There’s no place like an Ideal home for the holidays!

With all the hubbub of the holidays, do you ever just want to stay inside and spend time with your family? Maybe enjoy a cozy fire in your Ideal Homes living room, with a steaming mug of cocoa or cider and Christmas music playing softly in the background? Now that’s an ideal holiday evening! Lots of folks feel the same way, so we’ve put together some suggestions for quality family time right at home. With kids or without, these simple activities are fun, inexpensive, and offer a day or evening of holiday festivity you’ll remember for years!

Fill your cookie jar

Grab the kiddos and make and bake homemade cookies. Mix up your own dough or buy ready-made dough at the grocery store. It doesn’t matter. Then make your own icing (or, again, pre-made icing works fine) and decorate with sprinkles and candies, or leave them plain. There’s nothing any better than sugar cookies or chocolate chip cookies made right in your own kitchen. Mm mm good! And the smell while they’re baking … well, it’s just off the charts on the festivity meter. A great kid-friendly activity for children of all ages. Maybe even make enough to bag up for a neighbor or a shut-in family member or friend who needs a lift. Enjoy the bounty and munch all season.

Make your own ideal Christmas cards

Get out the construction paper or blank greeting cards, glue, glitter, and/or markers and paints, and go to town. The design doesn’t matter as long as it’s holiday-themed and made with love. Just be sure to put down protective paper or an old sheet or tablecloth on your work surface to catch all that extra glitter and glue so it doesn’t get all over everywhere. A plastic drop cloth under your chair works well to keep extras off the floor. But so much fun! While you’re giving your spectacular pieces of art time to dry thoroughly, address your envelopes and think about what you’ll write inside the cards after they’ve dried. What joy these homemade cards will bring to those who receive them!

Decorate your tree together

Set aside a night for decorating the tree as a family!  Gather your ornaments, garland, and lights, and put on the Christmas music! There’s nothing more festive than decorating the family Christmas tree together. If you’re like most families, many ornaments are special and bring back fond memories you can relive as you put them on the tree. Those stories will be priceless to your kids.

Make your own ideal holiday decorations

Whether for the tree or your Ideal home, homemade ornaments bring elements of whimsey and family to any home during the holidays. No other time of the year can you put up an imperfect construction paper snowflake as a focal point in your decorating. So, get out the scissors, glue, and glitter again and get to work. Stars, snowflakes, hearts, stockings, paper chains … the list of ideas is only limited by your imagination.

Wrap it up

Get out the wrapping paper, scissors, and tape and put on the Christmas music while you wrap up some of your holiday gifts. The kids can even wrap some of their own presents if you box them up where they can’t see what’s inside. They’ll love wrapping those gifts, trying to figure out what’s inside … and they’ll get to wonder all season long. Just remember the nametags!

Wear matching family PJs

Get matching pajamas and nightgowns for the entire family – from baby to great-grandma – from any number of retailers (like Old Navy, Amazon, JCPenney, and many more). This has become really popular over the last few years. Wear them Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and be sure to get lots of pics.

Watch the same holiday movie every season

The sky’s the limit on which movie to choose … everything from White Christmas to How the Grinch Stole Christmas to the old classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. Whatever movie is a favorite with your family. Pop some popcorn, make some hot chocolate, and start the movie!

Annual ornaments for each child

By the time your children leave the nest, they’ll have plenty of ornaments to start their own Christmas tree traditions. Again, the sky’s the limit on what ornaments to purchase or make for them … choose a special theme for each child or the same ornament for all the kids. If they don’t come with a date out of the package, a Sharpie pen works perfectly on almost any surface to provide a permanent year.

Dinner and a light tour

Pile the kids in the car (and grandparents, too, if there’s room), pick a favorite restaurant, and then tour some of the neighborhoods in your area to see some fabulous Christmas lights. Make the tour as long or short as you like. Plus, get the scoop on what you’d like to do at your own Ideal home this year or next!

Give back to your community

Sign up as a family to volunteer with a local organization that does Christmas gifting or meals for those in need. There are many great organizations that could use your help. See our article for ideas to get you started.

Whatever you decide to do for your family, make it fun and festive in your own way. You’ll be building memories in your Ideal homes that will last your children a lifetime and a foundation they’ll be able to share with their own children.