44 creative ideas to keep your children busy this Christmas

If you and your children are running out of ideas to keep yourselves busy at home this Christmas holiday, may I present to you my list of tried and tested art activities that will fill the gap. I'm trying not to resort to screen time as often as I have done in the run up to the festive season, and so embarked on a mission to find the very best creative ideas for kids.

I've grouped them into categories so you can strike just the right note depending on how you and the family are feeling at any time. So if things are a bit overwhelming, head for the sensory safety of the calming activities, or if your children need something more active there is a group for that, too!

You'll need a range of art supplies for these activities, from paint to a simple pen and paper – but hopefully there isn't anything you don't already have in stock. Need something more structured? See my list of board games.

Restless energy

• Window painting (washable paint or pens)
• Window story drawings (each person adds one thing)
• Finger painting on windows or large paper
• Message windows (kind, silly, festive messages)
• Glow-reveal art (paint on window in daylight, view at night)

Art games

• Pass-the-picture (draw, pass, repeat)
• One-line drawings (don’t lift the pen)
• Speed drawing (30–60 seconds per picture)
• Blind drawing (describe, draw without looking)
• Doodle dice (rules change with each roll - 1 = draw spots, 2 = draw waves, 3 = zig zags etc)

Getting silly

• Emotion face painting (choose different colours for feelings)
• Half-and-half faces (two painters, one face - half each on the same theme)
• Mystery face painter (someone paints face without model seeing, model guess the design)
• Speed face paint (simple shapes, short timer)
• Paint hands/arms instead of faces if preferred
• Face paint parade or silly walk reveal

Turn out the lights...

• Shadow tracing with torches
• Torch-light doodle tracking -- doodle where the light hits
• Silhouette portraits (trace shadows of people/ things)
• Night sky art (stars, constellations, wishes)
• Guess-the-shadow game - make shadow, draw shape, everyone to guess what it is

Using bodies/emotions

• Paint to music (change style with the song)
• Freeze-pose drawing (30 seconds, swap roles from posing to drawing)
• Emotion drawing games (draw “calm”, “excited”, “tired” onto face outlines)
• Colour-only feelings pictures (no objects)

Novelty painting

• Paint without brushes (sponges, fingers, cotton buds)
• Toy car or marble painting
• Gravity painting (tilt paper, watch paint move)
• Tape-resist art (paint, peel, reveal)

Calm & regulating (great for overstimulation)

• Playdough modelling (seasonal shapes)
• Foil art (scrunch, glue, colour)
• Sticker scenes
• Colouring with special pens (metallic, glitter)
• Collage with wrapping paper & magazines

Collaborative

• Floor paper mural
• Giant cardboard Christmas tree to decorate over days
• Family art challenge (same prompt, different styles)
• Post-it note art wall (add one at a time)
• One-move mural (one mark per turn)
• Drawing around people's bodies and add detail together

Reflective

• Draw the year in pictures
• Firework art for New Year
• “Next year” hope pictures (symbols and pictures, not words)
• Countdown number decorating (10–1, stop early if needed)