As a child, I loved the weeks leading up to Christmas as much as Christmas day. This was because of all the Christmas activities for children that were fun and exciting.

Firstly, I couldn’t wait for school to break because this meant going to the country to see my grandmother. Equally, it meant spending time with my cousins and siblings running wild in the countryside, bathing in the river and being told duppy stories!

However, it didn’t matter how free we were at Christmas. We still had to chip in with some of the Christmas activities at home in preparation for the big day.

Not one who loved doing chores, I nonetheless loved doing these Christmas activities for children that my mother enlisted us in.

Being that we were preparing for Christmas, these activities were fun.

Here are 4 Christmas activities for children to help with at home:

Make DIY Christmas Presents

Nothing is as heart-melting as a DIY gift given to you by a child. You see all the love and creativity that has gone into it, and you can see how proud they are of their creation. It’s truly magical. Financially, things might be a little tight for some of us this year. Why not spend some time with your child to make some beautiful presents for people on your list this Christmas?

Decorating the Christmas Tree

No doubt by now most trees would have gone up already. If you are a planner, then this week is most likely going to be smooth sailing for you.

However, for those who are getting all the last-minute things done, putting up the Christmas tree will probably be one of those last-minute activities that will be done this week.

Why not enlist your little helpers in this task? Perhaps, you can delegate the decorating of the Christmas tree to your children.

This is a big responsibility because the Christmas tree is the centrepiece of any area that you will be displaying it in. Giving your children the responsibility of decorating the tree or, a least, sharing the responsibility with them will show them that you trust their judgment and value their creativity.

Sprucing up the Place

I know that in many Jamaican homes, there is a mother, somewhere, doing the annual deep cleaning!

She’s changing the curtains with ones that only go up at Christmas, washing China that you can never touch on an ordinary day, and making sure that the place is spic-and-span for those visitors who will be coming by for some sorrel and cake and for Christmas dinner.

Enlisting children in this task will help you get the work done faster, and it will teach your children about the collective effort in achieving one goal.

Additionally, you show your children that the state of your home is everybody’s responsibility.

Baking the Cake

We all know that sorrel and fruitcake are Christmas staples. These days, while some people buy their Christmas cake, many still bake theirs.

If you are into baking your cakes for Christmas, sharing this activity with your children is really fun, and it’s a great way to pass down the family recipe through generations.

Christmas week is when my mother and aunts used to bake, and none of us children would go to bed before we at least got a “sample”. We stayed up and helped with the baking.

Those who were more actively helping (my sister) and not hanging around for the cake batter and the sample (me) acquired the skill to make fruitcakes.

Now, my sister bakes her own cakes every Christmas for her friends and family.

So, whether you’re all done with the Christmas chores or making a mad dash to complete them, you can get them done faster by enlisting your children in these shared Christmas activities.