The holiday season is young but we have already packed a lot of Yuletide-fun into the first week of December. While trying to plant small seeds into Sloan’s heart about what this season is truly about, we are also finding lots of Christmas activities that 3-year-old girls really enjoy.

If you are looking for some easy and festive ways to get into the holiday spirit with your little ones (or big ones), here are 10 ideas that we have already done with Sloan this month.

Write Letter to Santa – We sat Sloan down at the table and helped her write a letter to Santa. She then decorated the paper and envelope with her markers and stickers. If the Big Guy writes back, I plan to devote a blog post to the whole process.

Sloan writing a letter to Santa.

Christmas Light Drive – Taking a page out of my parents’ holiday playbook, we packed Sloan and Beau into the car on Sunday night and looked at some of the best Christmas light displays in the Spokane Valley. Sloan had a great time yelling out “Look daddy! Look mommy!” when we would pass an especially magnificent house. The next day, Sloan asked us if we could go look at Christmas lights again.

One of the trees in a neighborhood we visited on our Christmas light drive was covered from the top to bottom in these beautiful lights.

Drive-thru Santa Experience – This past Saturday, Sloan and Beau met Santa…from a distance. A local charity organization in Spokane invited the public to its Santa drive-thru event. But it wasn’t just Santa – he brought one of his reindeer too! Sloan was ecstatic during the entire experience and thoroughly enjoyed the frosted Christmas cookie that the volunteers gave her prior to us driving away.

Over the weekend, Sloan met Santa and saw reindeer at a drive-thru event.

Chocolate Countdown Calendar – Thanks to her Aunt Miranda, this chocolate calendar has become something that Sloan looks forward to each morning. She locates the number that corresponds to the December date, punches out the door, and identifies the shape of the chocolate (i.e. Santa hat, ornament, present, etc.) before dropping it into her mouth.

Sloan is a big fan of her chocolate calendar.

Hot Cocoa Bar – Remember when I wrote about the hot chocolate bombs I got my hands on? As you can imagine, Sloan was just as excited about them as me. For good behavior during the day I have let her make her own cups of hot chocolate at night using one the bombs. I then let her add marshmallows and whipped cream (under close adult supervision).

Sloan has made hot cocoa out of these hot chocolate bombs and then added whipped cream and marshmallows.

Christmas Shows – With all our new streaming services, an extremely large vault of Christmas programming for kids has been opened up to us. Best of all, Sloan eats it up. From Blippi’s Snowflake Scavenger Hunt to the StoryBots Christmas special to the Grinch movies, the entertainment is non-stop for Sloan.

Sloan watching a Christmas Netflix show in our living room.

Thanking Sallie – Santa isn’t the only holiday figure that Sloan is writing to. Last night she sent her first correspondence to Sallie, the Elf on the Shelf who is assigned to our daughter for the month. Sloan thanked Sallie for the cheer she has already brought to our house and perhaps reinforced a couple of gift ideas to pass onto Santa.

Sloan wrote a letter to Sallie last night.

Library Crafts – We might not be able to go inside our county libraries, but their services are still available via curbside. The Spokane County Library District is offering a cinnamon spice ornament kit for anyone who wants to get a little crafty. We ordered the free kit via its website, picked it up, and Sid did the project with Sloan.

Sid and Sloan made these cinnamon ornaments today. They got the kit to make them, with all ingredients included, from the library.

Christmas Card Mail – We have started to receive Christmas cards in the mail. Although I personally love opening them, I have a little girl who enjoys doing the same thing just as much. I have to coach her not to tear the card itself when she rips open the envelope but it is a minor inconvenience for the satisfaction that she receives.

Pajamas Party – Go ahead, do a couple Christmas Eve rehearsals before the real deal! We let Sloan get in her Christmas pajamas and “wear them in” before the night of December 24 comes around. We are pretty sure Santa won’t mind.

Sloan slipped into her Christmas Eve pajamas the other day.

——————-

With it only being December 8, I am sure I can drop a couple more activity lists before December 25. In the meantime, hopefully you can find some holiday joy with these 10 hacks. Don’t Blink.