The holidays are here, and so is some time off from school. Those first few days are great for everyone. No rushing the kids out of the house at the crack of dawn. No lunches to make or schedules to remember. Peace has descended upon the household.

But, then the bickering starts. First, it’s just a murmur. Then it grows till it’s a full on frenzy. The kids are bored! Ugh!

Don’t fret. There is still time to salvage a peaceful holiday break. The trick? Or in today’s hip language, the hack? Occupying the kids with meaningful holiday activities. Engage the Brain curated the following activities from our family experiences and borrowed a few from the Internet.

Enjoy!

Make a silly holiday photo/card

Just about everyone owns a smartphone with a camera. Gather the family and encourage each person to dress up in their silliest holiday clothes. Think ugly sweaters, silly hats, etc. Add in a few props like stuffed Santa’s, reindeer, etc. Let the photo shoot begin. The kids will love the goofiness of the adults during the photo shoot session.

Research the best hot chocolate recipes… then try them out

Want to sneak in some reading and math over the break? Encourage the kids to go online and research the best hot chocolate recipes. Some call for more expensive chocolate and exotic ingredients. You may want to put a price limit on the total cost; this only adds to the math! Decide which recipes look the best and which one(s) you want to make. Help your kids to read the recipe to determine how much one batch will make. Do you need to double or triple the recipe for each person to get a mug full?

Edible gingerbread houses

Making edible gingerbread houses is always a fun activity. While at the market gather a box or two of graham crackers, a tin or two of vanilla icing, a bag of gum drops, and a mixture of other hard candies. Lie out all the supplies on the kitchen table and give each child a paper plate on which to build his or her house. The graham crackers act as the sides and roof of the house. The vanilla icing serves as the “glue” to keep the house together. The gumdrops and candies are for decorations. Encourage our kids to be creative in their house designs.

Indoor snowball fight

Do the kids need to get some energy out, or do you need to get some aggression out? Stage an indoor snowball fight. Send your kids to their rooms to gather up their white socks. To make a snowball, simply turn one sock inside out and roll it into a ball. Next, make some ground rules. Suggestions include no throwing at some one’s face, no throwing at breakable objects, and no teaming up. Once the ground rules are agreed upon, let the mayhem, um fun, begin.

Ask older family members to share holiday stories

When your family gathers around for the holidays, especially if your extended family gathers, ask older members of the family to share stories about the holidays from their childhood. There could be people around the table born 50, 60, 70 or even 80 years apart. Think about the difference of the world in the 1930’s till today. Not only will your children benefit from such stories, you will no doubt learn something new about your family too.

Wrapping it up

Keeping kids busy is always tricky during the holidays. It can be tempting to shuttle the little ones in front of the television or computer and let them silently pass the time. But with a little preparation, you can balance your sanity and provide entertaining activities for the kids. Once a day over the break, pick one of these activities and enjoy some bonding time with your kids. You might end up making some lasting holiday memories.

Happy Holidays!

Engage the Brain Learning Specialist David Karch