25 Cozy Christmas Activities for Families and Teens

Christmas with teenagers is different.

The days of organising every festive activity for them gradually disappear. They have their own plans, their own friends and very definite opinions about what they do — and absolutely do not — want to do.

And yet I don’t think that means family Christmas traditions have to disappear with childhood.

They just need a little more room to grow.

Some of the nicest moments with teenagers happen when we stop trying to manufacture “family time” and simply create opportunities to be together. A film everyone actually wants to watch. Something baking in the kitchen. A drive to see the Christmas lights. A board game that becomes far more competitive than anyone anticipated.

Nothing elaborate.

Nothing that requires an itinerary.

Just ordinary bits of December that give us a reason to gather in the same room for a while.

So if you’re looking for cosy Christmas activities that work for families with teenagers, tweens or older children, I’ve gathered 25 ideas below.

You certainly don’t need to do all 25.

Choose the ones that sound like your family and completely ignore the rest.

1. Have a Christmas Movie & Mugs Night

This is probably one of the easiest Christmas traditions to pull off with teenagers because it requires very little persuasion.

Let somebody choose a Christmas film, make hot chocolate or tea, bring out whatever Christmas snacks happen to be in the cupboard and switch off the big lights.

That’s it.

No coordinated pyjamas required.

No themed grazing board.

No need to document it for anybody.

Just a film, something nice to drink and everyone on the sofa for a couple of hours.

If choosing the film causes an argument, take turns. Everybody gets one Christmas-film choice during December — even if somebody insists upon choosing a film that the rest of the family maintains is not remotely Christmassy.

2. Make One Handmade Christmas Decoration

You don’t need to turn the kitchen table into Santa’s craft workshop.

Choose one simple thing to make.

Dried orange garlands, paper stars, salt-dough ornaments, little clay decorations or something made from greenery gathered outside can all work beautifully.

Teenagers often enjoy making things when it doesn’t feel like a carefully organised children’s activity.

Put everything on the table, make tea, turn on some music and see what happens.

And if everybody loses interest after twenty minutes?

You made a decoration.

Success.

3. Bake Christmas Cookies Together

Christmas baking is particularly good for this stage of family life because teenagers can actually bake.

They can weigh ingredients, read recipes, use the oven, decorate biscuits and — crucially — clean up afterwards.

At least theoretically. 😂

Choose something everybody likes rather than trying to make the most impressive Christmas bake imaginable.

Cookies, gingerbread, shortbread or brownies are all easy options.

Put on the family Christmas playlist and let everyone wander in and out of the kitchen.

RELATED: 15 Christmas Baking Ideas: Cookies, Cakes & Festive Treats

4. Have a Family Gift-Wrapping Evening

Wrapping presents is one of those jobs that can either feel like an enormous December chore or a surprisingly lovely evening.

Clear the kitchen table.

Gather the wrapping paper, ribbon, tape, scissors and labels.

Put on Christmas music.

Make something warm to drink.

Then wrap together.

Obviously, everybody may need to disappear into separate rooms occasionally when they’re wrapping gifts for each other, but that’s part of the fun.

It’s also a lovely opportunity for teenagers to take responsibility for wrapping the presents they’ve chosen themselves.

5. Read One Christmas Story Aloud

This might sound like something that belongs to the little-child years, but I don’t think it necessarily does.

Choose something short.

A Christmas story.

A poem.

A funny piece from a favourite book.

Or return to something you’ve read every Christmas since the children were small.

For us, keeping one or two traditions from those earlier Christmases can be particularly lovely now.

Nobody needs to sit cross-legged around the reader.

Just turn on the tree lights and read.

6. Make a Popcorn or Cranberry Garland

This is wonderfully old-fashioned and slightly ridiculous, which is precisely why I like it.

String popcorn, cranberries or both and use the garland on the tree or mantel.

It takes long enough that people tend to sit and chat while they’re doing it, but not so much concentration that conversation becomes impossible.

And unlike a lot of Christmas activities, the slightly wonky result is part of its charm.

7. Go to See the Christmas Lights

This is one I think works at almost every age.

Choose an evening in December and go for a walk or drive to see the Christmas lights.

Bring a flask of hot chocolate if you fancy.

Put the Christmas playlist on in the car.

