13 Christmas Activities to Enjoy this Holiday Season!

Welcome back!  

Are you looking to start some new family traditions this holiday season?  We have complied a list of fun Christmas activities for the whole family to enjoy!  We hope this will help you to get into the holiday spirit this season!

Ogden Christmas Village

Christmas village in downtown Ogden is always a family favorite.  The lights and Christmas scenes fill the windows of small houses at the Ogden Municipal Gardens.  This is a must see for the whole family!

www.visitogden.com/events/signature/christmas-village

Terrace Plaza Playhouse

The Terrace Plaza Playhouse is putting on their annual Scrooge: A Christmas Carol.  This is a must see play to get you reminiscing on a favorite Christmas story.  The play will be going on all season!

www.terraceplayhouse.com

Midway Ice Castles

If you haven't taken your kids to see the magnificent ice castles in Midway, this year is the time to do it!  This is truly unreal and magical for parents and children to enjoy.  There are ice slides and colorful lights that come on in the evening.  It is cold and make sure to wear your snow boots.  You can get your tickets in advance or at the gate when you arrive.  This is something my family loves to do every year.  

www.icecastles.com/midway

Heber Valley Railroad

Real life Polar Express?! Utah has so many fun activities at Christmastime and this should be at the very top of your list!  

www.hebervalleyrr.org/specialevents/northpoleexpress

Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point

Walk through the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point and enjoy the Light of the World display.  I have heard amazing things about this event but have yet to experience it myself!

www.thanksgivingpoint.org/events/luminaria

The Forgotten Carols

My family has been going to this every year without fail since I was a child.  Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without starting the season off going to this musical.  This will get you into the Christmas spirit like nothing else and will remind you what the season is all about.  There are wonderful songs and a powerful story of the Christmas story.  

www.forgottencarols.com

Christmas in Color

Watch over a million twinkling lights put to music at the must see event!  It might be a little bit of a drive but it is worth it!  You can see it in South Jordan and Provo.

www.christmasincolor.net

Layton City Lights in the Park and Hayrides

There is a free lights display at the Layton Commons Park and you can even take a hayride near by! Click in the link for more information about the hayrides!

www.burgerstoplayton.com/hayrides

The Nutcracker!

This is a classic ballet put on by Ballet West at the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City.  

www.balletwest.org/events/nutcracker2017

Festival of Trees

This is a charity event put on every year to raise money for Primary Children's Medical Center.  There are many adorned trees and it is a wonderful experience for the whole family to enjoy the spirit of giving and the beauty of Christmas.

www.festivaloftreesutah.org

Hogle Zoo: Zoo Lights

The zoo is open even in the winter time and you can enjoy the array of lights throughout the zoo after dark throughout the holiday season!

www.hoglezoo.org/promo/zoo_lights

The Lights at Temple Square

Find the true meaning of Christmas at temple square as you walk around and enjoy nativity scenes, millions of lights and choirs singing hymns of the season!

www.templesquare.com/events/temple-square-lights

This is the Place Heritage Park

Two major Christmas events going on this year at This is the Place: Christkindlmrkt and Candlelight Christmas.  Christkindlmrkt is a German inspired market with lots of little fun shops and great food.  Candlelight Christmas is an old fashioned poineer Christmas held in the evenings.

www.thisistheplace.org

There are so many fun family Holiday activities to enjoy in our beautiful area and we hope you will find time to experience some of them this year with your loved ones!  

What Produces Joy?

Hi!  Thank you for stopping by!  Recently I was reading a book by a woman who has dedicated her life to studying human behavior and why people do what they do.  In the book, she explains how during one of her studies she was interviewing people and realized only a very small percentage of those she interviewed experience joy, real joy, on a day to day basis.  As she dug deeper to see what this small percentage of people were doing that enabled them to experience such great joy in their lives she found one common thread.  Every single one of these people that experience true joy all had at least one thing in common.  Can you guess what it might be?

They practiced GRATITUDE.

It seems like such a simple answer.  This researcher couldn't believe that was what was producing joy.  Something so simple as giving thanks.

These people didn't necessarily have easy lives.  They all worried about their children, jobs, finances and relationships as each of us do.  They weren't exempt from hard times but because they had a habit of giving thanks every single day, they were able to focus on the positive in their lives.

We all want our children to be happy.  As parents, we seek to teach them and provide for them so they will feel happiness. Are we teaching our children the habit of giving thanks?  Are we teaching them to truly feel joy in their life?  Expressing gratitude is an important quality to cultivate in your child.  Studies show that grateful kids tend to do better in school, are less materialistic, less depressed, and less envious of others.  Their relationships are much stronger and more supportive.

These are some things to ponder as we go into the season of Thanksgiving!  One way of helping our children to practice gratitude is by providing opportunities for them to express what they are grateful for.  Apart from expressing gratitude verbally we can teach our children to write thank you notes!

Writing thank you notes can be daunting for a child but here are some tips and ideas that can make the process easier and more fun!

• Gather markers, pens, blank cards, envelopes, postage, return address stamps and stickers.  Having fun tools like colorful markers and stickers will make it more enjoyable for your child!

• Settle in with supplies and snacks and write several at a time after special occasions such as Christmas or birthdays.  Getting in the habit of writing a thank you note to someone simply because they are a good friend is another good reason to write a thank you note.

• Show them how to use your address book or contact list on your phone, and help them to address envelopes correctly.

• Teach kids to express their gratitude sincerely.  For instance, if they are not crazy about the sweater Aunt Lucy sent them, they could honestly say, the sweater must have taken you a long time to knit.  It feels so soft, and you remembered my favorite color is red! Thank you very much.

• For kids that are too young to write, there are "fill in the blanks" thank you cards available online.  You could also make your own fill in the blanks version and use your home printer to make copies.

• For children who have trouble constructing sentences, or are too young to write, have them dictate what they want to say while you write it down.

• Take a photo of your child wearing or using the gift.  The photo can be used as a front of  the card.  A picture truly is worth a thousand words, and any gift giver would be delighted to receive this personalized card!

• "thank yous" don't have to be reserved for tangible gifts.  Thanking grandma for a fun day in te kitchen making cookies fosters appreciation for special times spent together with family and friends.

• Random thank you notes make the best surprises!  Your child can send a summertime note with a picture of him riding the bike he got for Christmas from grandma and grandpa.  They will be delighted to see him enjoying his gift!

We hope you will take time this season to teach your child the art of giving thanks which will bring joy into their lives and into the lives of others!

Sincerely,

Your Children's Classic family