If your kids are attending an Indianapolis area school, today is probably their first day of Winter Break. Keeping them entertained isn’t always the easiest things in the winter months but I wanted to offer a few ideas for kid-friendly holiday activities to keep them busy until school resumes in January!

1. Holiday Bake-fest: Let’s be honest. Websites like Pinterest.com allow us all to feel a little like Martha Stewart around the Holidays. Visit the store for all of the needed supplies such as flour, sugar, eggs, festive holiday sprinkles, icing and cookie cutters. If you are domestically-challenged, pick up some pre-made sugar cookie dough in the refrigerated section and plop them in the oven. Your kids will love being able to decorate the cookies however they like. Check out these fun recipes: Snow Globe Cookies, No-Bake Snowman Cookies and Christmas Wreaths (an oldie but a goodie!).
2. Create Homemade Christmas Ornaments: I like homemade ornaments because they allow you to personalize them and keep them for years down the road. If you want to make your house smell great, take a look at these easy to make cinnamon applesauce ornaments.  Click here for 30 more ideas for ornaments that you can make with your kiddos.
3. Holiday Movie Night: Many families make a tradition out of watching their favorite holiday movies each year. There are lots of great options for every type of personality. Does your family enjoy comedies? Try Home Alone or Christmas Vacation. Does you like classic movies? Cue up It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street or A Christmas Story. Do you have little ones? They might like The Polar Express,The Muppet Christmas Carol or A Charlie Brown Christmas. What are you waiting for? Pop some popcorn and snuggle in for the night.
4. Christmas Light Tour: Feeling adventurous? Pack up the family and seek out some of the best Christmas light displays in Indianapolis. IndywithKids.com has posted a great list to get your started. It includes verified homes throughout Indianapolis that have spectacular displays. If you live near the north side, don’t forget to drive through the free Christmas light display at Reynolds Farm Equipment in Noblesville. If you’ve seen it before, they did change up the display in 2015 so it might be worth driving through again this year.
5. Spread Holiday Cheer: What better way to spend idle time than to ‘pay it forward’? There are so many great opportunities to help needy families in the Indianapolis area who are less fortunate. Here are a few of the places that can be contacted about how you can help make Christmas a little better for someone: Hamilton County Kids Coats, Good Samaritan Network, Gleaners Food Bank, Humane Society of Indianapolis & The Villages. For a larger list of opportunities to volunteer with your kids, click here.