For Christian families who celebrate Christmas (since not all denominations have Christmas), it's not enough to do just one activity during the day. For some families, Christmas should be as busy as possible, given their belief that it is Jesus Christ's birthday.
Indeed, there are many activities that Christian families could do to achieve a Christ-centered Christmas celebration. Here are 12 of the best Christian family activities this Christmas that you should consider:
Install a Nativity scene in all your rooms. Why not settle with just one Nativity display inside (or outside) your home when you can have one in every room? While this may sound outrageous, it's pretty easy to do as there are miniature Nativity displays that you could buy for a few dollars.
Have family members create Christmas card prayers. Celebrating Christmas should not be all about food and merrymaking but about saying prayers. As such, you should consider asking each family member to create several Christmas cards containing prayers that the family can recite before meals or as you all go to bed and wake up. It will be more fun if you say the prayers as a family. You just have to put the cards inside a fish bowl and draw one come prayer time.
Talk about the blessings you have received and how you intend to pay them forward. Talking about how Christ interceded with the Father to make your wishes and prayers come true can be a meaningful way to celebrate Christmas. You can gather in front of the fireplace or the living room after dinner and share the blessings you received for the year. You may then tell each other how you plan to pay those blessings forward by doing good deeds toward other people.
Take the family to a live Nativity. If your community happens to have a live Nativity display or reenactment, it could be a fun way to make everyone gain a better appreciation of Christ's birth. Some churches schedule yearly Nativity presentations, so check whether a church near you has one and take your family to watch.
Do a small community food outreach. Sharing your blessings is a meaningful way to spend your Christmas together. You can do it by holding a mini community outreach by delivering hot meals to homeless people in the neighborhood. You may partner with other Christian families or your church to pool your resources and serve more beneficiaries.
Do activities with the little kids. If you have toddlers or preschool kids, you should do Christmas-related activities specifically designed for them. You may consider creating Advent cards, decorating the Christmas tree, or baking some Christmas goodies. The easier and more interactive the activity is, the better your little ones will love it.
Invite a disadvantaged family or homeless person to share a Christmas meal with you. One meaningful way of celebrating Christmas is sharing food with a low-income family or homeless individual on Christmas eve or during Christmas. It can be a sobering moment for your family, as you would not only realize how blessed you are for having food and shelter but also share or blessing with your less-fortunate brethren.
Gift your pastor and church. If you have spare money, why not give your pastor a small gift or donate to your church? It does not have to be an expensive gift or a large donation; it should only be given wholeheartedly.
Create and share Bible verse cards. There are plenty of lessons that your family could get from biblical verses. As such, you may ask each of your family members to create cards bearing their favorite Bible verses. On Christmas, gather around the dining table or living room and have each one read the verses aloud and explain their significance to each family member.
Stage a Christmas performance night. It doesn't matter if all of you have a talent for singing or dancing; all you have to do is pick a performance act and show it off on Christmas (or Christmas Eve). It can be as simple as singing a Christmas hymn or reciting Bible verses. The idea is to share your talent with your family to honor Christ and God.
Go on a gift-giving neighborhood spree. This is an iteration of the mini-community outreach, where you serve hot meals to community members. This time, you could drive around and hand out small gifts to kids and anyone you feel like giving a gift to. The more gifts you prepare, the more you can honor Christ's sacrifice of giving up His life to wash away our sins.
Compare your family tree with Jesus' family tree. This is one fun and informative way of spending Christmas with your family. By tracing your family tree and comparing it with the family tree of Jesus Christ, you could discuss how Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit and how he was born during a time of census.
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