Christmas time is the happiest time and it’s always fun to come up with creative and fun traditions. Spreading the holiday spirit, making memories, and giving back is what Christmas is all about. Christmas doesn’t always have to be expensive, so here is a list of activities to do that cost just about nothing.
15 Free or Cheap Holiday Traditions:
1. Write a letter to Santa
Writing letters to Santa is a tradition that has been around for a long time. Most of the time, if you mail your letters in, Santa will even send a letter back to your kids. What a fun way to keep the Christmas spirit alive with Santa writing back to you.
Places to mail your letters:
- WSU Post Office
- Fee of $1.75
- Visit before December 16 to get a letter back!
- Morrison Hall
- Cambridge Market
- 21 st &; Webb
- USPS
- Return address: Santa, North Pole
- First-Class Mail stamp
- Address it to NORTH POLE POSTMARK, POSTMASTER, 4141
POSTMARK DR, ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998
- Love of Character
- College Hill: 3200 E. Douglas Ave. Wichita, KS 67208
- $5 suggested donation
- Botanica Illuminations
- You must have tickets to attend
- Print and fill out HERE
- Mailbox on-site at: 701 Amidon St, Wichita, KS 67203
- Your mailbox
- Address to Santa Claus, North Pole
2. Look at the Christmas lights
Cruising around town in search of Christmas lights is such a fun activity for the family to enjoy. After you’ve looked at all of the most popular displays, talk about which ones you liked best. Popular light displays in and around Wichita:
3. Go on a Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride
Dashing through the snow and oh what fun it is! Every year, we have several places in Wichita that usually offer free horse-drawn carriage rides in Wichita. Click the link above to see the list.Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides Wichita
4. Watch Christmas movies as a family
Whether you are putting up the Christmas tree or having a family movie night, watching Christmas movies as a family is a fun, relaxing activity for everyone.
Notable movies
- Elf
- Polar Express
- Christmas Vacation
- Santa Clause movies
- The Grinch
- Home Alone
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
5. Do One of the Activities off of the Wichita Winter Activity Checklist. Click HERE
6. Create Holiday cards for hospital patients
All you need are some pens and paper to make someone’s day. Writing to a patient that can’t be home for Christmas is a meaningful way to tell someone you are thinking about them and hope they get well soon.
7. Christmas caroling
Get your friends or family together, go door to door, and start singing some Christmas songs. This can bring so many laughs and smiles to not only your group singing but the people you sing for.
8. Play one of these Cheap & Easy Games at Home. Click HERE
9. Decorate the tree
Decorating a Christmas tree is a classic tradition and a memorable experience for everyone. Whether you have a real or artificial tree, setting it up, hanging ornaments, and decorating it any way you like is such a fun way for the family to spend some quality time together.
10. Attend one of the Many Christmas Tree Lightings in & around Wichita
Feeling nostalgic for some old-fashioned hometown holiday fun? We’ve rounded up a Santa-pack full of free Christmas tree lightings in Wichita as well as in our neighboring communities. Find the list of dates and locations HERE
11. Make cookies or decorate a gingerbread house
Christmas cookies or a gingerbread house, anything involving food is a smart idea. Let the creativity flow with each person decorating their own cookie and voting on who did the best job. Better yet, bake a batch of cookies and deliver them to a neighbor or family friend.
Go to the Gingerbread Village event that’s every year at Exploration Place. More info HERE!
Easy cookie recipes:
- Grinch Cookies
- Hot Chocolate Cookies
- Peppermint Meltaway Cookies
- Cranberry-White Chocolate Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
12. Go Sledding
During the holiday season, especially in Kansas, there will be snow and so many opportunities to go sledding.
Things to use if you don’t have a sled:
- Mattress
- Laundry basket
- Cardboard
- Canoe/Kayak
- Baby pool
Where to go Sledding:
- College Hill Park
- Sedgwick County Park
- Mid-America All-Indian Center
- West Kellogg Hill by Cracker Barrel
- Soccer Field Hill at Oliver & George Washington Blvd.
13. Build a snowman
If there’s enough snow, gather it into balls and build a snowman! Find some buttons around the house, hats, scarves, sticks for the arms, and a carrot for the nose.
Tips:
- Snow should be wet and heavy to keep the snowman in place
- Find the perfect spot to put them
- Roll the snow until you reach the desired size (three times)
- Put some snow around the bottom so it doesn’t roll away
- Get creative decorating your snowman!
14. Call a family member
Have a loved one that couldn’t make it? Call them up, wish them a merry Christmas, and let them know that you’re thinking of them. The essence of Christmas is spreading the holiday spirit and this is the perfect way to do so.
15. Make an ornament
Making memories as a family is priceless and making ornaments together is a great way to do so. An ornament a year would make for many on the tree and create conversations when the rest of the family is over.
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