Five ways to keep your kids entertained over Christmas
You’d think with all the excitement of Christmas, the presents and the visits from grandparents that children would be happy just getting on with it, so why do we hear the words, ‘muuuuummm, I’m bored’ so often? The fact is, children have short attention spans, so need to keep changing what they are doing for amusement. Here are five ways to keep your kids entertained over the Christmas break…
1. Make dens
Kids love making dens – give your children three chairs, an old sheet and any rugs and blankets you can find and instruct them to make a den. Tell them that when they’ve made it, you will arrive with a picnic lunch for them. They may need to be supervised but older kids will love the adventure aspect and responsibility of building the den on their own and younger kids will love having a picnic under a sheet and not having to conform with boring old knives and forks!
2. Movie night
Kids love nothing more than a good Christmas movie, but why not make it special by arranging a ‘movie night’, inviting some of your children’s friends over and making them design pretend tickets. Then, move the sofas in your living room to create a movie theatre, provide popcorn and hot chocolate and settle the kids down for movie night. Good Christmas movies include ‘Home Alone’, ‘Santa Claus: The Movie’ and ‘The Grinch’.
3. Let them run free
Avoid the cage rage that can come from being cooped up together over the Christmas period by taking the kids for a romp in the park. Toddlers especially love the feel of crunchy leaves underfoot and seeing their breath billowing out like dragon's smoke in the crisp December air.
4. North Pole adventure
And while we’re on the subject of getting out and about, kids will love going on a North Pole adventure to see the best decorated houses in the area. Bring torches to give things an even more adventurous feel.
5. Turn them into mini Nigellas
Get the kids to help you rustle up some yummy festive treats. Peppermint creams are a doddle to make and children will love rolling them out and cutting them into different shapes. Wrap them in a fancy box with a bow on the top and, hey presto, you also have the perfect present for Auntie Maud.
A simple recipe for peppermint creams
Ingredients:
- 400g of icing sugar,
- 250g of good quality dark chocolate,
- 3 tsp of peppermint essence (you can add more or less, depending on how pepperminty you like them)
- 2 tbsp of water (approx.).
Directions:
- Start by getting the kids to thoroughly wash their hands - very important, as there's a lot of hands-on squishing and rolling later.
- Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl and add the water and peppermint essence a little at a time, stirring it in with a wooden spoon.
- Once the icing starts to come together, gently knead it until you have a firm paste. If it feels sticky, sieve in more icing sugar. It should be pliable but dry.
- Dust a clean work surface and a rolling pin with sieved icing sugar and roll out the fondant until it is about one centimetre thick.
- Then use biscuit cutters to cut out shapes, or simply roll them into small balls and flatten.
- Leave the peppermint creams to dry on greaseproof paper overnight, then half-dip in melted chocolate and leave to set.
- Store in an airtight container.
