The Christmas holidays are perfect for spending quality time with family and friends. It’s a time of giving and celebration and maybe eating a little too much food. Kindy or school may be finished for the year and you (hopefully!) have a bit of time off as well.

But when kids spend all that extra time at home it can lead to them becoming bored. This can be frustrating for them and for you. So it’s a good idea to have a few activities up your sleeve to keep them occupied and engaged over the Christmas break.

We’ve listed 6 great ideas, ranging from family games to activities they can do independently. Take a look…

1. Christmas Charades

Charades are always fun for the whole family and they also require everyone to move around, which is great for engaging kids mentally and physically.

Because it’s the holidays, make the charades Christmas themed. You can split into teams and come up with a list of fun actions for the other team or you can download this handy printable Christmas Charades list!

2. Scavenger hunt

Everyone loves a scavenger hunt, especially when there’s some Christmas treats involved. You could hide candy canes around the house or yard, or even get Christmas presents with many parts and hide these around to find and piece together.

If you don’t have time to plan ahead, you could come up with a list of items commonly found in and around the house during Christmas and send the family off on an exciting scavenger hunt.

3. Santa Says

We all know Simon Says, but this time of year, why not make it Santa Says?

The game works with three or more players – one player takes the role of “Santa” and issues instructions (usually physical actions like “jump in the air” or “stick out your tongue”) to the other players, which should be followed only when started with the phrase “Santa says”. You then eliminate players if they follow the wrong instructions.

This one takes a bit of concentration, so it’s great for young kids to try.

4. Create your own wrapping paper

There’s so much wasted wrapping paper that gets thrown out after Christmas, why not make the wrapping part of the present?

Get a ream of blank wrapping paper or even an old sheet and get the kids to draw or paint on the blank canvas! Give them colourful pens or paint and let their creativity run wild. Once finished, you can use the paper to wrap presents and after letting the sheet dry, you can use bits of it as a cloth wrapping. No one will want to throw out their wrapping paper now.

5. Biscuit decorating

Decorating Christmas cookies is a holiday tradition, and for good reason. It’s fun and creative and the biscuits provide a sweet incentive for kids. You can pick up pre-made biscuits from the supermarket and even colourful icing from the baking aisle if you don’t want to make them yourself. Set the kids up in the kitchen and let them get creative, just make sure they don’t eat everything as they go!

6. Snowman Slam Game

This game takes a little bit of preparation, but once it’s ready kids can play it by themselves for hours on end.

Like bowling, you have to knock down the pins, but you don’t need a toy bowling game, you only need a few household items. Here’s a great guide for putting the Snowman game together and how to play.

There we have it, 6 great games and activities that will help keep kids occupied these holidays.

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and enjoys this special time with family and friends.