For Day 2 of Blogmas, we thought we’d do a round up of some of our favourite winter activities to do that get us in the festive mood. There’s a range of different things we like to do, so maybe there will be something you hadn’t considered before!
In this Post.....
Woodland Walks
We go for a walk in the woods pretty much every weekend without fail, but there’s something that we love about it even more in the winter. I think because we’re all wrapped up warmly, and there’s never many people around it just feels very festive. If there’s some winter sun, we’ll use this as an opportunity to get some pretty photos of Grayson and the scenery. We’re very lucky that living on the Suffolk and Norfolk border, we aren’t short of beautiful places to walk round and explore.
It’s even better on a particularly frosty or snowy day, because everything just looks so still and quiet! Grayson is actually yet to ever see snow physically, so here’s hoping we get some this year so he can experience it. Playing in the snow is number one Winter Activities list, really, right!?
Country Parks and Manors
Where we live we’re lucky that there are a large amount of Manors and Stately Homes that are open to the public. They usually end up decorating the gardens and the buildings with Christmas decorations and it’s so lovely to just go and have a walk round to enjoy all the sights! We also find during the winter months they have more festive activities on for the public to come and enjoy. You can find ones near you via the National Trust or English Heritage websites, or on Find Your Day Out
Obviously this may be slightly different this year, but it’s always worth searching online for places like this near where you live that you might not know about. I think this is one of the most festive winter activities we do!
Christmas Markets.
You’ll find that without fail, most towns and cities host some form of Christmas market. Some much bigger than others of course, but some of the smaller ones are even better!
There’s nothing quite like walking round a Christmas market and seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations, especially when you’ve got children. It just really sets in that it’s close to Christmas and seems to make everyone feel more festive. Although I’d imagine most of the bigger markets are closed this year due to the pandemic, hopefully something smaller will be around for people to enjoy.
Cafe Trips
One of my personal favourites, is going to a local cafe (whether it’s a big chain or a smaller independent shop) and trying out their festive menus. I like sitting and relaxing in the warmth, and doing the odd bit of people watching! It’s something I’ve done most years, usually when I’m Christmas shopping.
It’s something I still enjoy doing with Grayson, because he’ll sit and have a hot chocolate and a little snack and he’s just as happy as we are. My personal favourite was the toasted marshmallow hot chocolate from Costa, that was incredible. When it was taken off the menu a few years back I was devastated. I’d say my favourite this year is the Terry’s chocolate orange hot chocolate from Costa, it’s not too sickly but still so so tasty!
Garden Centres
It might not be for everyone, but theres nothing like going for a fry up at a garden centre and then going round to look at all their Christmas decorations and their Christmas lights. It just gets you in the best festive spirit! Some garden centres really go all out as well, and have full areas dedicated to their Christmas selection. This is a great thing to do with kids, but also if you just want to enjoy some Christmas cheer before putting up your own decorations.
A cosy day in.
Last, but certainly not least, nothing compares to having a day at home. We turn the heating on, light all our candles and enjoy our Christmas decorations. I’ll make hot chocolate, Mark will make sausage rolls and then we’ll sit on the sofa all together and cuddle up under a blanket and watch Christmas films.
Grayson loves these days especially, because the kid LOVES a Christmas film. He likes some of the proper old school ones, but that’s another Blogmas post for another day!
Hopefully this will have given some of you some ideas for festive winter activities, but please include your favourite festive/winter activities to do!
You can check out our other Blogmas posts just here.
We do the same at one of our local garden centres too. The one we visit do a Santa’s grotto too. Love family activities at Christmas time, more memorable and magical with the decorations too.