As Christmas time rolls around again, many parents become filled with anxiety as they work and rework their budgets to ensure they will have enough money to buy gifts for their friends, family members and children. Nowadays, gifts aren’t cheap, so Christmas is looked upon as one of the most expensive times of the year. If money is going to be tight this Christmas season (and for most of us, it is), why not gather up your family and enjoy one of these inexpensive Christmas family fun activities.
* Most towns and cities have that one neighborhood where the families go all out to decorate their houses with lights galore, lawn decorations, candy canes and anything else Christmas-related. Hop in the car and take your family driving around your own town to enjoy the Christmas lights and decorations that are put up by some of your neighbors and neighboring communities. Many cities often have fundraisers where they sell inexpensive tickets and have some of their most prominent citizens open up their decorated homes for public viewing.
* Once you have driven around and seen all the lights, come together as a family and design your own Christmas decorations and lighting schema. Pull out all of your decorations and lights and decide where they should all go. Instead of having Dad out there by himself putting up all of the lights, assign each family member a particular decorating duty. For example, somebody can be assigned to lights, somebody else to stockings and mantle, and somebody else to garlands and interior decorations.
* You may not have enough money this year to buy all of your neighbors and friends wonderful gifts; however, it doesn’t cost a fortune to go on a baking spree and bake cookies, brownies and Christmas treats to hand out. Give each family member a cookbook or let them find a baking recipe online that they want to try out. Each family member will be responsible for his own baking creation. When you hand out your baked goods to neighbors and friends, include a printed card explaining which family member was responsible for which baked good.
* Start a fire and get out your graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows. This year, while trimming the tree, get everybody involved and make hot cooca and S’mores. If you do not want to use expensive decorations, create garlands made out of popcorn or cranberries. You can also have your children and spouse design and create their own homemade ornaments to hang on the tree.
* Rent some Christmas-inspired movies like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Miracle on 34th Street.”
* If you live in an area where it snows, play some snow sports with your children. Instead of letting them have all the fun, go out and join them in sledding, making a snowman or having a snowball fight.
* Maybe your family is musically inclined? Get a group of neighbors and sing carols through your neighborhood or visit a local shelter or retirement home and sing Christmas carols there.