Let everybody choose a favourite display.

You might visit a town centre, Christmas market or neighbourhood known for its lights, or simply walk around your own area.

It doesn’t have to become a major outing.

An hour out together on a dark December evening can be enough.

8. Make a Lantern for the Winter Solstice

The winter solstice falls just before Christmas and can be a lovely little point in December to acknowledge.

Make a simple lantern from a glass jar and tissue paper, or simply gather the candles you already own and light them as darkness falls.

You don’t need to create an elaborate solstice celebration.

Sometimes it’s simply nice to notice the season we’re actually living in — the short days, early darkness and gradual return of the light.

9. Create a Family Christmas Playlist

Ask everyone to choose five songs.

Put them together into one family Christmas playlist and use it throughout December — in the kitchen, in the car, while decorating, wrapping presents or cooking dinner.

This is also where you discover exactly how different everyone’s definition of Christmas music is.

There will be classics.

There will be songs from your own childhood.

There will be something one teenager insists absolutely belongs on the playlist despite nobody else understanding why.

Leave it in.

That’s how the family soundtrack gets made.

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A Little Christmas Family Companion

If you’d like somewhere to gather some of the things your family would genuinely enjoy doing together this Christmas, I’ve created a free Christmas Family Companion.

This isn’t another December schedule or a list of activities you’re supposed to complete.

It’s a little collection of beautifully illustrated pages designed to help families spend time together in ways that feel easy and enjoyable.

Inside you’ll find Christmas Together ideas, Family Bingo, Christmas Conversation Cards, Memory Jar ideas and slips, family traditions to try and a Christmas Kindness Challenge.

Use the whole pack, choose a couple of pages or simply keep it in your Christmas binder and pull something out when you fancy an idea.

Free Christmas Family Companion

Simple activities, conversation starters, traditions and little ideas for spending more time together this Christmas.

Download the Free Christmas Family Companion

You’ll also find it in my complete Christmas Companion Library, alongside free printables for Christmas Eve, baking, traditions, Advent, Christmas morning, movies, crafts and lots more.

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10. Have a Christmas Craft Afternoon

This is the slightly bigger version of making one decoration.

Choose a December afternoon when nobody has much on and put a few things on the kitchen table.

Make Christmas cards.

Gift tags.

Paper decorations.

Dried-orange decorations.

Simple wrapping paper.

Or let everybody work on something completely different.

The point isn’t really the craft.

It’s the kettle going on, music playing and everybody sitting around the table doing something with their hands for a while.

11. Recreate an Old Childhood Christmas Photograph

Find an old Christmas photograph and recreate it.

Same people.

Same positions.

Same expressions if possible.

If you still own any of the original props, even better.

Teenagers may initially think this is mortifying.

This generally improves its entertainment value.

Keep the two photographs together afterwards. Do it again in a few years and you’ve accidentally created a family tradition.

12. Decorate the Christmas Tree Together

As children get older, tree decorating can become less of an “event”.

I think it’s worth keeping.

Put on music, open the decoration boxes and let everyone help.

The nicest part is often rediscovering the decorations themselves.

The one somebody made in primary school.

The decoration bought on a holiday.

The slightly battered favourite that has somehow survived fifteen Christmases.

Tell the stories.

Let the teenagers decide where things go.

And resist moving everything after they’ve left the room.

Or at least wait until they’re in bed. 😂

13. Write a Letter to Your Future Christmas Self

Give everyone a piece of paper and write a short note to be opened next Christmas.

What was life like this December?

What are you enjoying?

What’s funny in the family at the moment?

What are you hoping for next year?

Nobody has to share what they’ve written.

Fold the letters, date them and tuck them into the Christmas decoration box.

Then forget about them until next year.

14. Create a Christmas Book Basket

Gather the Christmas books you already own and put them together somewhere accessible.

They don’t have to be children’s picture books.

Add Christmas novels, cookbooks, magazines, short-story collections and anything else people might actually pick up.

One of the pleasures of seasonal books is simply seeing them reappear.

They’re part reading material, part decoration and part memory.

And teenagers who are avid readers may enjoy adding their own seasonal choices.

15. Make a Family Memory Jar

Put an empty jar somewhere everyone can reach.

