A Dutch December can be an overwhelming month, not just for children, but for parents too. As a family we have found a way to calm the December days down. We focus more on family and gezelligheid, and a little less on the explosion of presents and commercialism that comes with the festive period.
Sinterklaas and Christmas In One Month
With the arrival of Sinterklaas from Spain in the middle of November Dutch children are hurtled headlong into a state of excitement. They continue to bounce off the walls until pakjesavond on the 5th of December. By the time Sinterklaas and his helpers have left the country on the 6th December the children are catapulted into Christmas celebrations.
Seeing how excited my sons were in the build up to the 5th of December, and again the run up to Christmas Day, we started focussing on advent instead. Rather than simply opening the door of an advent calendar and scoffing a chocolate, I made 24 envelopes, each with a chocolate coin and an activity inside.
Advent Envelopes
My three sons take turns to open an envelope and that day we do the activity stated on the card. It takes their focus away from pakjesavond or Christmas Day – it diverts them for a while.
There are little spurts of excitement, balanced over December – a way of releasing some excitement instead of bottling up for two specific days.
It takes some of the focus away from the Sinterklaas and Father Christmas visiting.
It works well for us, and it makes December a lot of fun. It’s a special time to connect as a family, and create precious memories.
Advent Activities
Activities can be as low-key and calm as you wish, or as thrilling as you can muster, depending on your own family. Use activities that are already scheduled in this busy month to make things easier for yourself.
So here are some of the activities we have enjoyed, and things that are going on in the area that you could include in a month full of advent activities.
1. Make pepernoten or kruidnoten together
2. Put your shoe out for Sinterklaas (on a day between 1st and 4th December)
3. Tell a Christmas story by candlelight
4. Eat dinner by candlelight: we do this on the evening of winter solstice to mark the shortest day of the year
5. An evening walk in your neighbourhood with (homemade) lanterns or torches
6. Attend a carol concert
7. Celebrate Pakjesavond (5th December – a great example of something you may already be doing so no extra planning involved)
8. Eat dinner picnic style by the Christmas tree
9. Watch a Christmas movie as a family
10. Make a Christmas tree decoration (salt dough ornaments are fun to make)
11. Take silly Christmas photos – wearing Christmas hats for example. Let your children be behind the lens and make it a fun session for them
12. Bake Christmas cookies
13. Let your children help you make a Christmas cake
14. Make paper snowflakes
15. Decorate the Christmas tree
16. Dance to Christmas music – the crazier the better
17. Make or colour Christmas cards for grandparents and aunts and uncles
18. Make a Christmas box for Christmas eve filled with, for example, a new DVD, hot chocolate sachets, popcorn, new pyjamas – things to encourage family time before bedtime
19. Go ice skating
20. Go to the local garden centre to see their Christmas displays
21. Visit the Spoorwegmuseum Winter Station: in December the Spoorwegmuseum in Utrecht transforms into a winter paradise with music, a skate rink, a carousel and marshmallow toasting outside on open fires
22. Have a toy clear out and donate them
23. Pick a Christmas tree together
24. Make food holders or fat balls or cakes for the birds
25. Visit the Efteling which transforms into a winter wonderland
26. Donate food to your local food bank
27. Make a special gift for grandparents, teachers or a family friend
28. Sit around a little fire outside in the garden with hot chocolate for the children, gluhwein for the grown ups and Christmas biscuits. Or toast marshmallows
29. Decorate the garden with lights
30. Use jam pots, wire and tissue paper to make festive candle holders
31. Visit a Christmas fair. We went to the Keukenhof one year and really enjoyed it
32. Watch the Christmas lights being turned on in your local town
33. Help an elderly neighbour, or a family you know with a new baby
34. Go to a Christmas circus
35. Make a gingerbread house
36. Play in the snow (if the winter weather co-operates of course)
37. Go to one of the kaarsjesavonden. Many towns host an evening when the shopping streets and towns are lit up with candles. Gouda is a great example
38. Write a letter to Father Christmas
39. Make reindeer food to sprinkle outside your house on Christmas Eve
40. Have a family game night
41. Tell your children stories about Christmases from your childhood
42. Make mince pies
By the time my children get to Christmas Eve December has already been a month of gezelligheid; we have spent quality time together and the excitement has been manageable. And you make December less about presents.
As Dr Seuss magically put it,
“Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store. “
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