Indoor Christmas activities, for dark and rainy days.

Crafts

• Cut paper snowflakes

  Fold a square of paper into a triangle twice more, snip shapes along the edges and unfold. No two will be alike, just like real ones.

  30 minFreeAges 4 to 12

  You need: Paper, scissors

• Make paper lanterns

  Fold paper in half, cut slits along the fold, open it up and glue it into a tube. Hang them in a window or around a battery tea light.

  30 minFreeAges 4 to 12

  You need: Paper, scissors, glue

• Make tissue-paper stained glass

  Stick scraps of tissue paper onto sticky-backed plastic or baking paper brushed with glue, cut into a star or a tree and hang it in the window.

  30 minCosts a littleAges 3 to 10

  You need: Tissue paper, sticky-back plastic or glue

• Fold origami stars

  Look up a simple five-point origami star and fold a handful from paper strips. Fill a jar or hang them on thread.

  40 minFreeAges 7 to 12

  You need: Paper

• Make a sock snowman

  Fill an odd white sock with rice, tie it into a head and body with elastic bands, and add buttons, a felt scarf and a face.

  45 minCosts a littleAges 5 to 12

  You need: A white sock, rice, elastic bands, buttons

• Make your own gift tags

  Cut tags from old cards or cereal boxes, punch a hole and decorate them. Write names on them for the presents.

  30 minFreeAges 3 to 12

  You need: Old cards or cardboard, string

• Paint the windows

  Use window markers or a paste of washing-up liquid and white paint to draw snowflakes, stars and frost on the windows.

  40 minCosts a littleAges 3 to 12

  You need: Window markers or washable paint

• Make a mini tree for your room

  Stand a branch in a pot of stones and decorate it with tiny handmade ornaments. Everyone gets their own little tree.

  30 minFreeAges 3 to 12

  You need: A branch, a pot, small decorations

Baking and kitchen

• Bake gingerbread people

  Mix, roll, cut and bake a batch of gingerbread. Decorate with icing faces and give one to someone who needs cheering up.

  About an hourCosts a littleAges 3 to 12

  You need: Flour, butter, sugar, ginger, golden syrup or honey

• Ice and decorate biscuits

  Ice plain shop-bought biscuits with coloured icing and sprinkles. Make a plate for the neighbours too.

  40 minCosts a littleAges 2 to 12

  You need: Plain biscuits, icing sugar, sprinkles

• Make chocolate bark

  Melt chocolate, spread it on baking paper and scatter crushed candy canes, nuts or dried fruit on top. Chill, then snap into pieces.

  30 minCosts a littleAges 3 to 12

  You need: Chocolate, toppings

• Make winter-face pizzas

  Everyone gets a small base and turns it into a snowman, a reindeer or a penguin with toppings. Then dinner is done.

  45 minCosts a littleAges 2 to 12

  You need: Pizza bases or dough, toppings

• Bake cinnamon buns

  Make a simple yeast dough, spread it with butter, sugar and cinnamon, roll it up, slice and bake. Eat them warm.

  2 hoursCosts a littleAges 5 to 12

  You need: Flour, yeast, butter, sugar, cinnamon

• Cook a pot of soup together

  Wash, peel and chop (with help) vegetables for a soup. Kids choose the vegetables and name the soup.

  About an hourCosts a littleAges 4 to 12

  You need: Vegetables, stock

Science

• Make fake snow

  Mix bicarbonate of soda with a little shaving foam or conditioner until it feels like snow. It is cold to touch!

  20 minCosts a littleAges 2 to 10

  You need: Bicarbonate of soda, shaving foam or hair conditioner

• Grow crystal snowflakes

  Twist pipe cleaners into snowflakes, hang them in a jar of very hot water saturated with borax or salt (adult job), and check tomorrow.

  30 minCosts a littleAges 5 to 12

  You need: Pipe cleaners, borax or salt, a jar

• Have an ice-melting race

  Give everyone an ice cube and try salt, warm hands, a sunny spot or a blanket. Which melts fastest? Which is slowest?

  30 minFreeAges 3 to 10

  You need: Ice cubes, salt

• Build a sugar-cube igloo

  Glue sugar cubes in a circle with thick icing, rising in rings to make a dome. Put a toy penguin inside.

  45 minCosts a littleAges 5 to 12

  You need: Sugar cubes, icing sugar

• Build a marble run

  Tape toilet rolls and cut-up tubes to a wall or a box so a marble can roll from the top to a cup at the bottom.

