11 Screen-Free Christmas Activities to Bring Your Family Closer

Christmas holidays are the perfect time to strengthen bonds with your loved ones, celebrate shared traditions, and create memories that last. Explore the exciting bonding activities to spend quality time with your family without spending too much time on the phone. 

Why reduce screen time on holidays? 

According to the statistics, people spend 6 hours and 40 minutes on their phones on average. Here’s why putting your phone aside on holidays is a great idea: 

1. Strengthen family bonds. Reducing screen time improves face-to-face interactions, which positively affects relations with your kids and extended family. 
2. Promote physical activity. When deprived of their phones, kids are more likely to spend free time playing, exploring, engaging in sports, or creating something, which fosters their healthy development. 
3. Improve mental well-being. Spending less time on the phone reduces the risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. It also improves the quality of sleep in adults and children. 

Screen-free Christmas activities for kids and adults 

Reducing screen time on Christmas is possible with a little planning and preparation. Here is our pick of fun activities you can do with kids all holidays long.

Cook together 

Cooking is a great bonding activity for a family with kids. It teaches kids important life skills while letting them improve creativity as they decorate cookies or try new recipes. Here are a few ideas of what you can cook with the little ones:  

1. Make Christmas cookies – bake sugar cookies or buy pre-baked ones, and let kids decorate them with icing, sprinkles, and candy. 
2. Build a gingerbread house – older kids can participate throughout the process, from making dough and baking to assembling and decorating the house. 
3. Christmas Tree pizza – bake Christmas Tree-shaped pizzas and let kids choose their favorite toppings to enjoy all holidays long. 

Also Read:

10 Fun & Free Ways To Keep Kids Busy During Christmas Break

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Have a craft night

DIY and crafts are another great idea to encourage kids to do something with their hands. Crafts foster creativity in children, improve their problem-solving skills, and stimulate imagination. Moreover, it’s a great activity for a large family with many kids, as it can keep kids and adults busy for hours. Try these craft ideas this year: 

1. Paper snowflakes – this activity is the easiest to set up, plus you can organize a competition and award the best snowflakes. 
2. Christmas wreaths – decorate your house with handmade ornaments! All you need is pine cones and branches, dried leaves, and decorations like ribbons, markers, paper, and glue. 
3. DIY candles – with older children, you can make handmade candles and decorate the place for holidays. You will need soy wax, a thread, and fragrance of their choice. 
4. Popcorn garlands – pop some popcorn and make garlands for your Christmas tree. 

Play Secret Santa 

Playing Secret Santa with a family has more advantages than you probably think. It helps you save on holiday gifts, teaches children the joy of giving, and adds mystery and excitement to the traditional gifting. You can draw names traditionally from a hat. However, it’s not possible to share gift preferences, and some players might draw their own names. 

To assign names for Secret Santa in seconds, it is better to use an app, such as the MySanta app. Players there can add their gift preferences and what they don’t want to receive, and create wishlists.

Try our MySanta app

You can create wishlists, add exclusions, and communicate with your gifree secretly. Moreover, there is an option to track gifts and ensure that everyone buys a present on time.

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Play Scavenger Hunt 

Scavenger Hunt is a traditional Christmas activity to keep the whole family off the screen. Print out clues and hide them around the house or in the yard. Each clue will lead to a small treat or the next clue, and ultimately, players get a special gift after collecting all the clues. You can play in teams or individually. With older children, you can set a time limit or pick a theme for the hunt to make the game more exciting. 

See the lights 

Nothing can put you in a festive mood faster than spectacular Christmas lights! Warm up and get outside to observe Christmas lights in your neighborhood, sharing your impressions and feelings. You can rate houses and vote together for the most beautiful one. Or, go to the city center to watch light displays and stroll around the beautiful decorations. 

Organize a storytelling adventure

This creative game is a great activity for long winter evenings. Here’s how it works. The whole family gathers around near a fireplace (or, you can light the candles to set the mood). Use a festive prompt or the beginning of any classic Christmas tale. Each player adds a sentence or two to the prompt, adding details, describing main characters, and offering curious plot twists. This game unleashes creativity, strengthens family bonds, and lets everyone have a good laugh as the story unfolds. 

Tip: You can find prompts for a Christmas story in various genres here. 

Explore the nature 

Spending time outside is a wonderful alternative to smartphones. If it’s snowy in your town on Christmas, engage in traditional winter holiday fun. Build a snowman, make snow angels, have a snowball fight, or enjoy sledding. If you live in a warmer area, head to the nearest park to enjoy active games, collect unique cones and leaves, or have a picnic. Here are some great outdoor activities to try: 

1. Gather natural materials. Collect pinecones, leaves, and berries to use them for crafts later. 
2. Sing carols outside. Wear warm clothes and go caroling in the park or your neighborhood. 
3. Photography walk. As you walk around the park, take pictures of landscapes, unusually shaped trees, and local wildlife. 

Have a talent show

Unleash the creative spirit in everyone in your family! Run a Christmas talent show–set the stage, decorate the room, and encourage everyone to prepare one performance showing off their skills.

Kids and adults can sing, play a musical instrument, dance, recite a poem, prepare a skit, or showcase their sculpture or painting. Keep it holiday-themed to celebrate the season while fostering self-expression. 

Write letters 

Kids love writing letters to Santa, so why not develop this tradition further? Encourage them to write letters to their cousins, aunts, uncles, or grandparents. Give them pens, paper, envelopes, and let them take full ownership of the process. It will strengthen family ties, let kids connect with their loved ones without smartphones, and create lasting memories. Moreover, handwriting improves motor skills and cognitive development in children. 

Read Christmas books 

When trying to limit screen time, turn to a time-proven alternative – Christmas books! Prepare the favorite holiday books your family enjoys, or head to the library or bookstore to find something new. 

1. Prepare a reading nook with cozy pillows, blankets, and fairy lights where you can read with kids in a relaxing and festive atmosphere.
2. Engage in discussions. Ask every family member to tell others about the book they’ve just read, share the story and their impression. 
3. Act it out! Choose the favorite scene from a Christmas book (or let your little ones choose), give everyone a part, and organize a small holiday theater at home. 

Holiday pictionary 

Pictionary is a classic holiday activity that works better in large groups. Split into teams and prepare a list of holiday-themed words and phrases. One player draws, and the rest of the team must guess the word or phrase before the time runs out. To make the game more thrilling, you can set the theme, such as holiday movies, Christmas symbols, popular traditions, and more. It’s a fun and competitive game suitable for players of all ages. 

Use these screen-free activities to get in the festive mood and create memories that last. Thus, you will encourage everyone to spend less time on their phones and talk more, share their emotions, and strengthen family bonds.

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