This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
Have you been trying to figure out how to get into the Christmas spirit this year? Does the holiday season fly by each year, and you feel like you didn’t appreciate it enough? Are you wanting to bring the true meaning of Christmas into your home this December? This article has 25 ideas of ways that you can involve your family in bringing about the true spirit of Christmas this holiday season.
First, check out this simple example of how a neighbor blessed our lives, how we helped a neighbor, and how we were able to bring others along with us to serve.
This post is all about how to get into the Christmas spirit.
A Neighbor’s Example: How to Get into the Christmas Spirit
One year, a neighbor did the 12 days of Christmas for our family. My children were so excited every night when the doorbell rang, they would race to the door to try and catch the culprits. It was such a fun experience and really made Christmas magical that year.
It was what happened the next year that was unexpected, my children decided that they wanted to do the same thing for someone else. My kids thought it was the best thing and enjoyed the shopping, wrapping, and delivering the gifts. The best part of the whole experience was not getting caught each night. It became a treasured tradition in our home.
Then one year my youngest who was 13 said, “Mom can’t we do this every day in December? “It was our last Christmas with all our children still at home, so we decided to see if we could make it work. We researched, looked at our calendar and found 25 acts of kindness that fit our personality, budget, and our schedules. It became a year we would all remember.
My kids had some great experiences, one of the best was paying for someone else’s meal at our favorite restaurant. It was a win-win experience because not only did someone else get a free meal, but we were also able to enjoy a fun family dinner together. My children also loved taping quarters to candy machines and leaving popcorn and candy canes at Red Box Machines. Another favorite activity was our trip to the dollar store, finding creative hiding places and leaving dollar bills throughout the store for others to find. They were so excited each day to go out on our adventure and help people.
Helping a Neighbor: How to Get into the Christmas Spirit
The most memorable experience for me involved an older lady who lives down the street. We heard that she was really worried about all the pinecones and needles under her large pine tree. My family took an afternoon and raked up all the pinecones and left 9 large bags out for the garbage truck. For months she was trying to figure out who did it, we didn’t tell anyone. The only clue anyone had was that they saw a white van out front. Luckily for us there are a lot of white vans in our neighborhood.
She was relentless, though and kept up the search. Finally, she broke one of the kids, and they conveyed to her that we had done the work. She invited my family over and we had such an enjoyable night playing games with her and eating pizza. My kids were so happy to serve, and they were blessed tremendously with a new friend. One that they treasured and were able to serve many more times until she passed away.
Bringing Others Along: How to Get into the Christmas Spirit
The next year, when my youngest entered high school, she decided to include her friends in this endeavor. She made her own calendar with some of these same activities and a few others and sent it to her friends. She invited them to come with her every day after school to do these service activities. When her friends weren’t able to come, she would invite her church youth group. They blessed the lives of so many.
It can be difficult to find the time to do all these activities. That first year was time consuming setting up our calendar, buying or making things, coming up with a printable to deliver with our acts of kindness. With each item we left we included a note so others would know this was for them. We tried to find things that were simple, but our favorite activities where the ones that took time.
Here is a list of 25 activities that we did to bring the Christmas spirit into our lives.
December 1
Leave popcorn and candy canes at a Red Box
December 2
Deliver some treat to a neighbor or someone special. This activity could be a homemade treat or something bought from a story to make it simple.
December 3
Buy toys for “Toys 4 Tots.” This was a fun family shopping experience. I also got to see things my kids wanted for Christmas. That is why I put this early in the month.
December 4
Go into the library and offer to pay for someone’s library fines. The person will never know who helped them but will be grateful. Its also fun to visit the library this time of year and get some fun Christmas books to read together as a family.
December 5
Tape quarters to candy machines. My kids loved this one and it didn’t take a lot of extra work. The hardest part was finding candy machines to tape the quarters to.
December 6
Buy a book for the teachers at the book fair.
December 7
Pick up pinecones or shovel snow. Find any service project that a neighbor might need. Maybe make a Christmas ornament for your friend.
December 8
Volunteer to be a bell ringer. My kids loved the chance to meet knew people. They were surprised by the generosity of so many good people. The unexpected benefit was that my children learned to want to give. Whenever we had a chance to pass the bell ringers, they were generous in their charity.
December 9
Go to nursing home and give out treats or gifts. If your children are musically talented, use their talents and put on a concert.
December 10
Take canned goods to the food bank. This is an awesome activity to do with a youth group also. Have everyone bring canned goods and deliver them to the food bank. If you call ahead, you may even find out if they need help putting together boxes or sorting food. You could spend an hour or two helping at the Food Bank.
December 11
Leave a small gift in a shopping cart for someone to find. On this one we left an envelope with some money taped to a shopping cart out in the parking lot. You could also leave some candy canes or treats with a cute note for them. We found that leaving it in the parking lot was easier and a better choice.
December 12
Leave something for the newspaper boy or anyone who does service for your family.
December 13
Take a present to the lady at the cross walk. This one was one of the best reactions we got in all the years we did this activity. The lady at the cross walk was so surprised. Then she was shocked and didn’t know what to say. Finally she managed to say a very sincere “Thank You.” My children could tell she was touched by their thoughtfulness.
December 14
Go out to eat and pay for someone’s meal. You could even give someone a gift card to your favorite restaurant. I know though that we felt so grateful the one time we went out for dinner on our anniversary, and someone paid for our meal. It is a fun activity that will bring memories.
December 15
Tape candy canes to ATM machines around town. These fun spoon candy canes would be awesome with some Hot Chocolate.
December 16
Hide dollars around the dollar store. I envisioned my children taping dollars to different items in the store for people to be able to buy the item. My children took this activity to a whole new level by hiding the dollars for people to find after they bought the item. It was always their favorite activity of the year. Even if we can’t do anything else, we do this activity.
December 17
Leave a present for person who delivers your mail. It’s always nice to show your mail carrier how much you appreciate his/her service throughout the year.
December 18
Leave a holiday book at the mall by the play area or some other place where children are. You could even take some Christmas books or coloring books to a pre-school.
December 19
Do something for a teacher at school or church.
December 20
Take hot cocoa and bread to piano or music teacher or even a coach.
December 21
Go shopping and leave money for the person behind you. This is so fun!
December 22
Leave a basket of Christmas gifts of doorstep of a family that needs it. We love finding a family and figuring out their needs. We usually leave a gift for each member of the family and a food basket.
December 23
Take stuff to “make a Christmas dinner” to someone in need or invite them over to share a meal with you.
December 24
Invite neighbors over for hot chocolate, scones, cinnamon rolls, or some other fun treat. Have an open house and invite people to come whenever they can to spend time with your family
December 25
Remember the true meaning of Christmas and share it with others.
These activities our just a few that our family found and enjoyed. Choose things YOUR family would enjoy. It doesn’t have to be big or time consuming. It doesn’t even have to be every single day. Your children will feel the spirit of serving and blessing lives around them. Christmas is such a great time to feel the spirit of service.
Whatever Christmas looks like for you or your family share it with others. Help others find the Joy that Christmas can bring, and that will in turn help you to get into the Christmas spirit. Let’s serve!
This post was all about how to get into the Christmas spirit.