5 Top Tips for Sharing Precious Moments Together this Christmas

Family life can feel pretty hectic at this time of the year – the kids bursting with excitement as the big day gets closer, trying to find the perfect gifts for everyone, school nativity plays, Christmas food to buy, and endless life admin on top of the everyday joyful chaos of family life!

Though the focus of most people’s Christmas is giving and receiving gifts, there is so much more to enjoy over the festive season. The most precious gift you can give your family is one that is priceless: your time.

​If you’re looking for more ways to enjoy quality time and make wonderful memories with your family this Christmas then our 5 Top Tips for Sharing Precious Moments Together this Christmas is a great place to start!

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1. Cosy Reading Moments
Reading books together is a lovely way to bring the warmth and magic of togetherness at Christmas time. Whether your child is a babe-in-arms, a toddler exploring board books, or an early reader, there are plenty of fantastic books out there to snuggle up with and enjoy sharing together.

Explore our range of board books and early reader books, with fun and engaging adventure stories and vibrant illustrations that make reading books an exciting experience to share at Christmas and all year round!

Our festive board book, Green Bean's™ Christmas, is a wonderful Christmas story with fun lifting flaps and count along adventures that young readers will adore! This gorgeous board book comes complete with a beautiful red ribbon tie for extra festive excitement to unwrap.

Libraries are a fantastic resource to discover new books and nurture your child’s love of reading from a young age. Many libraries also have fun activities for children leading up to Christmas so be sure to check out your local library for free festive books to borrow and activities to entertain the kids!

2. Festive Arts & Crafts Moments
Let your child explore their creativity and engage their imagination with festive arts and crafts activities. Arts and crafts doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive – you can do plenty with just a few simple bits and bobs you’ll likely already have at home!

Save some money and reduce your plastic waste by making your own Christmas Crackers. 
For the crackers you will need: clean cardboard tubes from toilet rolls or kitchen paper; coloured tissue paper; wrapping paper; old magazines; ribbon or string; glue; paint; glitter; any other craft materials you wish to decorate with.

For putting inside the crackers, you can get even more creative! Make some Christmas party crowns, write your own jokes or charades to act out, add a chocolate coin for a little sweet treat, and you’ve got a plastic-free homemade cracker which you can personalise for each family member!

To make the crackers, cut a rectangle of tissue paper or wrapping paper that is longer than the length of your tube, so that when you place the tube in the middle of the paper, there are 2–3 inches on each side of the tube that will form the cracker ‘handles’.

Put your chosen cracker fillers inside the cardboard tube. Place the tube in the centre of the rectangle of paper, roll it around the outside of the tube, then glue or tape it in place. Use ribbon or string to tie up either end of the cracker so the fillers are securely inside.

Now it’s time to decorate! Let your creativity go wild and use paints, pens, glitter, stickers, cut up bits of magazine for collage – there are so many options to make your very own unique crackers without costing lots of money or costing the planet!

3. Time to Play Moments
Playing games is a great way to spend quality time together away from screens. From Christmas classics such as charades, to Monopoly, to card games and jigsaws, there’s a whole host of games that will be fun for the whole family.
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Our 7 in 1 Card Games are ideal for entertaining the family, with old favourites such as Snap and Pairs. The compact design makes them perfect for bringing with you to visit friends and family too!

Jigsaws are a fun way to help kids learn and problem solve, encouraging independent play. Our Green Bean and Friends Jigsaw Puzzle is a colourful 20-piece children’s jigsaw which includes favourite characters like Green Bean, Mr Bear, Beckett, and Bobby on the way to the Flower Garden as they explore around Adventure Dales. Perfect for brightening up cold winter days!

 4. Outdoor Adventure Moments
When it’s cold and gloomy outside, getting outdoors may not be very enticing. But getting out of the house for some fresh air and exercise can be just the tonic your family needs to feel happy, energised, and refreshed over Christmas.

Though the natural world in the northern hemisphere is winding down for winter, there is still so much beauty and wonder to discover outdoors! Wrap up warmly and get out in nature to enjoy the magic of winter, with crunching colourful leaves, bright berries on bushes, and nature’s glitter – ice and snow! 

5. Tasty Treats Moments
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without enjoying some delicious festive treats! They are even more special when you’ve made them yourself. Baking is a great way for kids to learn and develop, and simply an enjoyable activity that they can share with you!

Festive biscuits are a fun and easy child-friendly option that everyone can enjoy baking and decorating – and of course eating at the end! Try this simple recipe from BBC Good Food: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sparkling-vanilla-christmas-cookies 

We hope we have inspired you to find more ways to share precious moments with your family this Christmas time with our top tips! 

We would love to hear from you if you’ve tried any of our ideas out – please share your #PreciousMoments with us on our social media channels by using the hashtag.

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Our Precious Moments Ambassadors campaign has been created for parents, grandparents, and early years educational professionals to work with us and support children to learn, play, and develop confidently. Find out more: ​