Holiday Activities To Do Together
As we are getting closer and closer to the big day (only EIGHT days left now!), the time to do some fun holiday activities with your loved ones is running out. I often find myself most years coming up with these grand ideas of all of the things I want to do with my boyfriend, and with friends & family, but often never getting around to doing more than one thing, and there’s even been years when I’ve done nothing that I wanted to do. Well, I’m here to provide you with a little inspiration of some fun holiday things you can do with others! Whether you are wanting to do something with your significant other, your kids, your parents, friends – whoever, I’ve compiled a list of things that are sure to fill everyone with holiday cheer!
Visit Santa
Some of you may be thinking to yourself, “no kidding Emily, of course people go to visit Santa”, but it’s something I like to think I’m going to get around to doing, but I almost never actually get around to doing it - and I’m sure many other people also find this happening, mostly if you don’t have kids. And unless you’re a total planner like me, I feel confident in assuming that most of you still have some gift shopping to get done - so get yourself to your local shopping centre, and take some time out of your shopping excursion to visit the big guy in the red suit. It’s always something that’s really fun to look back on over the years as well, to see how much you change year-to-year. Honestly, it freaks me out a little bit with really how much we all do change in a year!
Check Out The Holiday Lights
No matter where you live, I can pretty much guarantee that there’s a holiday light show happening somewhere near you. Where I live, there’s always lots of light shows and festivals going on, but if you find yourself not knowing where to go, or there’s really nothing in your area after-all, one of my favourite things to do is jump into the car with my family, and take a drive around the areas where we know lots of people decorate their homes. Other than the fact that you’re burning gas, it’s a free thing to do together, and an activity that’s ten times more exciting when you turn up some Christmas music and really just enjoy looking at all of the lights around you. Honestly, the lights hanging up on buildings and trees is probably my absolute favourite part of this time of the year - especially with a dusting of snow, it’s truly so magical.
See The Nutcracker
This being probably one of the more expensive items on this list, but trust me when I say this is so worth it. The last time I saw The Nutcracker was when I was very young, and if I’m being honest, I totally did not appreciate it at the time. But through high school, I danced competitively and ended up doing ballet, and that’s when I developed a real sense of how hard those dancers worked, and my perspective on going to see ballets did a total 180. So this year, I treated my mom and I to tickets for The Nutcracker, and wow was it mind blowing & absolutely beautiful! There’s a reason this show sells out every year, so if you can afford to buy tickets and there’s a showing wherever you live, this is something I highly recommend you do at least once in your life during the holidays.
Decorate The Tree
Another relatively obvious one on this list, but it’s always a nice reminder. I don’t know about anyone else, but decorating for my family and I can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare. You start pulling out the boxes of decor, going through them, arguing over what should be donated or thrown out, versus what do we want to hang on to, but not put up this year – it can sometimes turn into not as fun of an experience as it really should be. But just put your amped-up feelings aside, and remember how lucky you all are to be together for another year, another holiday season, and don’t take your time for granted. Figuring out what kind of system works best for your family is a great place to start - in my case, I’m definitely the one that does most of the heavy-lifting, and more physical work, while the rest of my family, being older and not as physically-able as I am, does a lot more of the sorting, organizing, unwrapping and passing me stuff as I put it in its place. It’s a good system that makes decorating easy, and a lot of fun. It’s even more fun too, when you throw on some Christmas music and really just get into the holiday spirit!
Holiday Baking
Personally, I’m not really much of a baker myself. I’ll make the odd batch of muffins or cupcakes here and there, but overall, I’m not someone who likes to jump into the kitchen and bake things weekly… that is until Christmas rolls around. One of my fondest memories of celebrating the holidays as a child was going to my aunt’s in Quebec, and I’d get a tin full of our family’s famous sourdough cookies (let me know if anyone is interested in a blog post on that recipe!) To this day, I make them every Christmas and only ever at Christmas. Many families have traditional recipes that they make during the holidays, but doing it together makes it just so much better. Much like when you’re decorating the tree, I find it easiest to create a system of how everyone works best. Maybe one of you does dry ingredients, while the other mixes the wet ingredients, or someone cuts while the other mixes – whatever system works for you! Once again, throw on some Christmas music, bake whatever your heart desires & then when you get to enjoy your baked goods fresh out of the oven together, I’m sure it’ll be a new tradition for you & your loved ones.
Have A Holiday Photoshoot
Last, but of course not least, getting together and having some professional photos done. I know it can seem like a big investment, but if you’re like me, I’m someone who sees a lot of value in paying for work like that. Not only do I work in a creative field, some of my best friends and even my significant other are photographers, and I see value in their work – I promise, the price is worth it with the amount of time and money that goes into perfecting your images. Outside of my little rant about creatives deserving their dollar, I’m also someone who’s always loved photos and documenting big things. I’ve almost always got my camera or my phone out taking photos during events, because I love looking back on those images and remembering great times together with my family & my friends. Another great thing that can come from getting a Christmas photoshoot is Christmas cards to send to your loved ones! I’m rallying to try and get sending Christmas cards back to being something that everyone does – I truly used to love getting those cards in the mail, and even more so as an adult when the only things that show up in an envelope in the mailbox are bills, haha! If you’re planning on doing a photoshoot with some friends, you also can make it more affordable for yourselves by splitting the price evenly.
Well, there you have it! My list of some fun holiday activities you can do with whoever you want to spend your holiday time with. The great thing about most of these activities, is that there’s still tons of time to get most of them done, and some of them can even be done on the same day, like going to visit Santa, and checking out your local holiday lights, or light shows! That’s all for now – see you guys on Friday for a new blog! Xo.
* Christmas Photoshoot photos by Val Menard of Slash Photography.