Throughout December, add little notes about things that happen.

Not necessarily significant things.

Something funny somebody said.

A lovely evening.

A Christmas film you watched.

A meal everyone enjoyed.

Someone arriving home.

A particularly chaotic baking attempt.

Open the notes together at the end of Christmas or tuck them away to read next year.

There are ready-to-cut Memory Jar slips in the Christmas Family Companion if you’d like to use them.

16. Make a Silly Christmas Video

Not everything has to become a meaningful heirloom.

Make something ridiculous.

A Christmas Q&A.

A family quiz.

A terrible festive dance.

A mock advert.

A recreation of an old video from when the children were little.

You don’t have to put it online.

In fact, perhaps don’t. 😂

Keep it for yourselves.

Those silly little family videos can become incredibly funny to watch years later.

17. Have a Board Game Night by the Tree

Bring out an old favourite or try something new.

Move away from the television, put some snacks on the table and play.

With teenagers, board games become properly competitive.

This can either be tremendous fun or reveal previously unknown aspects of everybody’s personality.

Choose accordingly.

Cards count too.

The important part is simply doing something together that gives conversation room to happen.

18. Visit a Christmas Market or Shop Local Together

Go into town one afternoon or evening and browse the Christmas market or independent shops.

Give teenagers a small budget and let them choose presents themselves.

Stop for something warm to drink.

Look at the lights.

It turns Christmas shopping into an outing rather than another frantic job.

And choosing gifts themselves helps older children become part of the giving side of Christmas rather than simply recipients of it.

19. Make a Very Short Family Christmas Bucket List

Emphasis on short.

Sit down together and ask:

What would we actually like to do this Christmas?

Not what should we do.

Not what Instagram says constitutes a magical December.

What would we enjoy?

Perhaps everyone chooses one thing.

You might end up with five family activities for the entire season.

Perfect.

Five things everybody wants to do are considerably better than twenty-five things one person is desperately trying to orchestrate.

20. Choose a Family Christmas Kindness Project

Rather than creating another daily challenge, choose something manageable.

Donate to a local food appeal.

Choose gifts for a giving tree.

Leave something for a neighbour.

Send cards to people who might appreciate them.

Support a local charity.

Volunteer together if there’s an appropriate opportunity nearby.

The Christmas Family Companion includes a Kindness Challenge if your family enjoys having prompts, but there’s absolutely no need to turn kindness into another checklist.

One thoughtful thing is still a thoughtful thing.

21. Make One Corner of the House Particularly Cosy

Let everybody help create somewhere lovely to spend December evenings.

Bring over a basket of blankets.

Add cushions.

Put books nearby.

Turn on the fairy lights.

Move a lamp.

Bring in a little greenery.

You don’t need to buy a single thing.

The aim isn’t to redecorate the room for Christmas. It’s simply to create somewhere people naturally want to sit.

Then actually use it.

22. Make a Christmas Simmer Pot

This is such an easy one for an afternoon at home.

Add orange peel or slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and whatever other seasonal ingredients you have to a saucepan of water and let it simmer very gently.

Keep an eye on the water level and don’t leave it unattended.

Soon the kitchen smells wonderfully Christmassy.

It’s particularly nice while you’re baking, wrapping presents or pottering around the house.

23. Show Your Teenagers a Christmas Favourite From Your Childhood

This can be enlightening.

Choose the Christmas special, film or programme you adored when you were their age and make them watch it with you.

They may love it.

They may stare at you in disbelief that this passed for entertainment.

Either outcome is enjoyable.

Then let them choose something current that they think you should watch.

Christmas traditions don’t always have to travel from parent to child.

Sometimes they can come the other way.

24. Have a Family Secret Santa

Once children are old enough to shop independently, family Secret Santa becomes much more fun.

Set a budget and draw names.

You can keep it completely straightforward or add a theme — something useful, something second-hand, something homemade, a book, something funny.

The pleasure is in having one person to think properly about.

And it gives teenagers a real role in choosing and giving gifts themselves.

RELATED: 12 Meaningful Christmas Traditions to Start with Teens or Grown-Up Kids

25. Finish the Season Around the Table

Sometime near the end of Christmas, sit around the table and talk.

No formal family meeting required.

