Once the presents are unwrapped and the Christmas dinner is eaten, it can be hard to think of things to do to entertain the whole family. Sure, there might be the odd cracker toy that provides five minutes of laughs, and the odd good thing on television, but realistically we all start to go a bit stir-crazy over the Christmas season.
Let EcoVibe inspire you with some eco-conscious activity ideas, we hope there’s something for everyone! Here are five plastic-free Christmas activities.
Get the little ones baking
This is definitely not something to do on Christmas day itself, as more chaos in the kitchen is far from ideal, but could be a lovely Christmas Eve activity.
Dig out a jar of mincemeat, make some basic shortcrust pastry, and grab some cutters and voila you’ve got the start of a mince pie production line. And if you don’t have any cookie cutters, you can just use the lid from a (clean) jar.
If mince pies aren’t your thing, what about making cookies, brownies, or some festive biscuits? The great thing about anything like biscuits is you can spend hours decorating them too!
Where possible, use up what you have in the cupboard or make a quick dash to your zero waste store to grab some plastic-free baking ingredients and some fun bits to use to decorate.
It’s an oldie but a goodie
Charades and other similar games are a great way of getting everyone involved and you don’t need anything at all. Who doesn’t find Aunt Carol desperately miming The Great Escape, hysterically funny?
For charades with a twist:
- Get everyone to write down three things on three separate small scraps of paper and put them into a hat, bowl etc.
- Divide into pairs or teams.
- In turn, one person from each team goes up and pulls out one of the pieces of paper.
- In the first round, you have 60 seconds to mime as many things as possible. Keep pulling pieces of paper until your time is up.
- Use up all the pieces of paper before round two.
- In the second round, replace all the pieces of paper back into your bowl. This time you have 60 seconds to describe what’s on the piece of paper with sounds (not words, and no actions).
- And in the third round, you follow the same as before but this time you’re just allowed to use one word.
- Tot up all the scores to assign a winning team.
If you’re not able to see your family face to face this year or are keeping things small, games like charades are easily done on video calls and you could even play online games from the likes of Jackbox or Among Us.
Enjoy the great outdoors
Granted we can’t always bank on the weather in the UK during the festive period, but where possible take time to explore what’s right on your doorstep.
If you can, try and explore local nature spots that you can get to on foot or on public transport, to help minimise your carbon footprint and always make sure you leave only footprints and take only photos.
If you’re quick, you might be able to get a Den Kit with next day tracked delivery, before Christmas.
If not, do it the old fashioned way and build a den using old bedding, some sting, and some pegs and if people love it, you can invest in a Den Kit in 2022.
Have a family movie night
Gather everyone around for a movie night. Choose an old DVD or something from your favourite streaming platform.
To make it feel extra cosy, you could suggest everyone gets into their favourite pyjamas or loungewear, and make a big batch of fresh popcorn for everyone to enjoy.
If you’ve been lucky enough to be swamped with delicious treats in your Christmas stocking, you could even choose to share and make a platter of assorted sweets, bakes, and chocolates, on a chopping board or cheese board.
Get creative
Whether it’s taking the opportunity to be more mindful by journaling or creating some art solo, or more of a group activity, arts and crafts can be a fantastic plastic-free activity.
You could get people making a collage out of Christmas cards and wrapping paper or get out some paints for people to play with.
Pre-Christmas, this activity is a fabulous way of making some last-minute cards, gift tags, or wrapping paper, and after Christmas, it’s a lovely way of using up items that aren’t recyclable.
If you need to decompress and relax, why not spend some time alone writing, drawing, or crafting to help unwind your mind before returning to work? You might even find a new hobby for 2022!
All of us at EcoVibe hope you have a fantastic Christmas break. If you end up doing any of these activities, then please let us know, we’d love to see the outcomes of your creations, so make sure you tag us on social media if you share on your channels.
Got any other plastic-free activity ideas? Make sure you share them in the comments!