by Sarah Marrow
Christmas time is meant to be when you spend quality time with your loved ones. It isn’t about the gifts, but about making memories and doing fun activities with your family. Some Christmas activities you can do during this time of year are:
- Make Gingerbread Houses
Photo by Jamie Lee on Pexels.com
Gingerbread houses are a terrific way to bring together a family. Depending on the store, gingerbread houses can range from $5- $30. It’s better to get an in between price around $15 because then you can get a variety of accessories. In a gingerbread box, the accessories can be the following: gingerbread sheets(to make the border and roofs of the house), frosting(to both decorate the house and to act like glue ), gum drops, Skittles, Hershey’s Kisses, chocolate chips, peppermint and candy canes. Making a gingerbread house can be very stressful if it falls apart, but then you fill the room with pure laughter and you work together to make it perfect.
NAHS senior Mariah Daniels states, “ I like making gingerbread houses because it makes me feel in the Christmas spirit and my whole family gets to do it together.”
2. Secret Santa
What better way to save money and to surprise your friends than through secret santa? If you have a big friend group and not a lot of money, you should do a secret santa because then you just have to buy a gift for one person. Also, this way your not feeling obligated to choose who you want to buy for because you pick out of a box/hat. The basic idea of the game is to remain a secret and the person you have, won’t find out until after secret santa is over.
NAHS senior, Olivia Hewitt states, “ I love secret santa because its always so fun not knowing who has you and being surprised. Secret santa is not a tradition but it’s always something new to do if you’re bored.”
3. Host an Ugly Sweater Party
Christmas parties become in season right after Thanksgiving. Ugly sweater parties is one of the most common holiday parties. An ugly sweater party is a time where everyone comes to the host’s house and wears some crazy, gross- looking sweaters. Sometimes the host of the party will make it a game of “whoever has the ugliest sweater will win a prize.” In addition, you could also do a match ugly sweater with your spouse or friend, like someone could be Santa and the other could be an elf or Mrs. Claus.
4. Movie night
Name something better than wearing christmas pajamas, drinking hot cocoa, and snuggling in a warm blanket while watching your favorite Christmas movie. Some fan-favorite Christmas movies are: Elf, Home Alone(1,2,3), The Santa Clause(Tim Allen), classic Hallmark movies, and The Grinch. On a rainy or snowy day during the holidays everyone shops so the stores will most likely be crowded. Therefore, why not just relax, have a stress free day and watch your favorite movies to get in the holiday spirit?
5. Making cookies
Who doesn’t have a sweet tooth, especially during the holiday season? Decorating sugar cookies can never happen without a little bit of laughter involved. On your sugar cookies, you can make cool christmas shapes including: santa, reindeer, christmas tree, snowman, ornaments, etc. Making cookies is a good way to spend time with your family but is also a non-stressful activity.
NAHS senior Olivia Foley states, “I love making chocolate chip and sugar cookies with my family. Christmas time is always busy for my family, so I love being able to do this activity with them.”
No matter what you do this holiday season, be sure to focus your time and energy on making memories with your family, not spending money.
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