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15 Things to Do Between Christmas and New Year with Kids
15 things to do between Christmas and New Year with kids aged 3 to 8, planned day by day from 27 to 31 December, most of them free and screen-free.
The easiest things to do between Christmas and New Year with kids aged 3 to 8 are a short burst of movement each morning, one thing to make or try in the afternoon, and something calm before tea. Below is a plan for each of the five days from 27 to 31 December, three ideas a day.
For the days before, we have separate ideas for Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.
What is Twixmas?
Twixmas is the informal name for the days between Christmas and New Year, also called Betwixtmas or Crimbo limbo. The best Twixmas activities for kids are short, because the days are: it's dark by teatime, the novelty of the presents wears off fast, and everyone is a little tired.
Some years, one or two of these days are bank holidays. When Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls at a weekend, the holiday moves to the next weekday, and GOV.UK lists the dates for each year.
How does the three-slot day work?
Each day has three slots: morning, move; afternoon, make or try; teatime, settle. Any item can swap with another in the same slot, and the days can go in any order to suit your week.
The morning is for movement because there's so much sitting the rest of the time. The NHS says children under 5 shouldn't be inactive for long periods except when asleep, and that children aged 5 to 18 should break up long periods of not moving with some activity.
Every item suits ages 3 to 8. Toddlers and under-threes can do the simpler half of each one with a grown-up.
What can kids do on the slow day after Boxing Day?
The first day after Boxing Day is usually the slowest: everyone is tired, the house is full of presents, and nobody wants to go far. Keep the morning gentle, give the new things a proper look in the afternoon, and finish with something quiet at the kitchen table.
1. Five standing poses before breakfast
On a mat or a rug, in pyjamas: mountain, chair, tree, eagle and dancer, three slow breaths each. Stand tall, sit on an invisible chair, then try the three balances. Wobbling is part of it. A hand on the wall helps younger children.
2. Give every new present one proper go
Batteries in, instructions read, and ten minutes of a grown-up sitting alongside each one before moving to the next. On Christmas Day most presents get a minute each. This way each one gets a real try, and you find out which batteries are missing.
3. Turn the Christmas cards into gift tags
Cut the fronts off the cards with child-safe scissors, punch a hole in each and keep them in an envelope for next year. At 3, they choose the pictures and you cut. At 7, they can do the lot.
What can you do when everyone is at home?
When every grown-up is at home, whether it's a bank holiday or a weekend, it's the day to get the whole family out of the house in the morning. Save a game that a grandparent can teach for the afternoon, and slow everything down before tea.
4. Park races
Coats on, and race to the bench, then back hopping, then backwards, then crab-walking on hands and feet. Let the youngest choose the next race. It's a proper run-around rather than a walk, and it takes twenty minutes.
5. A grandparent teaches a card game
Ask a grandparent to teach a game from their own childhood: snap or pairs for ages 3 to 5, rummy or cheat for 7 and 8. Minding the grandchildren on the busiest day of the week? This is the one that needs nothing but a deck and a table.
6. Floor poses with the lights low
Lights down, and on a mat or a rug: mouse, cow, cat, downward dog and dolphin, three slow breaths each. It's quiet, it's on the floor, and it's a clear signal that the busy part of the day is done. New to it? Start with kids' yoga at home.
What can kids do on a working day for the grown-ups?
On the days between Christmas and New Year when one grown-up is back at work, whoever is minding the children has less energy and more to do. These three ideas use what's already in the house, and none needs a trip out.
7. Hallway bowling
Stand six plastic bottles from the recycling at the end of the hallway and bowl a rolled pair of socks or a soft ball at them. Setting the pins up again is a squat every time. A seven-year-old can keep the score.
8. Children make the bubble and squeak
Hand over the leftover potatoes and vegetables, and let your child mash them together and shape them into patties with clean hands. A grown-up does the frying. It turns the leftovers into lunch, and they can tell everyone who made it.
9. Draw Christmas as a four-box comic
Fold a sheet of paper into four and draw the story of Christmas Day in four pictures, one per box. At 3, one big picture and you write the words. At 7 and 8, add speech bubbles.
