6 Ways Kids Can Self-Entertain During the Holidays

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Rain Boot Media. All opinions are my own.

Life gets busy around the holidays. Not only are you planning Christmas for your kids and family, but you have all the kids home from school for a break! Here are 6 ways your kids can self-entertain during the holiday season!

#1 Color Their Own Wrapping Paper

This is a great way to save money on the cost of wrapping paper and give your kids something fun to do while you’re busy doing other things. I did this with my kids and they absolutely loved it! Here’s what I did:

• Grabbed some inexpensive banner paper at my local education store. You can also, find it at Walmart, craft stores, and other places.
• Printed out some Christmas stencils which included Santa, a sleigh, gifts, stockings, and whatever my kids liked.
• Got some permanent markers (the colors of the season work great), crayons, and colored pencils.
• Rolled out the paper and let my little ones master their creativity with stencils and free drawing.

#2 Make Christmas Cards

Everyone loves getting Christmas cards over the holidays, and with all, you have to do, this is something you may not get to. Instead of filling your time writing and making Christmas cards, let your kids do it. It is all the more special to receive a handmade card in the mail from the young ones. You can print out foldable Christmas cards for kids, or you can just fold up some construction paper and let their creativity fly.

#3 Try a New App

I know… I know… Kids these days have too much technology and blah, blah, blah. But, I think there are times when technology serves a purpose and can be educational, too.

We tried out a new App, One Present, Please. One Present, Please is geared for kids ages 4 – 8 and is available now in App Store for just $2.99. It’s easier to play on our iPad, but it does work on all ios mobile devices. Once the App is downloaded, you don’t need internet access to play anything!

I love that this holiday themed app encourages learning where kids have to problem solve and figure out how to play the games, plus, rhyming clues, pattern and counting games. The boys like reading the book along with the app each day.

Owen really likes coloring the pages at the end and saving them.

And of course, who doesn’t love the idea of opening a present?!? Kids “open” a present each day and can do the activity for the day. There is even a Bonus Prize at the end (this links to another app, Pass a Present, where kids can send digital gifts to people via text messaging).

#4 Decorate Their Room

This may sound a little extreme, but kids love being in charge of something in their life. Their room is their prized possession and they will love decorating it for the holidays. You can find some inexpensive decorations at your local dollar store. Hand over the decorations, table Christmas trees, and streamers and let your kids decorate their room on their own.

#5 Watch Holiday Movies

With technology, anything is possible! Grab a Roku and start streaming holiday movies through Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, or any other streaming movie platform. Here are a few all-time favorites:

• Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
• The Search for Santa Paws
• Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas
• Dennis the Menace Christmas
• Polar Express

#6 Give Them Someone to Make a Gift For

Tis the season to give, so why not instill that in your kids while you are bustling around? Let your kids make a gift to give to someone this Christmas. Here are a few gift ideas they can do on their own depending on their age:

• Make jewelry. There are tons of jewelry kits and girls really love doing it.
• Personalize slippers. Grab a few pairs of plain slippers, some fabric markers, and fabric stickers, and let your kids go to town.
• Colorful jars. Let your kids paint mason jars. After they dry, they can come back and add stickers. While it is drying, have them write little notes to the person they are giving it to that they can pull out of the jar every day.

Keeping the kids occupied is the first step in making the holiday season flow smoothly. What other tips do you have up your sleeve to self-entertain the kids this year? Share your ideas in the comments below!