Now that I have kids of my own, I want to create that same magic for them during the Christmas season. I think that it's valuable for them to learn to believe in things they can't see. Just as they can't see Santa or explain how he does what he does, they also learn that even though they didn't live at the time of Christ, they can still believe in the miracles He performed and the gifts He gave through His life and death.
So I've come up with some simple ways for you to instill a little magic into the Christmas holiday for your kids. All of them, with the exception of one, are free and take hardly any prep, but they will leave a lasting impression on your children. Plus, as the parent, you'll get to see the joy, excitement and wonder on their face, which for me is more than enough to try out a few of these things myself this year.
Santa Key Growing up, I moved a lot and as a small child at Christmastime, I had some concerns. The biggest being: how was Santa going to get into our house if we didn't have a chimney? My mom solved this problem, whether through her own inspiration or someone else's, by telling me that Santa had a special key he used to open the doors of homes that didn't have a chimney. This made perfect sense to me and I accepted it without further questioning.
In our current home, we don't have a chimney and my daughter asked me the same question about how Santa as going to get into our house. "A magic key!" I told her. I have a metal key I'm going to tie a ribbon around and show her that we'll leave it on the outside of our door for Santa. You can get an idea for a Santa key from here.
Cookies & Milk for Santa and Carrots for Reindeer I loved leaving a plate of cookies and a glass of milk out for Santa on Christmas Eve and then running to check and see if he'd eaten them and drank the milk the next morning. Of course, we couldn't forget the reindeer, so we left them some carrots to fuel their all night flight. It would be easy to buy or make a special plate for Santa's cookies. Check out this cute tutorial by The Pinning Mama.
Note from Santa Leaving a note using special Santa stationary is a fun way to get the kids excited (and maybe even give them a little extra motivation to be good!). You could print out this free printable and use it throughout December, on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. This year, we're going to leave it by the plate of cookies and carrots for my daughter to see when she wakes up to see if the cookies have been eaten.
Reindeer Dust This is one of my favorite Christmas magic traditions! Have you heard of reindeer dust? It's a special concoction meant to attract Santa's reindeer so that Santa comes to your house more quickly! And when I say special concoction, I mean oatmeal and glitter or sparkles. Super simple to put together and your kids will love it. Check out my Reindeer Day post for the recipe and a free printable.
Santa Footprints I saw this idea on Pinterest a couple of years ago and thought it was so fun! All you need is a little flour or baking soda and glitter. Make yourself a boot print template out of cardboard and sift the flour/baking soda over the top so it leaves a print. You could make as many or as few as you wanted, leading from the door or the fireplace. Add a little glitter and--voila!--you have Santa's footprints. Your kids will be in awe. Oh to be little again. (more details on Not So Idle Hands)
Picture of Santa in Your House How fun would it be to have a picture of Santa in your house to show your kids on Christmas morning? That's exactly what you can have by going to a website called Capture the Magic. They let you upload a picture of the room in your house where Santa will be dropping off gifts and then insert your choice of over 100 Santa images into the picture. Then you can download the picture and print it out or simply email it to yourself as proof to your kids that he visited. It costs $3.95 for one picture and goes up from there. *I do not receive anything for promoting their website. I just think the product is fun.
Call to/from the North Pole You can receive one free phone call from the North Pole by entering your information on this site. You can choose if Santa calls or if it's one of his elves and the message they give when they call. (If you want more than one call to the same number, you can pay a fee, but the first call is free.)
If you don't want to wait for a call to come through, you or your kids can call the North Pole yourself. This is the number you can call: 951-262-3062. It's a cute message from Santa and the kids can even leave a voice message for him. (The phone number itself can be tracked back to California.)
Where in the World is Santa? I heard about this website last year from a friend of mine and pulled it up for my daughter on Christmas Eve. The people behind the website show what countries Santa has visited and where he's headed next. There is a map of the world and you can show your kids exactly where Santa is in the world. It might also be a little motivation to go to sleep knowing that he is already delivering presents to other children around the world. *wink* It's completely free to access and lots of fun to watch!
I hope you have fun implementing these ideas in your family this year and in the years to come! Merry {almost} Christmas!
How do you create Christmas magic in your home?
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