The holidays are a joyous time of the year and can be a great time to bond with your kids and let your inner child out. Here are 11 activities to keep your kids busy during the holidays that you can use whenever, wherever you need them. When the weather outside is frightful, these tips are so delightful, let your imagination run wild and keep your kids occupied with these fun tips and ideas!

That’s right! Take your supply of blocks or Legos and let the kids dump them on the floor and play away. This will keep them entertained for at least an hour or longer.

Did you know Santa has a live feed? Let your kids check on Santa’s Reindeer and have them report to you on what’s happening. Who doesn’t love to watch cuddly animals in their natural habitat?

This can be great fun for your kids. To get started, set up a little table with a cash register, toy money (maybe from the Monopoly game that’s collecting dust in the closet), little pieces of paper (receipts), and a scanner one idea is to use the little attachment of your vacuum as the scanner). The other kids fill their toy shopping cart with toys and take it to the cashier. Let your kids use the bags that you have from your shopping trips as their grocery bags – they will have a blast!

Let your kids become movie stars for an afternoon. Pick a plot for your movie and let their creative juices run wild. If they don’t want to be the main characters, let them make their movie using Lego figures or their favorite dolls.

Who remembers hours spent in their favorite homemade fort? Grab some blankets, pillows, and sheets from the closet, push some chairs together, and voila your kids have a fort. Inside they can be whomever they wish.Let your kids use it as a special holiday fort for games, reading and other quiet activities.

Kids love to help! Baking with you is one way you can have fun together and get a little help in the kitchen. Let them help make their favorite cookies or make Nutter Butter Snowmen cookies. Not only are they super cute, but they’re super easy as well.

This is the time of the year when the Amazon deliveries arrive at a regular cadence. Rather than recycle the boxes, let your kids turn them into a playhouse, boat, car, cave or any other idea that they can think of!

This is a great time to start a new tradition, maybe one that involves the entire family and reading. Do this by creating a nightly reading ritual, where you sip hot cocoa, or tea, and listen to a book read aloud. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has great reviews, is relatively short and provides a meaningful message.

The holidays are a great time of the year to give of your time. Encourage your kids to serve someone in your community, some ideas include:

We guarantee this will not only fill your time but will nurture a feeling of gratitude for what you have.

We hope these 11 tips and ideas for keeping your kids busying over the holiday break are useful and fun for the entire family. Send us a note to info@hayden-homes.com with your favorite activities for your kids and we’ll be sure to share them.

If a new home is on your wish list this year, Hayden Homes can help! We have new homes for sale throughout Washington, Idaho, Oregon. We’re looking forward to helping you find your dream home!