  About an hourFreeAges 5 to 12

  You need: Tubes, tape, a marble

• Try candy cane experiments

  Put candy canes in cold, warm and hot water. Guess which will dissolve first, then watch the stripes swirl.

  20 minCosts a littleAges 3 to 12

  You need: Candy canes, three cups

Games and active play

• Have an indoor snowball fight

  Scrunch up paper or roll up white socks and have a snowball fight in the living room. Build a sofa-cushion fort.

  20 minFreeAges 2 to 12

  You need: Scrap paper or rolled socks

• Build an indoor obstacle course

  Crawl under chairs, hop between cushions, balance on a line of tape. Time each other and try to beat your record.

  45 minFreeAges 2 to 12

  You need: Cushions, chairs, tape

• Solve a home escape room

  Download a free printable family escape room or make your own with riddles, codes and a locked box at the end.

  About an hourFreeAges 7 to 12

  You need: A free printable or riddles

• Play minute-to-win-it games

  Get a cookie from forehead to mouth without hands, stack sweets, blow a ball across the table. One minute each.

  30 minFreeAges 4 to 12

  You need: Cookies, cups, a timer

• Play drawing guessing game

  Take turns drawing winter things while the others guess. No letters or numbers allowed.

  30 minFreeAges 4 to 12

  You need: Paper, pens, a timer

• Play balloon keepy-uppy

  Keep a balloon off the floor as long as you can, using only heads, elbows or knees. Count your best score.

  15 minFreeAges 2 to 10

  You need: A balloon

• Have an oven-glove wrapping race

  Wrap a box while wearing oven gloves or thick mittens. Fastest neat parcel wins. It is harder than it sounds.

  15 minFreeAges 6 to 12

  You need: A box, paper, tape, gloves

• Do animal yoga

  Stretch like a polar bear, balance like a flamingo, curl up like a hibernating hedgehog. Kids invent the next pose.

  20 minFreeAges 2 to 10

  You need: Space on the floor

Stories, music and shows

• Put on a puppet show

  Make sock or paper-bag puppets, drape a sheet over a table for a stage and perform a winter tale for the grown-ups.

  About an hourFreeAges 3 to 12

  You need: Old socks or paper bags, a sheet

• Put on a family concert

  Rehearse songs, make tickets and a programme, and perform for the family or on a video call.

  About an hourFreeAges 3 to 12

  You need: Instruments (pots and pans count)

• Hold a lip-sync battle

  Pick songs, find props and costumes, and perform. The audience scores with paper plates.

  45 minFreeAges 5 to 12

  You need: Music, dressing-up things

• Draw a family comic strip

  Fold paper into six boxes and draw a comic about your family’s funniest winter moment.

  45 minFreeAges 6 to 12

  You need: Paper, pens

• Make jingle-bell instruments

  Fill tubes and boxes with rice or dried beans, tape them shut and decorate. Shake along to your favourite songs.

  30 minFreeAges 2 to 8

  You need: Tubes or boxes, rice or beans, tape

• Watch or dance The Nutcracker

  Watch a recording of The Nutcracker ballet online and dance along to the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy".

  About an hourFreeAges 3 to 12

  You need: A screen

Cosy nights in

• Have a blanket-fort story night

  Build a fort from blankets and chairs, crawl in with torches and read stories until someone falls asleep.

  45 minFreeAges 1 to 12

  You need: Blankets, chairs, torches, books

• Have a winter movie night

  Pyjamas, popcorn, blankets on the floor. Watch a winter film like "The Snowman", "Frozen" or "Paddington".

  2 hoursFreeAges 3 to 12

  You need: A film, popcorn

• Eat dinner by candlelight

  Turn off the lights and eat by candles or fairy lights. Each person shares the best part of their day.

  45 minFreeUp to 12

  You need: Candles or battery lights

• Look through old photos

  Get out old albums or scroll through baby photos and tell the stories behind them. Choose one to print.

  30 minFreeAges 1 to 12

  You need: Photos

• Start a family jigsaw

  Pick a big puzzle and set it out on a table where anyone can add a piece any time this month.

  30 minFreeAges 4 to 12

  You need: A jigsaw (borrow one)

• Have a colouring-in evening

  Print free winter colouring pages, put on calm music and colour together. Grown-ups too.

  30 minFreeAges 2 to 12

  You need: Colouring pages, pencils

Questions