Getting the whole family involved this holiday season: Benevolence & Games for the whole family

Add to the fun of Christmas and get the whole family involved in activities such as baking, decorating, art, crafts, games, benevolence, etc.

BENEVOLENCE

Teaching our children benevolence leads to being humble, helpful, responsible, caring, connected and gentle. In teaching them benevolence, they need to see your own benevolence with their own eyes. They might not remember many words you've said when they're grown, but they'll remember your actions! ~Kimber

With their own money or with some of their allowance maybe match them to buy a new toy for another child. Take it to your local Ronald McDonald House. Call ahead to ask for a tour of the facilities with your child. Or take the new toys to a local homeless shelter.

Make & decorate cookies or some other goodies OR have the kids draw pictures to take to someone in a nursing home or in the hospital.

As a family, go and serve at a soup kitchen or local homeless shelter.

Contact Goodwill or other thrift type store to see if you and your family can help sort donations in their warehouse.

Go caroling to the elderly or local hospital.

Invite a needy family over for Christmas dinner or breakfast.

You can also look for needs in your area by going to volunteermatch.org, servenet.org, or idealist.org.

GAMES

Hunt the Christmas Card

Cut the fronts of Christmas cards in half. Put one set of the halves in a basket and divide them among the family members. Hide the other halves around the house and ask them to search for as many of the matching halves as possible in a certain amount of time.

Christmas Stocking

Put various objects into a Christmas stocking without the others seeing what they are. Have a mixture of things, some more unusual than others. The children then have to feel the stocking and guess what is inside.
Alternative: Have them reach their hand inside without looking to feel it and guess.

Pin the Nose on Rudolph

I'm sure I don't need to explain this.

Christmas Pictonary

Do I need to explain this?

Option: To make it more difficult, have the person draw the object with the "wrong" hand.

Christmas Song Guessing Game

Play excerpts of various Christmas music (free excerpts on ITunes) and ask everyone to write down the titles of the songs or yell them out. Whoever has the most correct answers is the winner.