10 Fun and Free or Cheap Things to do this Christmas!
There is no need to break the bank on fun activities this Christmas season. Here are 10 free (or cheap) things we enjoy this time of year.
Going to look at Christmas lights. Ask around on social media or check out local pages for ideas of places to visit. Some Christmas drive-through venues can cost $50 or more per car, but we have found some really great local neighborhoods that only ask for a charitable donation and have unbelievable light displays. We usually choose to drive through these on a weeknight so the crowd is not as large. Bonus points for making your own hot chocolate and treats for the car. This can be an entirely free evening if you don’t count the fuel you use in your car.
Making Christmas cookies. Share them with the neighbors. Use a little paper bag and create gift tags or let your kids decorate the bags. We will make an evening of it with my daughter and nieces and let the kids decorate a few while my sister and I decorate the rest. I share my favorite Christmas cookie recipe HERE.
Christmas caroling. We used to love to do this with young people from our church. It can be such a bright light to the elderly or home-bound in your community.
Going to see a free Santa. There are a lot of Christmas tree farms and even Bass Pro Shops offer a free Christmas photo with Santa. We have made this a tradition and then they have free activities for the kids as well. If you don’t have one of these close by, look into a local mall or a tree lot and see what they have to offer for free!
Christmas puzzles. This is one of my favorite traditions! Bonus points for purchasing the Christmas puzzles on clearance once the holiday is over and saving them for the next year. This year I am going to invest in one of the pads that I can roll up the puzzle when we need to clear that end of the kitchen table.
A potluck party with friends. We like to get together with our friends during this time or even around the New Year and everyone brings their favorite dessert or appetizer. We always have plenty of food and a ton of fun!
Decorate for Christmas with a friend. Sometimes my sister will come to my house and I will go to hers to decorate for Christmas. We both love to do it and so it’s even more fun when you were doing it with someone else that enjoys it. And another creative mind can give you inspiration for something you may not have thought of before. I recently heard of a “take down party.” This is a great idea when it’s time to take it all down!
A Christmas dessert exchange. We do this at our church each year. Everyone brings their favorite Christmas cookie or dessert. And then we have a little boxes where you can gather up a sampling of the different ones and take them home. It’s a great way to enjoy each other, and a Christmas cookie variety.
Thankful jar. We have done this in the past and broke it back out this year. Rather than just focusing on thankfulness during November, we are bringing this into Christmas. I had a mason jar and each day we add a note of something we are thankful for. We plan to open this up on Christmas morning and read our notes aloud.
And last but not least, a Christmas movie night. We all get in our pjs, fix a fun treat and some hot cocoa and enjoy a Christmas movie together. You can even try out a free trial on a subscription service that has several movies you want watch. Be sure to set a reminder on your phone to cancel so you’re not charged for a new month.
What are some of your favorite Christmas activities to do with your friends and family?