What do you do when the new toys go quiet?
By the fourth day or so, the new toys have usually gone quiet and the boredom has set in. It's a good moment to bring out something with a game built in, make some space, and plan one screen treat on purpose rather than drifting into several.
10. Roll a pose
Roll a die, find that number on the mat and do the pose at that number: 1 is mouse and 3 is cat. Hold it for five breaths. On our Sun Salutation mat the poses are numbered, so a five-year-old can play alone. On a rug, write six pose names on paper first and number them.
11. The pass-on box
Choose three toys together to make room for the new ones, and put them in a box for a younger cousin or a charity shop. Let your child decide which three. It's easier when they know exactly who'll be playing with them next.
12. One film, chosen in the morning
Pick the film at breakfast, so there's something to look forward to and no negotiating at four o'clock. For three- and four-year-olds, the WHO recommends no more than an hour of sitting-still screen time a day, and says less is better. Half a film works.
What can kids do in the daytime on New Year's Eve?
New Year's Eve day is about tiring them out early, because the evening will be exciting. Get outside in the morning for a running game, make something to mark the year in the afternoon, and keep the late afternoon quiet before the evening starts.
13. Mr Wolf and Grandmother's Footsteps
Two playground games that need no equipment, in any park or garden. "What's the time, Mr Wolf?" is all creeping and chasing. Grandmother's Footsteps is all freezing on the spot. Take turns being the wolf and the grandmother.
14. A time-capsule envelope
Put one drawing, one sweet wrapper or ticket, and a list of favourite things into an envelope. Mark their height on the back. Seal it, write "open next December" on the front, and put it somewhere safe.
15. A quiet hour with the new books
Late afternoon, curtains closed, the new books out, and everyone reading or looking at pictures on the sofa. Younger children can be read to. For the evening itself, pick from our New Year's Eve activities for kids.
How do you put together family things to do between Christmas and New Year?
Family things to do between Christmas and New Year work best as one idea from each slot, with nothing that needs much planning. Two illustrative days:
- A three-year-old: the five standing poses, held for just one breath each, then present time with a grown-up beside them. Gift tags with you doing the cutting, and the floor poses before tea.
- A seven-year-old: park races they referee, hallway bowling with them keeping score, and a four-box comic of the week so far. They can also lead the floor poses for a younger sibling.
Only have the morning? Do the movement item and the settle item, and skip the middle.
Five mornings, one mat: the 15 poses are numbered and laser-engraved into the surface, so the morning slot runs itself from 27 December. Cousins staying? Two or more mats are 10 per cent off, at £34.99 each with free UK delivery. Have a look at the mats, or see more presents that keep them moving.
What if your child just wants a sofa day?
Some of this week is for doing nothing, and a day on the sofa in new pyjamas is a perfectly good day. Not every child wants to be led by a plan, either.
If yours resists, let them pick the afternoon item, or drop the list for a day and see what they come up with on their own. Sometimes boredom turns into a game nobody planned. When you need more ideas, there are 30 screen-free activities for any week of the year.
Frequently asked questions
When is Twixmas?
Twixmas is the informal name for the days between Christmas and New Year, roughly 27 to 31 December. Some people call it Betwixtmas or Crimbo limbo. For children it usually means no school, new presents everywhere and a lot of time at home, which is why a loose plan for each day helps.
What are free things to do with kids between Xmas and New Year?
Most of this list is free: park races, hallway bowling with the recycling, a card game, the floor poses, Mr Wolf in the park, turning old cards into gift tags, a four-box comic, the pass-on box and a time capsule. Nearly everything here uses what's already in the house that week.
Are the days between Christmas and New Year bank holidays?
Usually not, but it depends on the year. When Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the bank holiday moves to the next weekday, so 27 or 28 December can become one. New Year's Day is a bank holiday every year, moved to the Monday when it falls at a weekend. GOV.UK lists the exact dates for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
What can you do with grandchildren between Christmas and New Year?
Teach them a card game you played as a child, take them to the park for races, or do the floor poses together with the lights low. None of it needs much energy from you. If there's a mat, a full-length one is big enough for a grandparent to have a go too.
