Christmas Talk-Apologies but it is October!

Morganmoo

Does anyone have ideas for the following:

A really good, but cheap-ish trip out to see Santa, in Hampshire? Something that is magical, good value, and realistic would be good. Done a Santa Train Ride for a couple of years but getting costly and abit boring, did Harrods last year but no tickets in School Hols/weekends.

Any cheap things the kids can make as gifts, done cards before and painted ceramics but need cheaper alternatives this year.

Really any ideas to make Christmas for young children magical, exciting and enjoyable-ie, traditions etc.

Many Thanks in advance, and please refrain from telling me off or having a moan, but as I am on a tight budget need to start these things abit earlier so forgive me!:D

alanalea

No apologies needed.
There is a dedicated special occasions board which has loads of Christmas ideas on HERE
If you post there as well I'm sure you'll get some great help. Also put the ages of your children so people can suggest age specific things

Just as an idea, why don't you make salt dough tree decorations with the children. They cost next to nothing, just make, bake and paint.

poe.tuesday

have you looked at the santa train in longlete? I know it's not hampshire but it's not far - however I am not sure if you will get places this late in the year - it really is fab

ladybirdintheuk

They always have a grotto at Marwell (and ice skating!). It's a bit pricy, but you can make a day of it, and see the animals too!

Gift ideas - how about making sweets/bikkies? The kids will love making them, and everyone will love receiving them even more when they know who made them

Loopy_Lobes

Paultons Park do a winter wonderland thingy - expensive though! How about a panto just before christmas? most schools do them and the tickets are really cheap or they ask for contributions. Or you could go for one of the big pantos, we've booked Cinderella at The Mayflower Southampton this year - an expensive treat but worth it. If you go for the rows right at the back of the stalls they're cheaper.

Also have a look at local churches, salvation army halls etc, sometimes they have little grottos with a Santa. Debenhams in Southampton had a good santa year, it was £3 per child but he spent ages with them and they got a book as a present and the money all went to charity.

As for making things cards are really easy, places like Hobbycraft have all the necessary stuff you need and they also have days where children can go and make things in the shop - you need to book in advnace for those.

You could also make some nice xmas cookies to eat yourselves or give as gifts. Places like poundland often have cutters in this time of year. Poundland is also good for glitter etc for cards.

Also you can print off calendars something like this http://www.aspavailabilitycalendar.com/free-printable-calendar-print.asp?date=11-January-2009 and get the kids to decorate them

Savvy_Sue

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rwaite

Make some reindeer food for your kids to sprinkle out on Christmas Eve. It really is magical and will get the children so excited.

REINDEER FOOD - Porridge oats and a little glitter mixed together and put it in a little hessian bag tied with a bow with this poem on:

Spinkle on the lawn at night,
The Moon will make it sparkle bright,
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home.

sammy_kaye18

ladybirdintheuk wrote: »

They always have a grotto at Marwell (and ice skating!). It's a bit pricy, but you can make a day of it, and see the animals too!

Thats where my nan works so if you maybe need help with tickets i could speak to her nicely for you as she only ever takes my 2 cousins and normally gets a book of tickets

There are lots of animals to see there and the reindeer its a fantastic day out - ive been visiting there since I was about 6 years old, and now the first thing I ask to do when I go to visit my nan is go to Marwell and it always makes her laugh. Both me and my sister ask for exactly the same thing and we are 21 and 24.

It is beautiful there. You could also take a christmas themed picnic along with you adn sit in the gardens of the house - maybe a flask of snowman soup, mince pies, star shaped sandwiches etc.

sammy_kaye18

For traditions etc (i missed that part of yoru post!)

We have a few

Bens night time routine for christmas Eve is

- he has a bath
- a 'special' present arrives under the tree (its new PJs)
- he gets dressed
- we sit and read the night before christmas
- he has his supper
- we sprinkle our reindeer dust
- we set out Father Christmas' milk and biscuits
- then he goes to his room and hangs his stocking
- then into bed


We dont have alot fo traditions in our house, we do make a point of watchign the father christmas parade which goes round our town each year and nicely my boss on the shift normally lets me sneak away for 5 to watch it - although last year we actually refused to serve and me, my little boy, bf, and my 3 work colleagues all stood outside the shop to watch santa go past.:D

other things we do is we have a baking day

I make a point of buying/making new decoratiosn each year and this is his job (to choose them).

his job is to decorate the tree too.

he also does what we call a penny trail around town. I want him to know that not everyone is fortunate enough to have a christmas so one weekend before Xmas we empty our penny jar, put 20p in little bags and go to the charity shops in town adn he puts the money in the tub for the charity.

Sitting down having a cuddle with a hot chocolate whilst we watch a christmassy film is always good fun too adn even better if you have some homemade biscuits to hand

how old are your little ones?

Fourcandles_3

If you have a working mens club or community centre or childrens centre near you, sometimes they put on Panto's from £3.50 a ticket. It's a professional troop that travel to different places and perform.

We are making fudge and biscuits dipped in chocolate and hundreds and thousands (the biscuits not the fudge), to give as gifts this year. I have some cello bags from Ebay I use for cardmaking and I'll just tie them with ribbon.

Traditions I loved as a kid was the cooking side, like stirring the christmas cake and helping with the mince pies. I don't make either as no one really eats them in my house. My daughter always helps with the trifle and the decorating of the tree. We have an artificial tree, but we always nip to the garden centre Christmas eve to buy a small one for the table which they decorate.

Most of the traditions I remember are small things that were not about money, but about doing things together like the cooking and decorating.

Savvy_Sue

Fourcandles wrote: »

We are making fudge and biscuits dipped in chocolate and hundreds and thousands (the biscuits not the fudge), to give as gifts this year. I have some cello bags from Ebay I use for cardmaking and I'll just tie them with ribbon.

My initial vision of this was of a bag large enough to take a violincello, you know the one you hold between your knees ... :rotfl:

Tradition: can't remember how old they were when we started it, but it's the best and almost only one we've ever had. Christmas Eve, 3 pm, Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College on Radio 4, and EVERYONE sits round the kitchen table to prepare the veg. (Every now and again someone tries to get rid of some of my collection of potato peelers, until I patiently explain that not only do we all have a favourite, I NEED them all on Christmas Eve!)

I crack into the Christmas Treats (nice fruit juice, flavoured milk, chocolate etc, but you might prefer something a little stronger) and no-one leaves the table until everything's done. Another incentive not to dawdle over this is that I WILL join in with the carols, including descants. I have a good voice, but the boys don't appreciate it.