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

ifonlycelerytastedofchoc

I love the magic of Christmas! We do a lot of what's already been mentioned, but I'm too anal to let the kids help with the decorations so instead I decorate after they've gone to bed on 30th November then in the morning tell them Santa's elves did it in the night, and that they've also left them an early present (their advent calendars) so they can countdown to Christmas.
I'm a big believer in your time is a child's favourite gift, so my husband and I always try our hardest to get Christmas eve off work, then in the afternoon we always take them for a long walk to either the beach, park, local woods or similar so they have plenty of frsh air and running around to wear them out. Then when we get home we have a carpet picnic and while. they're eating that I'll set up a treasure hunt (the first clue always includes a message from Santa and explains his elves visited while we were out) which leads to new pyjamas (not free but bought in last years sale so still moneysaving!) and a family board game (again not free but bought for cheap at car boot sale or charity shop). Because they're worn out from our day out, they then have a bath, put on their new pyjamas, play their new game and have a nice early night which is our favourite present!
We also do the presents upstairs in stockings from Santa but we also attach individual messages on them (using labels made from cutting up last years Christmas cards) praising them for specific things eg thank you for sharing your cars with Thomas and for being so patient with him.

changeways

My girls are 10 and 7 now and the eldest still believes. So as this will prob be the last magical year for eldest I am going OTT!! We usually though as a tradition have a letter from an elf the week before xmas. Its rolled up and wrapped with a ribbon so it looks fab. Glitter on it and curly handwriting....saying things like they get up to mischief. We say the elf is hiding in a garden ornament which we sprinkle with glitter too! Every year we have a different elf with christmassy names... they absolutely go crazy about this. The elf reports back to santa so they have to be very good...!!

Never done the new pjs xmas eve but sounds fab as we do the board game and:) HAVE to watch The Snowman without fail..

Happy xmas

84kris

Some really great suggestions here, I absolutely love the idea of wrapping paper over the door so they can burst through it. I watch a xmas film for each of the 12 days before xmas to get into the festive mood. We leave stocking at the end of the bed and open presents after breakfast so then the little one can eat as much chocolate as she likes. We only do one present from santa each year and it's normally the biggest/main/most expensive present. We do this for the reason that when she finds out santa isn't real she wont think that there will be a lack of presents only one less than normal. I let my daughter decorate the xmas tree and re-do it when she is in bed and we also make a gingerbread house which she helps to decorate (we use the same house each year so it's not edible but looks great). Seems really silly but the daughter loves to help so I let her stick the stamps on the xmas cards and she lick the envelopes and she relishes that she can help out too. Each day she has a chocolate from her advent calender and this year daddy is dressing up as santa - a suit which we bought so as to save rental costs each year. We are going to panto on xmas eve which will hopefully be a tradition we can start to do every year. And this weekend we are going to a winterwonderland with santa's grotto and santa trail and there is reindeer too. I am so excited about xmas every year and now I have a 2 year old it's even more exciting! :T

duchy

annieb_101 wrote: »

i love love love love norad tracks santa i'm 21 too but remember being shown it when i was younger n i'm usually sat in front of the laptop shouting down to mum saying where father christmas is lol x

We still check it over Christmas Eve and my son's now twenty LOL
It's just one of those things we've done since he was tiny and still do.

stargazer59

duchy wrote: »

We still check it over Christmas Eve and my son's now twenty LOL
It's just one of those things we've done since he was tiny and still do.

We do this too, and my son is now 13.

I asked him today if we are going to do it this year, his reply?

"of course ..its the LAW like stockings!!!":rotfl::rotfl:

samyantha

Last year we bought walkie talkies with room monitor mode on as when our young children fell asleep in the car, we couldn't move them without waking and being grumpy. On a number of occasions someone was on the same channel and would play along, pretending to be Santa, asking if they had been good and what they wanted for Christmas. They would get very excited and sometimes switch them on to see if Santa was available to talk or if he was busy getting read for Christmas. Thanks to this forum, I had forgotten all about it, till now.

We have also decided that we need more Christmas themed crockery but as we cannot find any we like and can afford, I am going to buy white plates for them to paint on using ceramic paints, which we already have.

Really liking many of the ideas on here, will add them onto some of the things we already do, hopefully if will be even more magical

CKaye1

I just love this thread and some of the faantastic ideas people have for making Christmas truly magical for their little ones. Having spent my childhood dreading Christmas and it's round of divorced parental fighting over who would get the kids I am now determined that Christmas will always be a very special time for my own children.

My personal favourites are the PNP portal and the Norad tracker, both very clever....the former always brings a tear to my eye and the later is simply addictive (I'm still checking it after the kids are long in bed!). We always sprinkle some magic reindeer food outside too (porridge mixed with edible glitter) just so the reindeers don't run out of flying power

I'm now off to the shops to pick up some 'sleigh bells' and can wait to gift wrap my door way!

Long live Santa!:xmassmile:rudolf:

*Louise*

Love love LOVE all the magical christmas stuff!!!:j

I get my lot all hyped up, they are so excited, it's great. Of course DS1 (12) knows the truth but he is happy to play along.

We are going to see Arthur Christmas on the 23rd and we always have a Christmas Eve hamper with pyjamas, new toothbrushes, DVD, craftmaking stuff etc. The day will be spent making cookies and things for santa, then they will have baths and we will watch a Christmas DVD before bedtime. Everyone has to sing 'Jingle Bells' when going to bed (eldest rolls his eyes lol)


I love the tealights in glass jars idea - think that might be a new thing to add for us this year :T:T:T

jollymummy

rhyspaulburton wrote: »

My most magical memory of Christmas from my own childhood was writing a letter to Santa, putting it in an envelope, and posting it up the chimney to be magically delivered to Santa.

My parents used to let our coal fire burn down until there were no more flames, then we'd carefully hold the letter flat high above the hot coals, let go - and the heat from the coals would lift the letter up the chimney and out in to the night sky, on it's way to Santa in the north pole.

Much more magical than posting it in a letterbox, and no stamp required!! You need a real fire though... (It doesn't work so well with an electric fire)

We used to do this too, just magical !!!

jollymummy

What a lovely thread.
My boy loves Portable North Pole videos and it's so cute, when Santa asks if he's been good etc, he sits and talks to the laptop We love tracking Santa on Norad and playing the games on there throughout December - in fact I won't go to bed until Santa gets to London - I'm 41
We leave a key out for Santa, and sprinkle reindeer dust near the door - edibe glitter and porridge oas. The most lovely thing though has been the Christingle at our local church, my boy was Joseph last year and is a Wise Man this year, it is a lovely service especially when all the lights are turned off and we all sing by candelight.
My Mum who is in her 70s told me the service last year made her feel like a little girl again