Two days to go folks (well three if you include today!). Not long until the main event but that also means a few more days of trying to contain the inevitable excitement, over tiredness and tantrums that seem to appear.
For some of you lucky folks work will have finished for the festive season and I know for one I am glad that my husband is at home this week. I still have work to finish and a hundred and one small tasks to plough through so I’m hoping he can occupy the little’s for a few hours. Luckily I’m not on Christmas dinner duty this year but we are hosting on boxing day so need to be one step ahead and get organised for that.
The girls are both overexcited and to be honest, shattered. I’m therefore up against it to try and make it through this final week without overdosing on mulled wine and mince pies. In order to keep the kids happy and, to be honest, out of my hair for the next few days I am hoping to find some magical solutions to their never ending energy. I’m sure after Christmas day they will be have plenty of new toys to play with but until then I’ll be trying a few of these.
Christmas Films
I am not condoning sitting your kids in front of the TV 24/7 but at this time of year a few festive films never did anyone any harm. If you read my post yesterday I am now armed with a fantastic supply of classics. I’ll be making it a bit more special with some festive popcorn treats. I rather like making my own (you can find the recipe over on Rock My Style) and will be adding cinnamon and a drizzle of chocolate.
Trips to the park
Thank heavens for daddy being at home as I will be bundling them up off to the park quite regularly to run off some energy. Hats and scarves may be required but a quick half an hour and they will be happy for the rest of the day.
Apps
There are a whole host of fabulous apps to keep the kids entertained. My girls love it when we allow them time on the iPad and they are particularly enjoying the new Christmas Play app from our favourites Buddy and Bear. Very excited to see their cuteness transferred to an app where you can feed the polar bears or dress up as a penguin. Perfect for toddlers and pre-schoolers.
Nighty night bedtime story app is a firm favourite with my girls. Carefully turn the lights out and say goodnight to all animals on the farm. Turn the snowy setting on to create a winter wonderland.
Keep an eye on the big man with the NORAD tracks Santa app so your little’s can chart his journey from the North Pole.
Board Games
For the bigger kids dust off the board games and challenge them to a few rounds of their favourite. It’s good practice for the big day itself.
Colouring
This may need to be supervised depending on your child’s budding Van Gough aspirations on your walls and floors! I have bought a couple of festive colouring books and sticker sheets which should keep them happy for a few hours at least.
Baking
I realise you may be trying to avoid getting the kitchen covered in flour and sugar but how about some simple cookie decorating instead? You could make some gingerbread yourself or buy a pack of plain biscuits such as shortbreads and let the kids go to town with some icing and sprinkles. They will love it and you can always package a few up as gifts for grandparents.
Toy Amnesty
Ok, so this may not sound that fun but you can turn it in to a bit of a game that passes and hour or so and gets rid of some unwanted toys to Charity in the process. Task big ones to go through all their toys and see what they do and don’t play with. For littles get out all the boxes of toys and see which they actively play with and which they ignore. You’ll probably find they get caught up in playing with long forgotten favourites thus allowing you a bit of much needed spare time.
Play Date Swaps
I appreciate you may not want extra kids in the run up to Christmas but hear me out! Why not agree with one of your friends to do a playdate swap. You have their children for a few hours and vice versa. Combine it with one of the above and you are sorted. It gives the kids a bit of time playing with their friends and when the favour is returned you have a few hours to dash around for those last minute presents.
Does anyone have any amazing solutions to stop the children from bursting with excitement over the next few days? Any ideas most welcome!
Image by Anna Clarke Photography
Thank you for the tips! Mine are loving Christmas films at the moment and also (this might be a bit odd) re enacting their recent nativity plays! we’ve had to sit through a good few performances and renditions of ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’!
Paper chains are a hit in our house too…we bought some ‘lick and stick’ pre cut strips from poundland.
Getting excited now!!!!!
I loved your comment about re-enacting the plays. My sister was definitely one for this when we were small complete with hand drawn programmes about what our parents could expect from the upcoming performance. A fair few have been captured for posterity on video which will be coming out at her wedding for sure!!
Oh my gosh, how could I forget the plays! We used to love doing this. We’d spend hours practicing and then line up chairs to put on a little show. We’d evened half time refreshments of orange squash and a raffle. We were quite industrious and used to charge a 20p ticket price too! It was by no means only Christmas either. My favourites were in the summer when me, my sister and our cousins would spend our holidays in Devon and put on a yearly play. Our best were using the neighbours board game to create a plot (don’t ask!). My cousin was never very impressed when he was made to be Mrs Mangel and dress up in my nanny’s clothes! Oh how I wish we had them on video… x
Haha…glad it’s not just my family that enjoy the limelight then! it’s all very cute – they are even making their own costumes complete with tea towel head dresses! I might introduce the idea of a programme into the mix – very professional!