How To Make Christmas A Fun Filled Time For Kids

Christmas is a very exciting time of the year, especially for children. With the festive season approaching here are a few ideas of how to keep the kids entertained before the big day.

Anyone who has been around little ones during December will be familiar with the way they ask every day, when Santa will be visiting. It can be fun towards the end of November to get them to make their own advent calendar, so that they can see exactly how many days there are left. The easiest way to do this, which will save cutting small, awkward pieces of cardboard, is to make a super sized calendar.

Get hold of a large piece of paper and divide it into 25 equal sections, marking the dates in the corner of each box. Stick it up on the wall somewhere people can see. That 's the boring part over. Now it is time to get creative, dig out all your coloured paper, paint, glitter, anything you think could inspire the children 's artistic side. Ask them to design pictures and creations of their choice. Tell them that the only rule is that their master pieces must fit in the squares of the calendar.

When 25 different pictures have been made, collect them all in a container and every day during advent ask someone to choses a picture to stick onto the calendar. The kids will be able to see how many sleeps are left until Santa arrives and there will be a pretty impressive piece of art in progress, which be completed on Christmas day.

When the kids have broken up for Christmas they are sure to be excited and probably more hyper then ever, yet there are still a few days to go before the festive day itself. It will depend on each families preference as to when they like to decorate their house, however, if the children are around, get them involved. This should keep them entertained and out of trouble. With the Christmas tree, put the lights and tinsel on first and then let the children take over. When they are in bed you may have to rearrange items to make the tree look bearable, but they will most probably never know.

An old fashioned but highly fun activity when you are a child is the making of paper chains. Put a Christmas CD on, buy a pack of paper chains and stick away. You can even buy tubes of glitter glue if you can afford to at this costly time of year and suggest they paint the strips of paper with it. You can even draw on each piece of paper before making them into chains. Once they are complete help the children to decorate their rooms.

You can also suggest the kids make their own Christmas cards to give to their best friends or even family members. See who can draw the best snowman or Father Christmas. Use glue and bags of cotton wool to make life like beards. Cotton wool also looks great when used for snow. Use glitter or gold stars and maybe even multi-coloured pens to decorate the inside. This is guaranteed to be an afternoon of mess and a lot of fun.

Some parents may cringe at the thought of children in the kitchen. However, you may find that involving the young ones in making Christmas cakes and snacks may actually be less hassle than having them running round your feet. Dress them in old clothes, tie their hair back, wash their hands, put them in an extra large apron and your away. If you can, set up a large preparation area, such as a big table, so that if they are clumsy with the flower or cocoa it won't be too much of a problem. Get them to do the simple tasks like stirring or pouring already weighed ingredients into a bowl. This may be a disaster but it may also surprise you and turn out to be very fun.

There are plenty of ways to keep the kids entertained this Christmas, so get the glitter, coloured paper, cotton wool, paper chains and any other arty bits together before the festive season. Buy all the ingredients for home made cakes and start thinking of recipes you could cook together. Then all you have to do is let the fun begin.