10 Holiday-Themed Activities to Help Your Child's Development

The holiday season is an exciting time for everyone—children and adults alike. While the days are typically filled with hot cocoa, baked goods, delicious meals and time spent with loved ones, they are also filled with wonderful opportunities  to nurture your child’s growth. 

Here are 10 holiday-themed activities you and your child can do to aid growth, promote development and spend time together.

1. Play With Bells

Bells go hand-in-hand with the holiday season and they’re the perfect tool to create jingles or rattles with your young one. Not only that, but bells have been proven to help children develop by providing new sensory experiences, encouraging auditory development and hand-eye coordination, and stimulating both fine and gross motor skills.

2. Play With Pom Poms

Pom poms are a simple, yet effective, way to encourage fine motor skill development in your child. Find holiday decorations around the house that they can poke pom poms through and collect them on the other side. They will love squishing them through various holes and watching them fall out, creating endless playtime. Another fun activity you can try out is sorting pom poms, whether based on shape, colour or size. 

3. Play In The Snow

While winter may not be your favourite season, make the best of it! Bundle your child up and head outdoors for some fun winter activities, like starting a snowball fight, building a snowman, spraying snow with food colouring, creating snow angels or tobogganing. These activities are great ways to build fine and gross motor skills.

4. Create A Christmas Sensory Bin

Sensory bins have been all the rage these past few years, and for good reason! Children use their senses to learn more about the world around them and sensory play involves all their senses⏤taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing, movement and balance⏤to increase brain development, regulate emotions and behaviour, improve fine motor skills, and more. So give it a try! Fill a bin with a variety of holiday-related items, like: 

• Pom poms
• Ornaments
• Food (cookie dough, cranberries, orange peels, dried oatmeal, etc.)
• Nature (pine needles, pinecones, etc.)
• Scents (peppermint, cloves, cranberry, etc.)
• Buttons
• Bells
• Cookie cutters
• Wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, etc.
• Christmas villages

5. Colour 

In general, colouring is great for developing fine motor skills, but it’s even better when it's associated with a theme. The holiday season is a magical experience for children and colouring holiday-related pictures is a fun way to kick off the season (and it’s a great gift idea for grandparents and Santa too!) 

6. Read Together

Read, read, read—there are SO many benefits to reading books aloud to your children. I always say, the best gifts for children are books (check out my online bookshop here!). Spend time this holiday season delving into new Christmas or holiday-themed books so your child can learn new vocabulary and further develop their imagination.

7. Bake Together 

It’s not the holiday season if you don’t bake at least once! Make this tradition a family affair by having your child help you in the kitchen. Whether it’s choosing the mix-ins (like chocolate chips or candies), scooping the ingredients, stirring the dough or plopping spoonfuls onto the baking sheet, there are lots of ways to get your child involved.

8. Play “I Spy”

“I spy” is a great game to play with your child at any time of year, but it’s even more magical during Christmas. Go out for a winter walk or have your child look around the house to identify holiday-related items, like colourful lights, reindeer, Christmas trees, candles, poinsettias in windows, you name it. This is also a great opportunity to teach your child new words.

9. Play The Matching Game

Much like “I spy,” the matching game is great for any occasion, but it’s more fun for children during the holidays. Have your child match Christmas-related items around the house, outside or when you're out and about, even at the mall. There are so many items that will no doubt excite them, like cookie shapes, ornaments, gift bags or socks. 

10. Gift Wrapping

If you’re like me, you probably leave your gift-wrapping until the last minute and then stress about getting it all done in time. Sound familiar? This year, have your child help you! This is a great opportunity to teach them about how to cover gifts with the right amount of paper and how to use tape. It’s a great way for them to showcase their creativity by colouring on craft paper or decorating it themselves. 

Do you want even more ways to help your child’s development? Join my private Facebook group to meet like-minded parents where I answer your questions, share free resources and connect with my community on a daily basis.