Easy and Inexpensive Things to do With the Family in December

December is right around the corner and the spirit of the holidays is filling the air. But what to do with those weekends!?

We have some amazing, and inexpensive, ways to enjoy the holiday season!

DIY Snow Globe Fingerprint Craft

All you need is a little construction paper and white paint! On a really cold day you can build your snowman inside!

Magnetic Christmas Tree

First gather all of your supplies for your Christmas tree activity. All of our Christmas “ornaments” were around $1 each, we picked out things like buttons, bells, mini bows, snowflake buttons, and foam stars. The possibilities are endless for what you’d like to use to decorate but just make sure to keep the items small enough for your small cookie sheet.

Christmas Paper Rolls

Start saving your rolls! The cute little guys will be a hit with your kids!

Decorate a Door

Have your kids come up with an idea on how they want to decorate their bedroom door for Christmas. Have a look at these ideas we found on Pinterest!

Bake

There are so many holiday recipes out there. Get your pajama’s on, make hot chocolate, play Christmas music and get messy in the kitchen! To help you out, here is one of Habitat’s favourite recipes for Holiday Monster Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks

2 cups mixed red and green candy-coated chocolates, such as M and M's

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups roughly chopped pretzel (or full pretzels)

1 1/3 cups chopped peppermint puffs

1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 350

2.       Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl until evenly combined. Combine the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs and yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and beat on low until the dough just comes together. Add the chocolate candies, oats, pretzels, peppermint puffs and white chocolate chips and stir with a large spoon until evenly mixed.

3.       Scoop eight 1/3-cup portions of dough, roll into balls and divide between 2 baking sheets, spacing the cookies evenly apart. Press the dough balls into thick disks with the palm of your hand. Bake, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown at the edges and barely brown in the very middle, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 1 minute, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Go Skating!

Every community has an outdoor rink, strap on those skates and go for a glide! See your local community’s website for all of the information on rink schedules.

Walk Around Bradford Greenhouses Garden Gallery

This time of year is perfect to visit Bradford Greenhouses; the decorations are up, the Christmas music is playing and it’s transformed into a winter wonderland!

Watch Christmas Movies

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph, Christmas with the Kranks, Elf, Frosty the Snowman, Miracle on 34^th Street, The Santa Clause, The Polar Express, Home Alone 1, 2 AND 3! The List goes on! A little bit of popcorn and a cozy blanket goes a long way.

Volunteer

Of course, volunteering is a great thing to do any time of year. No need to wait for the holidays, but during the holidays there are a lot of opportunities to volunteer. 

We hope your holiday season is full of magic, love and laughter. Happy Holidays from our Habitat family to yours!