UNITY - The holiday season brings about joyfulness for residents and good tidings shared amongst us, and also a variety of activities to take part in our communities.
However, in addition to taking part in the plethora of Christmas activities in your home community or perhaps neighbouring community, here are a number of other festive options for you, your family and your friends to take part in that all bring sentiments of happiness and seasonal celebration.
Take in an advent service in your community church. The warm glow of candles, decorations that may include the nativity scene depicting the first Christmas and the beautiful sound of choirs singing Christmas carols are all part of these services that will bring you a feeling of peace and joy. Be sure to check out Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day services, which will also provide you with the warm embrace the story of Christ’s birth brings us.
Talk to your parents or grandparents and they will tell you tobogganing was one of their favourite memories of family Christmas gatherings. Pack up your family, a thermos of hot chocolate and your sledding gear and head to the community’s toboggan hill or check for permission on a sled hill in a rural area near you. Get a group together and include a snowmobile to help tow kids back up the hill. You are sure to experience laughter while enjoying deep breaths of fresh winter air while darting down the hills.
Outdoor rinks are another popular option for family or friend get-togethers. Check in your community as you may have to book a time or ensure no one else is using the surface then lace up the skates and glide across the frozen water while merrily singing carols or sharing great Christmas memories. Some people get to enjoy this activity at an outdoor water source near them like a lake or dugout but be extra careful that the water body is adequately frozen.
Your community might still have a group that orchestrates this activity; however, community carollers are always a popular addition to the holidays. Pack up a treat bag for those carollers who travel around or gather up your friends or neighbours and either walk or ride around to seniors’ centres and sing the night away. It’s a wonderful way to lift the spirits, share the joy and just be part of an enjoyable festive experience.
Do not forget your family or community’s senior citizens. They love to share Christmas time with others. Have your kids or your family create or write up special Christmas letters to seniors and include a photo or special treat just for them to enjoy because seniors love to get mail. Is your family wanting to build a snowman? Why not head to a local seniors’ centre and build one in their yard so those indoors can watch or even join in, with the added benefit of the creation adorning their property for months to come.
Speaking of Christmas cards, and it is not the tradition it used to be, but why not make it your household’s mission to collaboratively write a family Christmas letter, or even a new tradition of a New Year’s letter outlining the year in review as well as resolutions for incoming year. Mail them to friends and family you have not talked to or seen in some time. It will be a wonderful way to recount the year’s activities while knowing the happiness factor you are sharing with the recipient but be sure to get it mailed in time for the Canada Post Christmas mail deadline.
Who does not love the smell of fresh gingerbread? This is a great activity to take part in on a snowy afternoon or gather your kids, family, or friends and make a party out of it. Bake, decorate, eat and distribute, as these creations are even better when shared.
Watching a Christmas moving is on many Christmas to-do wish lists. Whether laughing heartily, alone or with family, at Kevin McCallister foiling the bumbling robbers in Home Alone or wiping a sweet tear from your eye as the Grinch finally realizes what Christmas is all about, check out your TV schedules or rent a special holiday movie and enjoy some quiet downtime while filling your cup with Christmas spirit.
Take in a community carol festival or children’s Christmas concert. It is guaranteed to warm the heart and soul and offers a splendid activity highlighting local talent.
This list does not include something everyone does like setting up and decorating their Christmas tree, shopping, wrapping and the things on the to-do list that all people take part in. However, one thing that many families like to add into the Christmas things to do is start a new tradition. It can be something from the list above or something completely creative or different than you or your family or your friends have every done before.
