Christmas Jar: 25 days in December & an elf named Mr. Jingles

  I really should have posted this 6 days ago!  I saw this idea on Pinterest (I think) and I wanted to try it out this year.  I don't know why I take all of my "overachieving mommy" issues and put them all on myself in one month.  There is something about the holidays that I want to be perfect, fun, and most of all magical for my children (see Elf pics below).  I call this the Christmas Jar and to do it, you first type and print out 25 fun or thoughtful things to do with your family, cut each thing out on, and place them in a jar.  Next decorate your jar, I just cut out a picture from a Christmas card and stuck it on the front.  Everyday a child grabs a piece of paper and you do on that day what they picked out.

Here is a list of things to do that are in our jar.  Feel free to print them out to use for your Christmas Jar.


Open one gift early.

Bake cookies and take them to a friend.

Pop popcorn and play a board game while listening to holiday music.

Go to the library and pick out books about Christmas. Read them together.

Buy or make stocking stuffers for your sibling(s).

Write a note to each member in the family to tell them how special they are and what you love about them. Leave the note in their stockings.

Draw a holiday picture and send it to someone.

Take a tour of lights in your neighborhood in your pajamas. Eat popcorn and listen to Christmas music in the car.

Make an ornament together for the tree.

Bake cookies for yourselves.

Start a holiday memory book. Quote your child and ask them what their favorite thing is about Christmas and what they want from Santa Clause.  Take a picture Christmas morning and put it in the memory book.

Print out a Holiday Coloring Page and color it.

Put together a box of items to donate to the less fortunate.

Make Reindeer Food
(Find recipe here:  http://thatscountryliving.com/2011/12/how-to-make-reindeer-food-free-printable-reindeer-food-poem-tag/).

Make and decorate a gingerbread house.

Make popcorn and cranberry garland for the tree.

Make paper chains for the Christmas tree.

Write a letter to Santa to leave on Christmas Eve.

Have a holiday movie marathon.

Eat candy canes and drink hot cocoa.

Make cards and gifts for teachers.

Go to the Dollar Store and pick out gifts for your family.

Make special cards to send to your cousins.

Do something nice for someone else, just because.

Make and send Christmas cards to the grandparents.

Purchase non-perishable food to donate to a food bank.

Make a present for Santa.

Drink peppermint tea and eat Christmas sugar cookies.

Make and put out food for birds and squirrels (toilet paper roll, peanut butter, and bird feed).

Make snow globes.

Research holiday traditions around the world on the computer.


Some ideas came from these two websites:

http://www.momadvice.com/parenting/christmas_jar.aspx

http://domesticsimplicity.com/2011/11/14/merry-making-50-things-to-do-with-kids-in-december/



  Of course some days they pick things that are inconvenient or I don't have the supplies.  My children know to pick another one if that happens.  Like if they picked the "Go to the library" and we have an already packed day, they pick another one.  Yesterday my daughter picked, "Make holiday cookies," so we baked cookies and decorated them last night.

I hope you will use the rest of this month to do fun and memorable things with your family!

Now onto the elf:

So this is the first year that an elf has visited our home.  My children named him Mr. Jingles and they absolutely love when he does naughty things.  

Like toilet papering our Christmas tree or my daughter's door!

...or writing a little warning on the chalkboard.

Gotta keep them in check!

...and this morning we woke up to my son's bed and floor covered with bows.  

That silly elf had gotten into the bag and had them everywhere!! hehehe :)

I will need a serious break come January!!

Do you have an elf that is creating raucous in your house?

Do you think the Christmas Jar is something that you will do with your children?

~  Kim