10 Christmassy activities for the whole family

1. Read a Christmas tale or two together

Of course, the first activity we highly recommend you do is reading some fantastically festive stories together. Try tales that include favourite characters like Bluey and Peppa Pig, or you could go down the more traditional route with The Nutcracker or The Night Before Christmas. For added fun, make it a daily occurrence throughout December and alternate who gets to choose a story for you to all read together.

2. Have festive film nights

One of the best parts about this time of year is that you can shamelessly binge-watch all the classic Christmas films. And nothing beats a movie night when it’s feeling especially chilly outside. Again, take turns choosing a film to watch together and get ready to feel festive. The only preparation we advise you to do is gather together the perfect selection of snacks!

3. Download our activity pack

When the weather outside is frightful and you’ve maybe exhausted your film or book list, or you just want to limit screen time, we’ve put together a bumper pack of activity sheets for you to download and print off. Some of the activities include colouring in characters from Bluey, decorating Twinkle the Little Unicorn’s tree, and designing your own Christmas jumper with Peppa.

4. Visit Santa’s grotto or schedule a video call

Santa’s grottos are a rite of passage for every parent and child and are guaranteed to get you all in the festive spirit. But if you just don’t have the time or can’t face the crowds, you can always schedule a video call with Santa! Santa’s Calling is the alternative grotto experience that allows you to book a call with either Mrs Claus, an elf or the main man himself. You can even request for them to read a Christmas story. Don’t forget to get little ones to write their letters to Santa too! Use this Peppa Pig template as a starting point.

5. Check out your neighbourhood’s Christmas lights

Every year there are Christmas light events up and down the country but again if you’re short on time or can’t travel that far, why not take a stroll around your local neighbourhood? There is always that one house that goes all out with its holiday display! You can also play a game of tallying up all the houses with white and multicoloured lights or have fun spotting Christmas trees in the windows of your neighbours’ homes.

6. Create a festive scavenger hunt

Putting together a scavenger hunt is ideal for keeping everyone entertained when it’s really cold and wet outside. Make a list of things to find in teams or individually, such as the ugliest Christmas jumper, a gold bauble, or a mince pie. Alternatively, the organiser of the hunt can place different clues around the home and the rest of the family must work together to find everything.

7. Make and send some Christmas cards

There is something so special about homemade Christmas cards, so why not do that together as a family this year? Write out a list of family and friends and then assign cardmaking duties. You can be as creative as you like! But if you are in need of some guidance or inspiration, we have these Peppa Pig card templates for you to download.

8. Bake wintry treats

Another of our favourite parts about Christmas is all the delicious food and treats! But instead of buying an M&S biscuit selection or a festive Colin the Caterpillar cake, have a go at baking. This is such a fun activity to do all together as everyone can have their own baking stations to manage, from mixing to decorating duty. If you want to start off fairly simple, try these Hey Duggee mini Christmas cakes or shortbread Christmas trees. You can batch-make these recipes and then gift them to friends and family. But if you’re feeling adventurous, this Bluey fairy bread house will impress your fellow star bakers.

9. Go all out with the Christmas decorations

Spend a day turning your home into a winter wonderland! Either assign everyone a room that they must turn into a Christmassy paradise or nominate each person to oversee a decoration area – baubles, tinsel, lights, etc. And don’t forget to pop on a holly jolly playlist so you can all jam whilst you work. If you’re on a budget, there are lots of decoration tutorials that you can follow online for making garlands, wreaths, and other festive ornaments.

10. Make your own wrapping paper

Instead of spending money on rolls and rolls of wrapping paper, have a go at making your own at home. Kids can use the drawings and paintings they’ve done over the year to use as wrapping paper or grab some extra big sheets of paper and spend an afternoon drawing festive pictures on it. We also have a special gift-wrapping template for books that you can download here.