Family Christmas Activity Ideas from Family Christmas Online™

This contains a growing list of links to family activities that help you celebrate Christmas without adding (much) more work or financial expense to your burden.

We have some "at-home" activities below, but we hope to include other activites such as day trips, overnight trips, and vacation trips, that you can make with your family during the Christmas season.

For a great day trip recommendation, we suggest you find out if your local zoo has a Lighting Festival. Click here for a few tips about planning a Christmas season zoo trip.

Click here to see one overnight trip we recommend, to the Biltmore House, in Asheville, North Carolina.

In the meantime, here are some activity ideas for helping your family focus on the Biblical meaning of Christmas. These were all provided (or at least suggested) by Bible professor Dr. David Mappes and his wife Karin, from Cedarville, Ohio:

• Read Luke 2 aloud. have the children put on a play about the Christmas story. You may have to help them with props and such. Make sure there is a part for everyone.

• Kindergarten age children can memorize Luke 2:1-11 and recite it to the family on Christmas Eve.

• Let young children help decorate a cake for Jesus' birthday. Have each one tell their vision of the Christmas story, then sing Christmas carols such as "Away in a Manger."

• If you have moveable figures with your nativity scene, have the older children read Luke 2 while the younger ones place the appropriate figures in at the right times.

• Make a Christmas mobile with all the various characters in the Christmas story.

• Take turns in selecting or making one special Christmas ornament per year.

• Help the children to make an acrostic from the word "Christmas," such as C is for the cows that grazed nearby; H is for the hay in the stable, and so on. Try other words such as "King," "Messiah," "Shepherd," and "Angel."

• Give out secret gifts to neighbors and friends.

• Sing Christmas carols every night in December. (Note: Our Family Christmas Music pages have many examples, including words, music, and tunes that you can download.)

If you've been reading our pages, you know that we have big things planned, and a lot on our plate, so keep checking back. And contact us with any questions or suggestions you have in the meantime.

Paul and Shelia Race www.familychristmasonline.com