I came across this idea of The Christmas Jar today from Mom Advice.com and loved the idea instantly. The Christmas Jar can be started anytime in December, but there is no time like the present...so why not get one going today?
All you need to do is get a jar and decorate it any way you choose. Write down a family inspired Christmas activity for each day/night remaining until Christmas on pieces of paper. Put each folded paper in the jar, and have someone pick one each day.
Simple, but sometimes it is those simplest of ideas that we busy moms and dads can use the most. I know for myself that something as simple as a jar full of slips of paper sitting on my kitchen counter might be just what I need to remind myself to slow down and appreciate these magical days that are flying by as I type.
So I am getting out a mayonnaise jar and cleaning it and getting it ready for the now only 9 pieces of paper I will be putting in. But these next nine days will be special, and each activity will be a countdown to Santa's Big Day as well.
Need some ideas for activities? Mom Advice shared these great ones with readers:
- Drink a mug of hot cocoa under your Christmas tree.
- Read the true story of Christmas.
- Open one gift early.
- Bake cookies and take a plate to the firefighters. See if you can get a tour of the fire station and the engines!
- Make a snowman or a snow angel
- Pop popcorn and play a board game together, while listening to holiday music.
- Give the kids a bath while Christmas carols blare into the bathroom. See who can sing the loudest.
- Get or make stocking stuffers for Dad.
- Write a note to each member in the family to tell them how special they are and what you love about them. Leave them in their stockings. (I am so doing this one!)
- Draw a holiday picture and send it to a relative (of the child’s choice).
- Take a tour of lights in another neighborhood. Pop popcorn to take with you and blast Christmas carols in the car.
- Make an ornament together for the tree. Try to use a picture of your child and have them choose the decorating. Write the year on the back and try to add one of these each year.
- Put together a box of items to donate and take your child with you to donate them. Ask them if they would like to contribute something that they have outgrown.
- Start a holiday memory book. Quote your child and ask them what their favorite thing they had done (so far) was for the holidays. Record what they asked for from Santa. Take a picture of them for that year with their Santa gift.
But most of all, enjoy this last full week before Christmas, and make some special memories with your families. Those sweet little faces we all love to blog about will not be so little come Christmas time next year.