“Family: where life begins and love never ends.”
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, don’t you think? Christmastime is the time of opening gifts, sitting by the tree drinking warm cocoa, eating a lot of yummy food, and waiting for midnight. But there is also one thing that Christmas is all about — family!
Family is everything for most Filipinos and with the holiday season fast approaching, it is exciting to celebrate together, diba? We get to do our favorite ganap/s like going caroling within the neighborhood, inviting our extended family and friends to our house for Noche Buena, and even attending Simbang Gabi (if you're into that).
But with all the crises we are facing – the pandemic and the typhoons – the holidays will be different this year. Sad kaayo noh? Chances of seeing our families and friends are low, but no matter what the situation is, that shouldn’t stop us from celebrating Christmas from a distance.
With everyone being stuck at home, here are three fun activities you can do with your family which could lead to a #HappyChristmas! 🎄
1. Play indoor games
Staying indoors can be fun, too! We already know it's boring for most of us so let us positivize it.
There are plenty of indoor and virtual games that we can play to make our stay-home Christmas worthwhile. Games are just so much fun, they give us joy and good laughter.
If you want a simple but mentally energizing game, board and card games are for you, like chess, checkers, Monopoly, Scrabble, and even UNO. But if you want livelier games that get you on your feet, you can do musical chairs, scavenger hunt, charades, or even newspaper dance.
Another game that you can play with your family from afar is trivia night. You can even play it on Zoom! Open a random trivia generator and let the questions fly!
It’s nice to do these simple, fun games together, especially while waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
2. Have a Christmas movie marathon
With or without the pandemic, this is one of the best activities you can do with your family.
You can easily have a movie marathon with one click of a button on Netflix. Or if it isn’t in the budget, you can simply wait for your favorite Christmas movie to show on Fox Movies or HBO.
Student blogger Connor Foster says, “Some of the best Christmas movies to watch during the holidays are Home Alone, Elf, Polar Express, and A Christmas Story.”
What’s cool is you can watch these movies together with relatives who live in a different house, city, or country. Video calls, Netflix parties, and screen sharing are the key!
Movie time is an easy and inexpensive activity that you can spend with your family no matter what time of the day and how far apart you guys are.
3. Make a greeting card or video
How about doing something that can help you reconnect with your family, even those far from you?
Making a Christmas greeting video or picture with the family is such a fun thing to do. This is the time to go cray and extra — create silly designs, decorate it with your favorite Christmas character, or put a loooot of colors into it.
Even simple cards or greetings through messages or calls are already a thoughtful way to stay connected and to show them that you care especially now that we do not often see them physically.
This is a great opportunity to catch up with your family and friends, too!
This is sooo exciting! Time flies so fast and it’s already the Christmas season! It’s a nice feeling that some of us get to gather in our homes.
But what about those who are far away from us or who can’t make it to your home? Well, we can always do video chats and calls. Now I know this isn’t the same as an actual Christmas family party like before, but hey, it’s still better than nothing, diba? Go on and dress up, turn your web cameras on, and call your family members, even your barkada, or anyone you have in mind to let them know you are thinking of them too!
“Christmas is the season of joy, of holiday greetings exchanged, of gift-giving, and of families united”, minister Norman Vincent Peale says.
No matter how the pandemic affects our lives this year, let’s still keep the spirit of Christmas alive. Remember that the best gifts don’t come wrapped in boxes with fancy ribbons under the Christmas tree. They come in the form of warm hugs and huge smiles from the people we love.
Have a #MerryChristmas with your family! 🎅
Will do this for sure. Keep it up with the article @Yalena! I love you :)
Nice!
Nice I will do this
I love how relatable the article is to anyone. This year's celebration of Christmas is a different one compared to the previous years. But, as what was mentioned above, it shouldn't stop us from finding ways to reconnect/connect with the people we know & closest to us, which is made a whole lot easier with the digital trends at these modern times. Advance Merry Christmas and have a Happy Holiday season to the creative team and basically to everyone else who can see this comment hihi <3