Bright Holiday Lights

As soon as those twinkling lights start popping up around town, your family is sure to catch the Christmas spirit. Kick off your holiday season by taking a family drive around your neighborhood to search for extraordinary displays. Turn up the festive tunes on the radio and sing along to your favorites.

You can shake up your annual light-viewing by attending a special event, such as the Holiday Lights at Garvan Woodland Gardens or the Trail of Holiday Lights at Sherwood’s Enchanted Forest (see details here). You can find even more spectacles around the state on Arkansas.com.

Christmas Tree Farms

For lots of families, putting up a Christmas tree in the living room is an exciting sign that holiday celebrations are right around the corner. Add even more mirth to your tradition by visiting a local farm to pick a tree straight from the field, go on a hayride or visit with Santa. If you’re feeling up to the challenge, many farms will even let you chop the tree down yourself (more info here).

Motley’s Christmas Tree Farm in Little Rock: 888-1129

Muddy Creek Christmas Tree Farm in Mabelvale: 773-4725

Papa Santa’s Christmas Tree Farm in Benton: 779-1062

Bradbury Christmas Tree Farm in Mabelvale: 602-2449.

Baking and Gingerbread Making

Making gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies is at the top of many holiday to-do lists. But, what if your sweet dreams take more time than your schedule allows? No problem. For a quick sugar fix, pick out a gingerbread house kit from your grocery store. The kits comes in all shapes and sizes, from trains to whole miniature villages. They include preformed gingerbread pieces, icing and decorations, and have sample photos and full directions—so you can focus on having fun, instead of whipping up homemade gingerbread.

Santa cookies are a snap with Nutter Butters, premade icing, mini chocolate chips, Red Hots and red premade sugar. Ice one third of the top side of a cookie. Then ice the opposite one third. Sprinkle red sugar over only one of the iced portions for Santa’s hat. Place one red hot in the plain white icing for Santa’s mouth. Dab icing on the back of two chocolate chips. Place the chips just below the “brim” of Santa’s hat for his eyes. Voila! You have Santa cookies and you didn’t even turn on the oven!

Merry Movie Marathon

Holiday movies hold a special place in most people’s hearts. These flicks are generally packed with positive messages giving even the Grinchiest viewer lots of warm fuzzies. Plan a time for a Christmas movie marathon. Depending on how many movie options you have, let the family vote on which will be watched. Then cuddle up and dive in.

A couple of festive projects to work on during the movie marathon include making reindeer corn and popcorn garland. Both of these projects can be done as an assembly line. You’ll need gallon sized baggies, Red Hots, glitter, and birdseed with corn in it or deer corn. Each person adds a scoop of each ingredient to the baggie. Seal it up and it’s ready for spreading in the yard on Christmas Eve.

Popcorn garland requires a sewing needle, quilting thread, plain popcorn and cranberries (optional). An adult or teen should be in charge of the needle and thread. Four foot sections are more manageable. Knot the thread at the end. Have a large bowl of plain popcorn and the bowl of cranberries. It’s a team effort handing popcorn or cranberries to the person with the needle and also keeping the string tangle-free. Hang garland inside or hang it outside as a Christmas treat for your feathered friends. Dried fruit or hollow centered candies also work well.

Community Giving

During the season of giving, there’s no greater tradition than, well…giving! Choose a project that fits your family’s interests and can involve all family members. Younger kids might enjoy buying toys for families in need as part of the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program. Or, you might also organize a neighborhood canned food drive for the Arkansas Foodbank or collect warm socks and coats for the homeless. Not sure what to do? Contact one of your favorite nonprofit organizations and ask for their current wish list. No matter what you choose, you’ll be teaching your children a life-long lesson about family, community and giving.