Christmas Eve boxes are all the rage at the moment - another thing to spend money on to make sure Christmas is magical for your kids. And I do get it - it is all about anticipation and planning fun things that your kids will remember. But sometimes all these "Christmas traditions" just add to the expense of this time of year.
This is the first year I am going to make up a Christmas Eve box, partly because my son is old enough to understand it now but also partly just to give him something to do on Christmas Eve when we arrive at the grandparents super excited!! But I am not going to order one online or spend lots of money on it. I am going to put in free or cheap things that we would probably have done/used on Christmas Eve in previous years anyway but it just keeps it all nicely together.
Here is my contents list:
- Clean pyjamas - no I am not going to go out and buy news ones. Just normal PJ's are fine everyone!
- Stocking to hang up - we already have these from previous years
- Reindeer food - Sam made this at nursery, but if not you can make it easily with oats and glitter. Lots of fun for sprinkling on the grass outside so the reindeer can see your house....
- A colouring in "Santa Stop Here" sign - I am using the one I got sent in our letter from Santa, but you could easily find one online to print out or get your child to make their own
- A book for bedtime - this could be a new one if you want, but if you haven't got the budget just add one in that they haven't read for a while or ask a friend to do a book swap. We have a great charity locally called Re-Read that gives out free books so have a look around to keep the cost down.
- A paper plate to decorate for Santa - some people like to buy an expensive santa plate, but this year I am going to get Sam to decorate his own plate to leave out for him. This could prove tricky given that he wants to leave out chilli con carne (apparently Santa needs a proper meal!) but then each year he can do a new one.
- Cookie Mix/chocolate log/gingerbread house - baking is one of the best Christmas related activities, so a good way to keep the kids occupied on Christmas eve is with baking. You could put in cookie mix in a jar, or in our house we always iced and decorated a chocolate log (chocolate swiss roll with chocolate butter cream all over). Use up whatever ingredients you have left in the cupboard and it should be a pretty cheap endeavour
- Christmas film - I might put one of these in, as we a film lovers in the house anyway. The only one I have on DVD is NATIVITY! Again, I might see if some friends will do a christmas film swap so we can watch something new. If I have a bit of spare cash the week before I might even spring for some treats for whilst we watch it (but I might not!)
I am going to put all of these things in a cardboard box that I got some of my online shopping delivered in wrapped in wrapping paper and there you have it! A pretty much free Christmas Eve box. Here is the photo so far:
Do let me know any other free or cheap ideas you have for your own boxes by commenting below.
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