Cheaply beat christmas eve bordom

junior_j

I know that when christmas eve would roll round it would be the longest day in my life. Every minute seemed to take an hour and i would wish chrismtas day would hurry up!

So lets share ideas how to beat chrismtas day boredom for your children ( i have no kids but am only 16 so can remember a few ideas)

- Get a couple of bags of gold coins. Scatter them making a trail to help the kids find the treasure (the treasure being a dvd , cheap boared game and some popcorn) Then do clues and things, the treasure finding should take a hour , if you do it smart enough whilst being able to keep the kids excited. Then the dvd should be 1 hour 30 minutes and the board game upto a hour + so that give the kids like 4+hours of things to do on chrismtas eve.

-Get them to make special pictures for 'santa' or even bake their own cookies for santa (Depends on time if mummy and daddy are busy prepareing for christmas day!

- Get them to help wrap other people prezzies. even if all they are doing is holding down a bit of gift wrap why you are doing the celloptaping.

-Get them a cheap cracker making craft set,

- Get them to make chrismtas eve posters or santa stop here please signs!

- Look in pound shops for craft sets and all sorts.

Hope that can help some parents of eager excited children!
Jess x

phunkles

We used to spend hours decorating and colouring an A4 sheet of paper with our names on to place on a arm of a chair in a corner etc so santa would know where to leave whos toys - in retrospect i think my parents where glad of us doing something quietly before bed while they prepared the veg n did last minute stuff

paper chains there always good fun to colour n glue

phunkles

icing biscuits?
we also used to make jam tarts on xmas eve

Ryman do a lovely make your own snowman on a sleigh to be glued together for 99p i think it was - so i may have bought one of them meself this year

A nice long bath
New Pjs
A christmas story

nikflo

what about track santa at norad? i love this!!

miss_pepper

I love tracking santa through xmas eve while getting things ready, im 35

rainmac

I've put together a basket of goodies for my two boys to get us through Xmas Eve. I've put things in to keep them busy all throughout the day.

This is what I put together...



Basket is one of mine so didn't buy that.
Xmas books - bought from The Book People and The Entertainer. Also printed an online personalised story from the web and made own book.
Going to add a jar of cookie mix so eldest son and I can bake cookies for Santa.
Plate to decorate for Santa's cookies - from M&S £5 but bought as part of 3 for 2 so paid less.
Piece paper, envelope, magic dust (glitter) and pencil to write a letter to Santa to leave with the cookies.
Xmas DVDs x 2
Handmade door hanger that says 'Santa Please Stop Here'.
Handmade name plaques for each of their bedroom doors (so Santa knows who's room in whos ).
Reindeer food to sprinkle outside before bed.
Torches x 2 to help see outside when sprinkling reindeer food.
Star certificates - named a star for each boy from http://www.freenameastar.com/register.php and laminated the certificates.
Mugs and snowman soup (hot chocolate).
Lush bath bomb - for a special Xmas Eve bath.
Santa bath duck - can get these from Hawkins Bazzaar for about £1.50.
Bath crayons - Tesco to make bathtime messy and fun.
New pyjamas
Toy reindeer x 2 to take to bed.
2 x plastic Xmasy bowls and tumblers - for breakfast on Xmas Day - were BOGOF from Morrisons.

To add:
carrot for reindeer (for those who don't like the reindeer food )
2 fleece blankets. Got the fleece to make 2 no-sew blankets, just haven't got round to making them yet.

Think that's it

Forgot to say my boys are 4 and nearly 2.

rammy007

rainmac wrote: »

I've put together a basket of goodies for my two boys to get us through Xmas Eve. I've put things in to keep them busy all throughout the day.

This is what I put together...



Basket is one of mine so didn't buy that.
Xmas books - bought from The Book People and The Entertainer. Also printed an online personalised story from the web and made own book.
Going to add a jar of cookie mix so eldest son and I can bake cookies for Santa.
Plate to decorate for Santa's cookies - from M&S £5 but bought as part of 3 for 2 so paid less.
Piece paper, envelope, magic dust (glitter) and pencil to write a letter to Santa to leave with the cookies.
Xmas DVDs x 2
Handmade door hanger that says 'Santa Please Stop Here'.
Handmade name plaques for each of their bedroom doors (so Santa knows who's room in whos ).
Reindeer food to sprinkle outside before bed.
Torches x 2 to help see outside when sprinkling reindeer food.
Star certificates - named a star for each boy from http://www.freenameastar.com/register.php and laminated the certificates.
Mugs and snowman soup (hot chocolate).
Lush bath bomb - for a special Xmas Eve bath.
Santa bath duck - can get these from Hawkins Bazzaar for about £1.50.
Bath crayons - Tesco to make bathtime messy and fun.
New pyjamas
Toy reindeer x 2 to take to bed.
2 x plastic Xmasy bowls and tumblers - for breakfast on Xmas Day - were BOGOF from Morrisons.

To add:
carrot for reindeer (for those who don't like the reindeer food )
2 fleece blankets. Got the fleece to make 2 no-sew blankets, just haven't got round to making them yet.

Think that's it

Forgot to say my boys are 4 and nearly 2.

What a lovely idea!Must have took some getting together.

rainmac

rammy007 wrote: »

What a lovely idea!Must have took some getting together.

Not really, nicked a few ideas from the lovely people on this board and it all sort of came together. To be honest, some of the pressies like the DVDs, mugs and pyjamas are things I'd already bought but to have Xmas Day.

SugarSpun

Baking in the kitchen, long walk in the cold while baking cools, back home to test products of baking, dinner and further baking products, bath, new jammies, curling up on the sofa to watch a Christmas DVD, check where Santa is with NORAD, hang stockings, off to bed. Zzzz.

I always go to bed as early as possible on Christmas Eve, mostly because my 19 year old brother will still hop out of bed at still-dark-o'clock and insist we all join him downstairs.

psychopathbabble

Last year I went to Cristingle in the afternoon with my friend and her kids, and then went to the midnight service... Cristingle is good for kids, as they get to join in and get an orange with a candle in it to take home...

I'm not really religious but it made a lovely change to my usual antics of Christmas eve

brookeslay

I used to love Christingle, a nice christmas dvd and some snowman soup is a perfect way to spend christmas eve , doing a christmas puzzle occupies little ones and adults ( me included) for ages. :j

Query over the christmas star register how do you pay as its an US site is everything easy ?

thanks B x