This holiday season, you and your family (and/or friend group) will find a few moments where you’re trying to fill the time with something fun. We all want to be around our loved ones, but some good, solid bonding can come from finding one, or several, fun group activities. The holidays are about bringing us together and celebrating one another, so what better way to do exactly that than to truly appreciate one another’s company with a fun activity? Here are five holiday activities the whole group will love.
Make Gingerbread Houses
You can make them from a kit, or make them from scratch. Either way, you can either make it a fun free-for-all or even a friendly competition. You can achieve height with a well-baked few pieces of gingerbread (or some help from other materials, if you aren’t a purist about it) and you can make them pretty much as big as your dinner table allows. Decorate with frosting and candy, and maybe even make marshmallow versions of everyone.
A Holiday Lights Tour
Most neighborhoods are going to have a few streets where everyone goes all-out for decorating. Touring the lights and decorations shows can be a real treat, from the car or walking through the neighborhood. Some of them are made to be experienced by standing right there, and some modern ones use digital projectors to put on entire short-film-like experiences, on a loop.
Caroling
It might seem a little old fashioned for some, but if you update your songbook, you can tour the neighborhood and help everyone ring in the holiday season with the sounds of joy. You might even find some hospitality here and there – some households love to give out treats to carolers. The bonus is that not everyone has to necessarily be on-key – you just make need to sing a little louder to balance it out.
Making Ornaments
One of the great traditions of the holidays is decorating the tree – it’s all about putting our memories on display. Some people have a yearly tradition of putting a brand-new decoration on the tree each year. A fun way to get everyone in on the party is to get together and make their own decorations. If everyone wants to, have them make one for them and one for the host tree, so that everyone gets a memory.
Christmas Slumber Party
There’s always a bed time on Christmas Eve, but if you’ve got a few days and nights with loved ones, why not make the 23rd (or any night really) an all-nighter? Make some hot cocoa, watch some holiday movies together, and play all manner of holiday games with the group and bring everyone back to the magic of waiting up all night to hear footsteps on the rooftop on Christmas Eve. It’s also a great time to eat leftovers and do some more decorating – whatever floats your holiday boat. Break out the inflatable mattresses, beanbags and sleeping bags for a great time.