7 Festive holiday activities for the family

When the whole family gets together over the festive season, it can be expensive to plan outings and excursions. Fortunately, there are lots of festive ways to have some fun over the Christmas period without spending any money.

Here are our top 7 festive activities you can enjoy with your family during the holidays.

1. Make popcorn garlands
Don’t worry about tinsel this year, rather get those popcorn kernels popping and start making popcorn garlands for the Christmas tree. This is a great activity to enjoy on a rainy day. Using a needle and thread, the whole family can create decorative garlands – you can even have a competition to see who can make the longest one the fastest.

2. Christmas charades or Pictionary
Get some Christmas-themed topics written up on a few pieces of paper and, in teams, you can play a festive form of charades or Pictionary. For charades, teammates have to act out the description while Pictionary gets those art skills to work by drawing the item.

3. Christmas cookie decorating
Who doesn’t love a Christmas cookie? Dust off a really simple recipe and get everyone involved in making gingerbread men, Christmas trees, stars, or whatever festive design they feel is best. Then it’s time for decorating the cookies and – the best part – eating them!

4. Shoot the Grinch
Here’s another fun Christmas activity to try! Blow up a green balloon and draw a basic Grinch face on it. Tie it up somewhere and then shoot at the balloon with foam guns or any other soft items you have lying around the house. The first one to pop the Grinch wins. You can even place some sweets or other fun items inside the balloon as a sort of piñata for when it pops!

5. Obstacle course
Get that competitive spirit amped up with an awesome obstacle course around the home or garden. It doesn’t need to be an elaborate obstacle, and you can include items you find around the house such as boxes, chairs, balls, ropes…anything to make it fun. Then time your teams as they race.

6. Treasure hunt
Find something fun to search for, even if it’s just a few sweets, and then hide some clues around the house or garden. If you have young ones, you could also try drawing a treasure map, but it really depends on how much effort you’re putting into this festive activity!

7. Camp out
Christmas in South Africa is great – the warm summer nights make sleeping outside such fun! Set up a tent in your back garden, throw in some blankets and pillows, and have a braai with s’mores. It’s something a bit different that the whole family will remember.