Maybe it happens over leftovers.

Or breakfast.

Or while you’re eating the last mince pies.

Ask what everybody’s favourite thing was.

What made them laugh?

What should you definitely do again?

What can you happily never do again?

You could add favourite moments to your Memory Jar or simply talk.

Often the smallest moments are the ones people mention.

And that’s useful information for next Christmas.

Christmas Activities With Teenagers Don’t Need to Be Elaborate

I think this is the part that’s easy to forget.

When children are little, we often create Christmas experiences for them.

We arrange the visit.

Set up the craft.

Choose the activity.

Bake the cookies.

Plan the surprise.

Teenagers don’t necessarily need Christmas manufactured for them in quite the same way.

What they often need is an invitation.

“We’re going to see the lights later if you fancy coming.”

“I’m making gingerbread this afternoon.”

“We’re putting a film on at eight.”

“Will you choose some songs for the playlist?”

Sometimes they’ll join you.

Sometimes they won’t.

And sometimes they’ll appear halfway through, eat whatever you’ve made and then stay talking at the kitchen table for an hour.

That counts.

Let Them Help Create Christmas

One of the nicest changes as children grow is that Christmas becomes less something we create for them and more something we create with them.

Let them choose.

Let them cook.

Let them decorate.

Let them introduce new music, films, foods and ideas.

If the family tradition is changing, allow them to be part of deciding what it becomes.

That doesn’t diminish the Christmases you had when they were small.

It’s simply the next version of family life.

RELATED: 12 Meaningful Christmas Traditions to Start with Teens or Grown-Up Kids

What If Nobody Wants to Join In?

Then I wouldn’t force it.

Teenagers have their own lives.

They may be tired after school.

They may want to see friends.

They may have absolutely no interest in making a dried-orange garland at 3pm on Saturday despite the fact that you have lovingly sliced twelve oranges.

Fine.

Make the garland.

Put the kettle on.

Leave the invitation open.

Family connection doesn’t become more meaningful because everybody was compelled to participate.

And if the planned family activity doesn’t happen, Christmas isn’t ruined.

There will be other moments.

You Don’t Need to Make Every Christmas Memory

This is perhaps the most important part.

The internet can make December look like one long sequence of beautiful family experiences.

Christmas market.

Baking afternoon.

Matching pyjamas.

Movie night.

Craft day.

Winter walk.

Perfectly decorated tree.

And if we’re not careful, even the lovely idea of “making memories” becomes another form of pressure.

We don’t actually make most of our memories deliberately.

They happen while we’re living.

Somebody says something hilarious while decorating the tree.

The gingerbread house collapses.

You get caught in the rain looking at Christmas lights.

Everyone stays at the table longer than expected.

A teenager wanders into the kitchen and starts talking while you’re making dinner.

Those are Christmas memories too.

Probably some of the best ones.

More Christmas Ideas for Families

If you’re looking for more ideas for a relaxed family Christmas, continue with:

Before You Go…

You don’t need twenty-five Christmas activities.

You probably don’t even need ten.

Choose a few things your family genuinely enjoys and leave some empty evenings around them.

Let the teenagers disappear to their rooms.

Let plans change.

Let people come and go.

Put the tree lights on anyway.

Make the hot chocolate.

Bake something because you fancy it.

Invite everyone to join you.

And pay attention to the ordinary moments that happen in between.

Because years from now, the thing everybody remembers may not be the carefully planned Christmas outing at all.

It might be the night you all sat around the kitchen table far too late, eating slightly burnt biscuits and laughing about something none of you can quite remember now.

And really, that’s Christmas too.

Chat soon,

Ciara x

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Explore the Christmas Collection Further

If you’ve enjoyed this printable, I’d love to invite you to explore the rest of our growing Christmas Companion Library. Each beautifully illustrated collection has been thoughtfully designed to help you create a calmer, more organised and more meaningful festive season. Whether you’re planning Christmas, preparing festive meals, embracing Advent, slowing down to savour the season or making magical family memories, there’s a companion waiting for you.

Explore the collection: Christmas Printables Hub, Free Christmas Planner Companion, Christmas Kitchen Companion, Christmas Eve Companion, Christmas Bucket List Companion, Slow Christmas Companion and Advent Companion

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