Get In the Christmas Spirit!

Get in the Christmas Spirit!

Do you have some time to just relax and spend some quality time with your family doing Christmasy things? Enjoy your free time while having fun! 

Here are some ideas on what and where to do some of these fun things:

1. Watch classic Christmas movies on Hallmark, ABC Family, and AMC. The classics, such as “It’s a Wonderful Life!” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” are the best!
2. Talk a wintery walk. See how many signs of winter you can spot. Remember, winter doesn’t start until December 22.
3. Make cookies for your neighbors as a family. Everyone likes cookies! Don’t forget those chocolate covered pretzels!
4. Have a cookie exchange with friends and family. It’s a fun way to get a variety of cookies in your home and a way to pass some of yours on.
5. String some popcorn and cranberries and hang it outside. Always remember our feathery friends!
6. Another way to remember our feathered friends is to take a pinecone and roll it in peanut butter. Roll the covered pinecone in bird seed and hang it outside for the birds!
7. Drop your spare change into a Salvation Army collection bucket. They have a really good band in our area!
8. Offer to do something for a friend or neighbor. Make it a random act of kindness!
9. Shovel an older neighbor’s driveway. It will keep them safe and make you feel good!
10. Organize a food drive at work or in your neighborhood. Collect food, hats and gloves (and anything else you can think of!) and donate it to a homeless shelter near you!
11. Read “A Christmas Carol.” It will teach you the importance of kindness!
12. DECORATE!!!
13. “Don’t spend more $$ than you have. Anxiety over after-Christmas bills can rain on your Christmas season parade.
14. Wish everyone you meet while shopping anywhere a Merry Christmas. Be sure to say it with a smile upon your very merry face!
15. Take this quiz: http://www.blogthings.com/howmuchdoyouknowaboutchristmasquiz/
16. Learn about how other cultures celebrate their Christmas. You can explore the history of Chanukah’s menorah and Kwanzaa’s kinara. Ponder about St. Nick in the Netherlands. Question about the importance of the winter solstice.
17. Figure out what Christmas means to you.
18. Attend a community Christmas band or choir performance.
19. Go caroling down your street or at a local nursing home.
20. Be present at your church mass or sit in on a different religion’s service. This can help you with number 15.
21. Visit museums and local zoos. The Joliet Area Historical Museum has a toy exhibit with some toys belonged to Abraham Lincoln’s family. The Museum of Science and Industry has the Trees Around the World exhibit, while the Shedd Aquarium has Holiday Fantasia (dolphin special). The Field Museum is tantalizing visitors’ taste buds with its chocolate exhibit. Both Brookfield and Lincoln Park zoos have holiday lights to amaze their visitors with. Star shows are at the Adler Planetarium and Joliet Junior College’s Herbert Trackman Planetarium.
22. Send out Christmas cards. Make sure packages get to the post offices so they reach your friends and family in time for Christmas!
23. Light your Christmas-scented candles and enjoy the smells of pine trees, christmas cookies, and peppermint. Always watch them, though!
24. Write a letter to Santa. Mail it or put in your stocking.
25. Don’t forget milk and cookies for Santa! The elves like apple juice and the reindeer enjoy a carrot or two after all the hard work required for reaching your house.
26. Listen to Christmas music while doing everything on this list!
27. Buy your New Year’s Eve party horns, hats, and poppers to help ring in the new year. Don’t forget the noise makers, too!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Kwanzaa Cheers, Happy Chanukah, Happy Holidays, Space Out!,

Astronaut Abby

Editor’s Note:

I used this site as a reference: http://www.ehow.com/how_3565_christmas-spirit.html.