Holiday Thoughts and Wishes

As the feeling of the Holidays approach, the sound of laughter and holiday smells begin to fill the air. You may choose to celebrate your Christmas time with some classic traditions, like staying up watching Christmas movies, or setting out that plate of homemade cookies for Santa Claus; but there are an array of other activities that you and your family can enjoy! Like always, we’ve got you covered with a list of fun activities you and the whole family will enjoy!

Baking: From toddlers to teenagers, kids love the mixing and the measuring, but most of all, they love the treats at the end. As you teach kids to bake, be sure to scale holiday baking projects to your kids’ abilities and ages. Add activities to keep little kids engaged while you are doing more complicated baking tasks, or simplify baking projects so that more experienced kids can take the lead.

Homemade Gifts: Homemade gifts are a kid specialty. They love to make them; and we parents love to get them. But homemade gifts don’t have to be just limited to Mother’s Day or just for parents. There are many gifts kids can make – either with close adult supervision or on their own. Let them use their imagination, and enjoy the unique outcomes!

Holiday Events: Drive through the Christmas-lights displays around town; go to firehouse train gardens; see a Christmas show at your local theater; take advantage of holiday deals, discounts, and free events. There are countless special events this time of year, and many of them only come around once a year, so don’t let the holiday break slip by without stepping out.

Winter Sport Activities: Ice skating, skiing, sledding and snow tubing are great ways to enjoy sports in the winter. Of course, these depend on the weather and how close you live to winter recreation areas. Probably the easiest and least expensive to try out is ice skating, since many cities have indoor rinks or seasonal outdoor skating areas, especially around the holidays. Just bundle up and get moving!

Volunteering: Of course, volunteering is a great thing to do any time of year – no need to wait for the holidays. But during the holidays there are a lot of opportunities for kids to volunteer; and being that the kids have time off of school, they will have more time to volunteer for things, like caroling, visiting the elderly, helping a neighbor shovel snow, etc. Just be careful to think your volunteer commitments through and not take on more than you or your child can handle.

Create Art: Art is one of those wonderful activities that can be scaled to almost every age and ability level. And depending on the project, it can be done with or without adult supervision. So you can work at home while the kids create art, or you can roll up your sleeves and get messy too. Art projects can become gifts for relatives or decorations for the house. Setting up a dedicated art space makes setup and cleanup easier.

Reading Books: Even if you regularly read together, change things up a little during Christmas break. Choose something a little different from your ordinary reading material so it stands out as a holiday tradition. Maybe try a book of Christmas poems or a classic novel read in daily increments. And if reading together is not part of your routine, the holiday season is a great opportunity to start.

Seasons Greetings, from Seattle Mortgage Brokers.

*This article does not represent legal interpretation or advice. This is not a commitment to make a loan. Loans are subject to borrower qualifications, including income, property evaluation, sufficient equity in the home to meet LTV requirements, and final credit approval. Approvals are subject to underwriting guidelines, interest rates, and program guidelines, and are subject to change without notice based on applicant’s eligibility and market conditions. Refinancing an existing loan may result in total finance charges being higher over life of loan. Reduction in payments may reflect longer loan term. Terms of the loan may be subject to payment of points and fees by the applicant.