By Brennan Hartigan and Samantha Ruenzi
The holiday season is going to be a little different this year. No huge gatherings, which is challenging to do, however there are some alternatives to your favorite activities. Not only do they get you into the holiday spirit, but all of these are a great way to get off your devices and have a good time with your family or close group of friends. During the holiday season, it's such a magical time. Anyone and everyone can always find a way to stay cozy and comforted. Even those who aren’t celebrating with family, or those who celebrate different holidays, can still find joy in some activities.
Make Hot Chocolate (With All The Toppings)
This is a super fun way to experiment with all the toppings you can use with hot chocolate, toppings like whipped cream, candy canes, chocolate chips, or crushed peppermint are a great way to spice up your average hot cocoa. If you want to take it a step further, you can spread a layer of cool whip onto a tray, put it into the freezer, and take a heart-shaped cookie cutter or any shape you want, and put it into your hot chocolate!
Draw Handmade Holiday Cards For Your Friends And Family
Whether you celebrate Christmas, or any other holiday, this is a great personal way to hand out your holiday cards this year. Even if you think you’re not great at art, one tip is to search up “simple holiday cards,” and recreate them and make them your own. You can be as creative as you want, and if you are artistic, you can try creating a pop-up card, by folding the card in half, cutting 2 slits at the crease, and attaching a snowman, for example.
Have A Christmas Movie Marathon
This is great to do with your family, have a hot-chocolate, eat some cookies, and watch classic Christmas movies, like The Polar Express, Home Alone, Elf, The Grinch, and more. You can find many of these movies on Disney Plus or Netflix. There are also multiple Christmas movies that are fairly new, such as The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and movies that are Netflix originals, like The Christmas Chronicles and The Princess Switch. Both came out with sequels this year!
Make Your Own Pillows
Pillows are very easy and simple to make if you have the right tools. These little pillows involve a sewing needle, string, pillow stuffing, and fabric of your choice. Making the pillow first requires the even cutting of two pieces of fabric, which will end up being the outside of the pillow. Second, you will want to sew together three out of four sides of the pillow (if square or rectangular shaped), this will let you have room to stuff the pillow and have support to make sure no stuffing falls out. Lastly, you’ll want to stuff that pillow and sew the last pieces of the fabric together, and boom! Now you have an interesting activity to buy time and enjoy over the holiday season!
Gingerbread Houses
This is for everyone who has a sweet tooth and wants an excuse to get candy! It’s as simple as buying a gingerbread house kit from online, or from a store. Usually the gingerbread house kits come with the house and some materials. The houses can vary throughout. I advise only using the house and buying your own ingredients. Customization and putting a unique flare of holiday spirit goes a long way when setting the holiday mood with sweets!
Decorate Your Room
If you haven’t already, decorating your room could be a creative and customizable project. Simply adding holiday pillows to your bed or adding a miniature light-up tree, can bring a great amount of festivity and put you into the holiday spirit. For example, those who celebrate Christmas, you can have a countdown banner, and move the Santa everyday, until Christmas! Target and Paper Source have some wonderful ones.
Cooking
Cooking is something everyone should be familiar with. Anyone can find new ways to invent and mix ingredients or follow recipes to make something savory or sweet. Add a pinch of salt here, and a pinch of salt there! It’s always fun and a new experience that awaits while either bored in your house or interested in foods!
Baking
Baking is an activity that might seem normal for holiday traditions or as a fun hobby. Baking is a nice, calming, freeing activity that usually has a nice reward, a nice treat! Baking can range from a dinner item to a cake or pie. There are some interesting new ideas that people come up with to put baking into a more wide ranged and imaginative mindset! The majority of the ingredients will most likely have to be found in a grocery store in order to prep your dish. Whatever your sweet tooth desires can come to life with baking!
Homemade Ornaments/Decorations
If you’re an artsy or creative person at heart, or trying to find a way to make ornaments for a tree or even as a decoration/object for your room, you’ll find this to be a creative way to spend your time. Ornaments are typically on a tree but some people might not have a tree this year. Ornaments are fun no matter the circumstances! They are a representation of what you value and what you visually find nice about appearances. You can make it out of almost any material you want whether it’s paper or a plastic bag with colors and glitter. Anything can be created out of the joy you find in a calming and meaningful activity over the cold and freeing holiday season!
Make Homemade Hot Chocolate Bombs
Homemade hot chocolate bombs have been going around the internet this winter, and it
might seem complicated, but they are fairly simple once you get the hang of it. First, melt
a bowl of white chocolate and milk chocolate (you don't have to do both types of chocolates, one type will be fine as well) until you get a smooth consistency and let them cool for about 15-20 minutes before moving on to the next step. Once cooled, take a cooking brush and spread the chocolates evenly onto a silicone mold and make sure you have at least 6 molds, which will add up to 3 spheres. If you are making two types of chocolates, make sure to have 12 molds, so it will add up to 6 bombs. Place into the fridge for 20-25 minutes and carefully pop out the molds. Place hot chocolate mix into one half of the sphere and feel free to be creative and add marshmallows and sprinkles too. Take a clean pan and put it on low heat and place the other half of the sphere onto the pan to slightly melt the rim, so therefore it can stick to the other half. Make sure to not melt it too much, just enough so they can stick, almost like glue. Stick both spheres and apply little pressure so they can stay. This is optional, but once you have applied both halves, you can drizzle icing and sprinkles for decoration. Lastly, take a mug, place your hot chocolate bomb, and pour hot milk to watch it dissolve and turn into your classic hot chocolate!
We hope you enjoyed these amazing indoor activities! They’re COVID-19-friendly activities that you can complete by yourself or with your family. Everyone and anyone could find something entertaining to do during this winter break. If you are crafty, like to bake, or just enjoy doing classic holiday activities such as watching Christmas movies, there is always a way to stay busy. Have a great holiday break, stay safe and enjoy!