Winter break is here, and you may be stressing about what to do with your kids to keep them busy while they are off school. If you plan in advance, the holidays can be a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time as a family while doing activities that reinforce family involvement and strengthen your children’s social-emotional learning and other skills.

Here are some inexpensive things to do that are fun and will create memories for years to come.

Start a Gratitude Jar

Every day, from today until the end of year, every family member writes something that they are grateful for on a piece of paper and puts it in a jar. Read a few of them together during New Year’s Eve.

Practicing gratitude has many social emotional benefits. It puts you in a better mood, builds positive self-esteem and resilience, and helps with stress management. Children who see their parents’ practicing gratitude are more inclined to do the same.

Bake Cookies

Definitely a family favorite for the holidays! Baking cookies together is a great way to strengthen relationships at home, it helps with self-esteem while creating wonderful memories. But children also learn about time management, team skills, following directions, problem solving, and other STEM related skills.

The Department of Defense states that more than 80% of jobs over the next decade will require STEM skills. STEM activities at home will spark your child’s creativity and will prepare them for the future.

The learning can start while you shop for ingredients, your child can weigh the produce on the scale and estimate the cost. Allow your child to measure the ingredients, ask your child to compare amounts, “what does a cup of oil looks like, and now compare it with a fourth of a cup of oil.” Talk about what happens in the oven, how is it that the uncooked raw dough transforms into crispy cookies.

Read Holiday Books

Reading with your child is very powerful, if parents knew of the many benefits this activity has, more parents would be doing it, and it only takes 15 minutes a day! When you read a book to your kids they get your full attention, it tells them they matter, it makes them feel confident, secure, and happy. It builds self-esteem.

In addition to the social emotional benefits, reading feeds your children’s imagination, increases their vocabulary, improves their reading comprehension skills, establishes a reading routine, and builds reading fluency. Students who read do significantly better in school.

We’ve put together a list of 10 of our favorite Christmas books to read as a family. We hope you enjoy them.

Reading with your child is very powerful, if parents knew of the many benefits this activity has, more parents would be doing it, and it only takes 15 minutes a day! When you read a book to your kids they get your full attention, it tells them they matter, it makes them feel confident, secure, and happy. It builds self-esteem.

In addition to the social emotional benefits, reading feeds your children’s imagination, increases their vocabulary, improves their reading comprehension skills, establishes a reading routine, and builds reading fluency. Students who read do significantly better in school.

We’ve put together a list of 10 of our favorite Christmas books to read as a family. We hope you enjoy them.

• The Polar Express
• How to Catch an Elf
• Pig the Elf
• Sneezy the Snowman
• I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Dreidel
• The Wish Tree
• Snow Globe Wishes
• A Piñata in a Pine Tree
• K is for Kwanzaa
• The Night Before Christmas

Looking at Christmas Lights

A beautiful family tradition to have with your children when they are small and continue as they grow up. Nothing makes your heart feel warmer than driving around town with your children looking at Christmas Lights… even if they are in their 20s.

But make it intentional; beforehand find neighborhoods that have lots of lights, set a date, put on your pajamas or Christmas sweater, get some hot cocoa and marshmallows, and put on some Christmas music. There are some neighborhoods where you can park your car and walk around.

Not only will you be creating memories that will last a lifetime, but this activity is great for their social-emotional development. It builds strong children that feel confident about the support system they have.

Christmas movies and Slumber Party

Plan a family slumber party around the tree, what a magical night it will be! Watch some of your favorite Christmas movies, drink hot chocolate or warm apple cider, make some snacks and dose off under the twinkly lights.

For smaller children the classics are our top choice, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. They are short in length and a story that they are familiar with. For older children and adults, The Polar Express, A Christmas Story and Home Alone are a must during this season.

Tallest Marshmallow Challenge

From mombrite.com, we bring this great winter activity and STEM challenge.

Participants have to build a snowman with just marshmallows and toothpicks. They can do whatever design they want, but they have a limited amount of time and marshmallows and toothpicks to build as tall of a snowman as possible. The person with the tallest snowman wins!

Materials:

• 20-30 toothpicks
• 20-30 regular marshmallows
• 10-20 mini marshmallows (for arms and extra support)
• Black and orange food coloring or markers
• Measuring tape or ruler

Random Acts of Kindness

Kindness is a powerful thing. It can change the world, one act at a time.

Science has shown that kindness has many physical, emotional, and mental health benefits, including increased happiness and reduction of stress. There are so many reasons why it is important to do random acts of kindness this holiday season with your children: It teaches them the importance of giving back, helps them develop empathy and compassion, makes them feel good about themselves and spreads holiday cheer.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation  provides many resources such as stories, quotes, videos, and ideas. Their daily quotes and posts will inspire you to show kindness in your own community.

These are a few ideas we love:

• Write positive messages on sticky notes and leave them for others to find.
• Visit the nearest little library and donate a book.
• Cook a meal for someone who is struggling.
• Call that person you’ve been meaning to call.
• Organize a community clean up.
• Prepare small packages with water, a snack, soap, and toothbrush and toothpaste. Keep them in your car and hand them out to homeless people.