Countdown to Christmas: 24 Days of Nature Fun

The madness is about to begin. December 1 marks the official countdown to Christmas in our house. But not in the sense you might be thinking.

Sure, the boys are on cloud nine dreaming of all the gifts they claim they’d love to have. But something else is at work here, too.

The Big Explorer told me today that what he loves most about the holiday season isn’t the gifts he gets (gasp!). He says it’s looking at all the beautiful lights and decorations. And singing holiday songs. And that it’s just so hard to not be … happy.

He’s right. This time of year it feels like every day is just a little extra special.

To keep from getting sucked into the hustle and bustle that is the holiday season, we try to keep it simple. It all starts with our 24 days of nature fun list.

We created this list together, then chose a specific date for each activity, allowing us to accommodate school, work and holiday schedules. Some items are pretty simple; others involve a little more time and planning.

As with all of our seasonal activity lists, this one will hang in a high traffic area of our house so everyone can see what’s on the agenda. You’ll notice our list includes activities indoors and out. And a couple of the items aren’t technically nature-themed. But I think you get the point.

1. String popcorn & cranberry garland for the birds
2. Decorate the front yard & porch with items from nature
3. Make an ornament from nature
4. Design birdseed ornaments
5. Decorate a tree in our yard for wildlife (hence the garland & bird seed ornament above)
6. Create twig stars
7. Take a holiday lights walk (in jammies if possible)
8. Build a card tree
9. Head to a Christmas tree farm (or elsewhere) & pick out our (live) tree
10. Decorate the tree
11. Have a Christmas-themed picnic (I’m wearing my Santa hat!)
12. Make a snow, sand or grass angel (I made up that last one, but the kids were game)
13. Go on a holiday neighborhood scavenger hunt
14. Watch a Christmas movie by the light of the tree
15. Snuggle up with a backyard campfire, a Christmas story & hot cocoa
16. Build a twig tower (we really like sticks & building around here)
17. Bake Christmas cookies
18. Take a sleigh ride to visit Santa (aka, a train ride to Santa)
19. Make an ice ornament (which is a fun science experiment for us)
20. Grab our cameras & complete the Fall Nature Photo Scavenger Hunt
21. Set up a backyard weather station
22. Go on a winter nature scavenger hunt
23. Build a snowman (yes, we’ll do this one even without snow!)
24. Make magic reindeer food (or maybe a reindeer ice wreath)

Need more inspiration? Don’t miss last year’s 10 Christmas nature activities for kids and a collection of even more ideas on my Christmas nature fun board over on Pinterest.

Your turn! What’s your favorite way to connect with nature during the holidays?

It's always nice to share.

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