8 Ways to Celebrate the Holidays at Home

It’s that special time of year, full of Christmas lights, singing carols, and cozying up by the fire. With current guidelines around COVID-19, there may be some holiday traditions that you and your family are foregoing this year to stay safe, so we've made a list of 8 ways you can celebrate this holiday season all from the safety and comfort of your own home. 

Here are 8 Ways to Celebrate this Holiday Season at Home:
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 1. Bake Cookies (or other treats)

Baking cookies is a great tradition made for at-home holiday fun. It’s not just about making cookies, but about spending quality time with your little ones creating something beautiful and delicious together. In fact, we have some excellent recipes for you and your family to try at home this season on our recent blog post 6 Healthy Holiday Treats. If you want to share your holiday goodies with loved ones, you can also create and send, or drop off the cookies you made to your friends and family. Just make sure that you and your little one wash your hands before making the cookies and package them up for a safe and delicious bag of treats.
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2. Decorate Your Space

Another way to get festive and bring in the holiday spirit is by decorating your home! Just because extended family and friends may not be visiting this year, that doesn't mean you shouldn’t create a holiday wonderland for you to enjoy. This is a great activity to get your kids involved. One of my favorite holiday traditions is turning on some Christmas music and decorating the tree as a family. You can even get craft and make your own holiday decorations!
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3. Watch Holiday Light Shows Online

There’s always been tons of fun opportunities to see beautiful holiday light displays in the community. While you can still safely drive around and look at lights in your neighborhood, the pandemic has caused many public holiday events and activities to transform. Thankfully many holiday light shows can be seen from the comfort of your home! Here’s a list of virtual holiday light shows your whole family will be sure to enjoy. Feeling a bit stir crazy? Well, you can also consider a drive-thru holiday light show as well, as this allows you and your little one to view light shows from the safety of your car. 
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4. Make & Send Letters

Letters are a great way to show those you love that you are thinking of them, and what could be more fun than making your own! You can use colorful paper, markers, stickers, stamps, you name it. Feel free to get creative and use whatever you have on hand to craft a personalized card for friends and family. Plus, spreading joy and holiday cheer is good for your health! Your child will love making these cards, and you can even have them make one for Santa or too! If you are planning on mailing cards to your friends and family, think about including a family photo so they can see your smiling faces.
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5. Take Family Pictures

Speaking of family photos, taking holiday family pictures are an excellent way to celebrate this special time of year and make memories. Gather up the family and put on your favorite holiday sweaters for a fun photo shoot at home. No fancy equipment needed! You can simply use your phone camera and set a timer or you could use a camera if you have one with a tripod. If you want to get creative, try decorating your picture's background with holiday decorations or adding stickers to your photo to make it even more festive. Pets can also join in on the fun. Just remember to have fun and be patient. It may take a couple of shots to get the perfect picture. 
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6. Plan a Holiday Zoom

Share in the holiday celebration with your family and friends by planning a holiday Zoom (or any video-chatting platform) meeting with those you may not be able to see in person this year. Your kids love seeing the special people in their life and sharing all of the holiday fun they’ve been having, like their favorite present or the treats they made. If your family doesn't know how to set up a zoom session, you can host the meeting and share the link so that they can simply just join by clicking the link. Meeting on Zoom is a great way to share the holiday joy with your friends and family in a safe way!
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7. Have a Holiday Movie Marathon

Since we will most likely be hanging out at home this season, what better way to escape into a magical holiday experience than with a good holiday movie. Many streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime have already added plenty of holiday movies for you and your little one to enjoy. You can have a movie marathon at home with your family, and if you have Netflix, you can host a virtual movie night with your friends and family through TeleParty, formally known as Netflix Party. This free Google Chrome extension allows users to synchronize viewing with friends and chat while watching together. See our list above for our favorite holiday movies streaming for free. 
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8. Build a Gingerbread House

Building a gingerbread house is a tradition for many families during the holiday season, but have you ever made your own gingerbread house instead of using a store bought kit? Store-bought gingerbread houses aren’t known for packing in many nutrients, however, if you make your own gingerbread house, you can make it as nutritious and delicious as you want! Try adding fruits for color instead of candy, and coconut flakes as snow instead of icing. You can even use graham crackers for the structure of your “gingerbread” house. Read more from Jacquie Fisher on various ways you can make healthy gingerbread houses here.

We hope your holiday season is filled with joy! If you loved this blog post then make sure to share it with your friends and family. We've got a lot more tips and tricks to share with you. Be sure to subscribe to our blog to get notified every time a new blog post is released. 
​Happy holidays!