Spill the beans... on your free Christmas magic for kids tips

pirtoncat

instead of glitter, icing sugar or flour, etc use carpet cleaner ...the shake and vac type - that way, it still looks like snow and one vacuuming and it is all cleared away
we did "santa footspeps" one year for the elderly grandparents - they laughed so much - it's still talked about!

tracey12_2

I have always loved christmas. In our family the only presents that are from father christmas are whats in my 2 dd stockings. The rest of the gifts are from whoever bought them but father christmas delivers them. My 2 dd know that I buy the presents and wrap them and then father christmas takes them and decides if they have been good or naughty. If dd have been good they will receive their presents, if naughty then father christmas will delliver them to another child who has been good

For the past 3 years we have looked at the NORAD site and each day my dd's go onto the christmas countdown. I have also set up a message for them using PNP which they love.

When I was a child my mum and dad would give my brother and I a christmas eve present which was usually a game that the family could play and also new PJ's. I have also kept up this tradition for my children but in the form of a hamper with a game, PJ's, santa's magic key, reindeer food, hot chocolate and popcorn.

Tracey

budgiemum

My daughter has loved 2 things which are cheap and fun for christmas
We make a runway for santa to land the sleigh by laying out glass jars (empty jam jars or similar) with tea lights to make a landing strip for the reindeer to spot from above. she helps with this and its a great christmas eve ritual

Once she has gone to bed and the room is set for Christmas day We also use 'cheap' wrapping paper to seal up the door to the living room which she bursts through to find any presents that may have been put under the tree.

She talks about these 2 things more than any shop bought presents!!
:rudolf:

cdsmiler

MarilynMonroe and anyone else putting glitter outside as reindeer food - PLEASE use edible glitter as the non edible stuff can hurt birds and animals if they eat it!!

moneybunny123

I've only read the first dozen replies so far, and am already filling up with tears!! My two boys are 2yrs2months and 5 months old but I will definitely be using some of the ideas here for this and future Christmases. THIS is what Christmas is all about, surely!

Flibsey

I like to do silly things for my little girl. we don't just have santa, we have the Yule Faerie too. she gets little gifts from 1st dec to whenever Yule happens (generally between the 20th and 22nd depending on lunar position). sometimes it's just a gift in her box, but sometimes she'll open the box and there are intructions which become a treasure hunt.

on christmas eve after she's gone to bed and is asleep, I like to chck some edible glitter out onto the flat roof of the extension. it's right below her bedroom window so when she opens the curtains, she can look out and see glitter all over the roof... I tell her it's falled flying magic form the reindeer's hooves.

ablue

My son's are sadly over the Santa experience but what i used to do when they were younger was......trying to explain without showing someone might be hard but here goes....make a fist,used this as imprint either in snow (over a car bonnet is good) or chimney soot and press it into snow for example... it is amazing how it looks like a foot print but smaller,then with first finger make toe prints.last year i done this for my friends children as she was poorly and boy did they get a shock seeing elf footprints,i've even used dried dog food as reindeer poo and hamster food as reindeer food,spilt as they stopped and had a feed lol hope this keeps someone else's children/grandchildren in the spirit of christmas for years to come

irlandaise

Great thread! Love the ideas of the star gazing to spot Santa and the wrapping paper on the door: perfect for my 8 and 9 years old boys. All the fun things we do have been pretty much covered, apart from the time we tipped some of the chairs and cushions, and scattered twigs and leaves on the floor: my youngest couldn't believe the mess Santa had made, and told the whole family about it!

PixieDust

I love the horse-dung-on-the-roof thing I can imagine an indignant father and a wide-eyed child (and a "sniggering-behind-the-door mother )

Don't forget to warn the dogs of the household on Christmas eve not to bark at the reindeer when Santa comes

princess_peas

One thing I heard about (although haven't done myself): If you have a bit of roof that sticks out like over a door or something, (because the upstairs is a bit smaller than the downstairs,) then stand at the window upstairs from it and shoot skis along the roof to a person waiting on the ground to collect them :beer: for santa's sleigh marks! If you don't have skis, you can use anything that would make two long grooves, either thick ones or thin ones, because who knows what Santa's sleigh is really like?

Even if it's not snowy, a mark with some mud/oil/etc along the edges of the 'skis' on Santa's sleigh would work well.

Even better if people in the neighbourhood can work together to make something everyone can look at :beer: