There are more things to do on Christmas day than open presents. Spend some quality time with the people you love the most because it’s not often you are all together under the same roof.
1. Create decorations. By Christmas morning, you probably already have all of your lights strung and ornaments hung but you can always add to the collection. Set up a craft table with glitter, glue, and paint to decorate glass balls or string a needle through popcorn to make an extra piece of garland.
2. Marathon movies. If you were too busy to sit down and watch Elf and Home Alone earlier in the season, you should gather your family around to watch the classics. With the help of Netflix, you can even skip through the boring parts.
3. Go iceskating. Hold the hand of someone you love while you skate around the rink. You can wear all of the new winter gear you unwrapped while you’re there.
4. Attend a tree lighting ceremony. You don’t have to live in NYC to see a beautiful, bright tree. Find a local tree lighting ceremony and watch from the sidelines while sipping from hot chocolate.
5. Get a picture taken with Santa. You are never too old to get an Instagram worthy photograph with Saint Nick. You could even find a location that takes pictures of your pet with Santa.
6. Bake cookies. If you have a holiday party scheduled for later in the day, you can bring them to share! Otherwise you can keep them all for yourself and eat them until the new year.
7. Spend time outdoors. If you are lucky enough to experience a white Christmas, you should release your inner child by building a snowman, making snow angels, or going sledding on a neighborhood hill.
8. Read Christmas cards aloud. Sit your family in a circle and read from the cards you were sent. Then take turns saying what you love most about the sender.
9. Donate toys. It’s the season of giving, so don’t accept all of your presents without giving something in return. Clear out some space for your new stuff by giving the old stuff to people who will appreciate it.
10. Hide an elf on a shelf. If there are any little kids in your family, place the elf somewhere around the house and see how long it takes them to spot him.
11. Volunteer. Hand out food or blankets at a soup kitchen. Spend time at a children’s hospital or an animal shelter. Give to others because they deserve happy holidays too.
12. Build a gingerbread house. Try to make it look as similar to your actual house as possible. Then eat it the next day when it’s time to take down the decorations.
13. Attend church. If you are religious, spend the morning in prayer. If you do not have the time to listen to a service, you can read through a few of your favorite passages from a holy book.
14. Drink eggnog. If you cannot make it through the holidays without a bit of alcohol, then sip on eggnog or make your own festive drink. You can even rim the glass with red and green sprinkles.
15. Drive around to look at the lights. You will be impressed by how much work some of your neighbors put into their decorations. Plus, you can get inspiration so you can make your own place look even better next Christmas.
16. Track Santa. There are websites that will tell you the current location of Santa. Pull the site onto a computer so all the little kids in your family can watch him move from place to place.
17. Listen to Christmas songs. You might be sick of the repetitive music by the time Christmas day arrives but you have to get into the holiday spirit! You can turn on a playlist from your laptop, you can dust off vinyl records, or you can watch the yule log flicker.
18. Go Christmas caroling. If you would rather be the one doing the singing, knock on neighborhood doors. Sing until your lungs give out.
19. Decorate ugly Christmas sweaters. Grab pipe cleaners, glitter paint, pom-poms, and a hot glue gun to decorate a plain old sweater. Challenge your family to see who can make the most obnoxious one.
20. Watch old home videos. Christmas is a time to cherish your family and friends. That is why you should look through pictures and watch videos from past holidays so you can bond over the memories.
21. Trade secret Santa presents. If your family is huge, save money by putting together a secret Santa ahead of the holidays. Then, on the 25th, you can deliver gifts and discover who picked your name!
22. See a Christmas play. Or, if there aren’t any playhouses nearby, then you can see a holiday movie in theaters. There’s always one or two around this time of year.
23. Find someone to kiss beneath the mistletoe. Make sure you take a boomerang to post on Instagram!
24. Play board games. They don’t have to be holiday based board games. You can play Scrabble, Clue, Charades, Head’s Up, whatever you would like. As long as you are spending quality time with your loved ones, that is all that matters.
25. Say thank you. Thank your loved ones for more than your gifts. Thank them for how much they have done for you over the year. Thank them for being a part of your life.