Today is the first of December, and if you’re like me, I am shocked to be entering the final month of 2021 already! We made it you guys! It seems to have come up so fast despite Thanksgiving being relatively early this year. I have an interfaith family that celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas (along with all of our birthdays falling between November and January). This makes for a December that is full of family activities involving everything from Festival of Light shows and birthday parties, to games of dreidel and Christmas movie nights.
Instead of an elf on the shelf, my family has a Christmas countdown calendar I found on Amazon years ago, with pockets for each day of December leading up to the 25th. I put a small piece of holiday-themed paper into each pocket. On each card, I write down a family activity we will do that day to celebrate the season. I try to make most of these revolve around an experience we'll have together because I want to create family memories that we can look back on each year. Below is the list of our “25 Days of Christmas” activities for 2021, with links to more details on the local events we plan on attending.
December 1
Visit the Rockwern Academy Let it Glow: Hanukkah drive-thru Lights, and then head to Light in the Forest at the Cincinnati Nature Center for a one mile walk through the woods, looking at their lights display which leans more to Christmas decor. I will pack hot cocoa in a thermos for our outdoor hike as an extra surprise on this night out!
December 2
Paint-your-own dreidels! I bought a couple unfinished wooden dreidels from Amazon, and will use paint we already have in our craft bin to decorate them. We might even bust out the glitter glue if I’m feeling wild.
December 3
Watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (2000 version with Jim Carey) at the Starlite Drive-In theater in Amelia.
December 4
Visit the Anderson Towne Center Holiday Festival which kicks off at 4pm on this day. I am most excited to hear holiday tunes performed by our local high school orchestra.
December 5
Attend the Hanukkah Services at Fountain Square where they are lighting a giant menorah, serving hot cocoa, and singing hanukkah songs! Fountain Square also offers ice skating and bumper cars if you’re looking for more excitement.
December 6
Watch a YouTube video tutorial on painting a snowman canvas such as this one: https://youtu.be/OmxqlY4TCqU This is fun even if you do not consider yourself an artist. Most tutorials are usually easy to follow along and since it is a YouTube recording you can pause the video to catch-up if needed.
December 7
Have a steamy mug of hot cocoa after dinner. Add a few marshmallows, or throw in a candy cane to make it extra special.
December 8
Eat out at Buffalo Wild Wings (the Anderson location is hosting a fundraiser for Ayer Elementary on this night only) and buy another table’s meal. We do this once a year, and I love the feeling of surprising another family with a little extra holiday cheer. This year we also get to support our favorite school; it’s win-win.
December 9
Drive-thru the light display at Coney Island. I will pack us plenty of cozy blankets so we can roll the windows down while driving through the lights to get a better view.
December 10
Visit the Cincinnati Zoo’s Festival of Lights, participate in their Fiona fairy scavenger hunt, and meet Santa and Mrs. Clause. I hear they also have s’mores stations (as if you needed another reason to visit)!
December 11
Go to Downtown Dazzle at Fountain Square. During this outdoor program, Santa can be seen scaling down the side of a building, and ultimately making a grand entrance into the Square! There are also fireworks starting at 7pm.
December 12
Visit the Krohn Conservatory to see their Trains and Traditions display. It’s a true Cincinnati holiday tradition put on by the Cincinnati Parks Foundation and it’s absolutely breathtaking what these local artisans can do with plants! This one is a must-see.
December 13
Paint our nails in holiday colors. I’ll let my daughter choose whatever color she wants, and we have some holiday press on nail stickers left over from last year.
December 14
Holiday bubble bath using a new gingerbread scented bath bomb I found at Buff City Soap, a new shop in Anderson Towne Center.
December 15
Surprise her with reindeer pancakes, and the card will read “Rudolph is having breakfast with you today.” To create the look of a reindeer on her plate, I will make one oval pancake, and set a round pancake overlapping it on one side. Create antlers from bacon spread out from the pancake reindeer face. Eyes will be chocolate chips, and nose will be a raspberry or strawberry cut into a circle.
December 16
Watch whatever holiday movie she chooses to watch. Pop popcorn and snuggle on the couch under our holiday blankets.
December 17
On this night, we will wrap gifts my daughter is giving to family. Her school does a “Holiday Gift Shop” this week during school, and all gifts are small $2 items. She enjoys getting to choose and wrap a gift all on her own for her grandparents and cousins.
December 18
Cookies with Santa and goats! My girl loves animals of all kinds. She will no doubt be asking Santa for a kitten this year, but I digress. This event is hosted by Nakama Studio in Batavia. Bring your wish list and drop it in a “North Pole” mailbox created for the occasion. There will also be cookies, hot chocolate, and crafts.
December 19
Glow bath!! We like to spice up bath time if you haven’t caught on to that yet {wink wink}. A glow bath is when I take a few glow sticks I picked up at the dollar store (here I will use red and green colors) to light the bath in holiday colors. I turn the lights out and crack the door a little and the glow sticks are enough light to have it not be scary in the bathroom I promise!
December 20
Holiday dance party. Throw on your favorite playlist or radio station and get those wiggles out! If there are family members coming over tonight, you could try and replicate the “Fancy Like” song sensation sweeping the internet these days. Simply search Youtube for reference of what dance moves others have used to this Walker Hayes tune, and then get creative making it your own style! My girl loves to dance.
December 21
Make and mail holiday cards. A great way to use up whatever scratch paper is floating around the house. Cut photos from a holiday catalog, or cut-out squares of paper and arrange in a gift tower. Send to your neighbors or drop off at a nursing home to spread that holiday cheer!
December 22
Make paper snowflakes to decorate our front windows by folding a piece of white paper in half 3 times, and cutting different shapes from along the edges. Just like you did when you were in elementary school! These are cute decorations to have all winter long, so go ahead and leave them up past Christmas Day.
December 23
Take a hike. It’s good for the soul during this crazy beautiful holiday season to get outside and move your body. We will likely choose a new hiking trail for this day just to mix it up. To reference our favorite parks with family friendly trails in the area, click here.
December 24
New family pajamas are gifted on this night. Each year we do not necessarily have the same pattern but we do color coordinate. Every family member gets a new set of PJs and we take a picture by our tree on this night.
I hope this inspires you to partake in some or all of these holiday fun ideas with your family. Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season full of light and love!
