is playing Banana Jones. Banana Jones is the cutest little guy in the casino! He wants to find the Crystal Banana and take it to a museum where it belongs. As tired as you might be, he will put a smile on your face! In fact, Banana Jones is a great game to play in free play mode with the kids. No money is involved and the kids will just love little ol’ Banana!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy New Year’s, and Happy Holidays, one and all from the family at Jackpot Capital!
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