12 Ways to Build Christmas Cheer

Christmas is soon upon us. Here are some fun activities to do to get into the Christmas spirit. It hasn’t been easy to get in the mood for holiday fun this year, but with this list of fun festive activities, you'll easily be able to stoke up some Christmas cheer!

3. Gather your friends for a fun Christmas game night:

• Candy Cane Hunt- An Easter egg hunt, but with wrapped candy canes instead of eggs!

• Cookie-Decorating Contest- Grab your pipe bags and sprinkles and decorate cookies with your friends!

• Saran Wrap Game- Everyone gets a chance to win prizes by unwinding plastic wrap in a 10- second time frame (Rules here: The 'Saran Wrap Ball' Christmas Party Game Is A Must!)

• • Directions-

    • Peel off any stickers on the bottom of the tree. Slightly wet the bottom of your tree & the center of the inside of the lid to the mason jar (gorilla Glue needs water to adhere).

    • Spread a thin layer of gorilla glue on the bottom of the tree (you can use a q-tip) and add a small dot of it to the inside of the lid.

    • Clamp the tree to the lid and let dry for at least 60 minutes

    • Once dry, add water, glitter, and whatever else you please to the jar. Lastly, turn the tree upside down and place inside the jar.

    • Press down on the lid , then screw on the outer part of the lid tightly.

    • Turn the jar upside down, and you now have a snow globe!

• Christmas Craft Sticks:

  • Materials-

    • Jumbo and regular craft sticks

    • Craft paper

    • Accessories (pom poms, wiggly eyes, buttons, pipe cleaners, and a ribbon)

    • Paint or markers

    • Glue

    • Scissors

  • Directions-

    • Glue your craft sticks together (into a square shape)

    • Paint or color the craft sticks

    • For the rudolph, cut out some antlers and a nose from craft paper, then glue on the nose, antlers, some wiggle eyes and a red pom pom nose.

    • For the snowman, glue on some wiggle eyes, a carrot nose and any embellishments. Color on a button mouth.

    • To make a penguin, cut out and glue on some feet, a beak and some wiggle eyes. For the ear muffs, glue on 2 large pom poms and a pipe cleaner to connect them.

• Sock Snowman:

  • Materials-

    • 1 white sock

    • 1 colored sock

    • Rice

    • Rubber bands

    • Accessories (colorful buttons, ribbons and orange pom poms)

    • Glue gun

    • Paint or markers

  • Directions-

    • Start by filling your white sock with rice

    • Once you are happy with the size of your sock snowman, tie the top with the rubber band.

    • Take another rubber band and place in the middle – more to the upper side – of the rice-filled sock to form the head shape.

    • Now glue the buttons to the bottom side by using a glue gun.

    • Draw the mouth and eyes with a black marker or with black paint.

    • Make the orange pom poms into a nose by cutting them into 2 mini spheres and glueing them together onto the “snowman.”

    • Add a ribbon for the scarf by using a hot glue gun, and you can cut off excess white sock.

    • Cut the colored sock. Roll it a bit and place it on the head of your snowman as a hat. You can leave it as it is or you can secure it with some glue.

• • Directions-

    • To make the “belt,” cut out the black electrical tape to wrap around the red ornament.

    • Cut a square out of the foil tape. Fold it in half, snip the center square out and then unfold again.

    • Then, place the foil duct tape “buckle” over the “belt.”

    • Pull apart some cotton balls and hot glue them on top of the ornament in a way where it still exposes the ornament hook.

• • Directions-

    • Melt the chocolate until it’s smooth and pourable: you can try microwaving the bowl or placing it on top of a pot of simmering water. Watch the chocolate to make sure that it doesn't burn.

    • Fill the molds. Scoop some chocolate into the mold and use the back of a spoon to push the melted chocolate around the molds, making it thick enough along the sides and edges. Pop the molds into the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set.

    • Remove the chocolate from the molds.

    • In order to melt the edges, microwave an empty plate for one minute. Pick up the empty half of the chocolate bomb and place it on the warm plate for a couple of seconds, just until it melts.

    • Fill. Add one tablespoon hot cocoa powder and mini marshmallows (and any other add-ins you want) to half of the spheres. Pick up another half and melt the edge on the warm plate then push the two sides together to seal.

    • You can decorate them with sprinkles and crushed cookies.

• No-Bake Christmas Wreath Treats:

  • Ingredients-

    • 20 large marshmallows

    • 2 tablespoons butter

    • Green food coloring

    • 3 cups cornflakes

    • 2 tablespoons Red M&M's minis

  • Directions-

    • Place marshmallows and butter in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave, uncovered, on high until butter is melted and marshmallows are puffed- about 45 seconds.

    • Tint with green food coloring. Stir in cornflakes.

    • On a waxed paper-lined baking sheet, divide mixture into 8 portions. With buttered hands, working quickly, shape each portion into a 3-in. wreath.

    • Decorate immediately with M&M's, pressing to adhere. Let it rest until it’s set.

10. Exchange Gifts Using These Classic Games:

• White Elephant

  • In order to play this popular festive game, tell each player to bring one wrapped gift to a Christmas party or simple event. All of the gifts are placed into a common pile. Then, each player will draw a number to determine what order they will choose gifts in. Players will sit in a circle where they can see the gift pile, and the person with the number "one" will select a gift from the pool and open it. After the first person, each following person can, on their turn, choose to either pick a gift from the pile or take a gift from a person who already picked one. If a player gets their gift stolen by another player, they pick a new gift from the pile or steal from someone else. This game is chockfull of holiday fun, but make sure to set some rules: a present can only be stolen once per turn, and can't be stolen more than three times. The game comes to an end when all of the players have picked a gift and everyone declines to steal a gift.

• Secret Santa

  • This game requires a little extra preparation, but it's one of the most popular games during the Christmas season. All participating players write down their likes and gift suggestions on pieces of paper, and these pieces of paper are secretly exchanged. The person whose paper you receive is the person for whom you have to get a gift. Make sure to keep it a secret, though- the best part is the surprise! After a period of time- say two weeks- to give everyone a chance to get their perfect gift, plan a gift-exchange party. Remember to tag each gift with the recipient's name, not with the gifters, when you're exchanging presents. Then, all the players will guess who gave them their gift!

12. Listen to your favorite holiday music:

• The Christmas Song

• Rockin around the Christmas tree

• Twelve Days of Christmas

• White Christmas

• Jingle Bell Rock

• Tune in here for more Christmas music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlqadskaRCw

There you have it! With these 12 activities, getting into the Christmas spirit will be positively simple!