“Christmas is almost heeeeeeere!” my daughter called, waking up with an unusual amount of excitement for a Tuesday. But she’d flipped the calendar page to December and to her, it felt like Santa would be here any minute. “I’m going to work on my Christmas list today!” she announced. Obviously, Christmas cheer to my child meant presents. But you and I know it’s so much more than that.
Kids get excited about what they’ll get. But, for the next four weeks, I want my kids to think about what they can give. Part of why I love giving gifts is because I enjoy the look on others’ faces. I want my children to experience that joy too. Here are 25 ways kids can count down to December 25 by delivering Christmas cheer to others each day.
Kids can spread Christmas cheer by making a little extra effort each day.
1. Make a countdown-to-Christmas sign for your yard (markers on paper taped to a stool works). Or, in warm-weather climates, write the countdown in chalk on the driveway.
2. Create handmade signs for the front windows that say “Merry Christmas!”
3. Sign up with a charity organization to deliver food baskets to homebound seniors.
4. Make Christmas cards for the people who deliver your mail and packages.
5. Offer to walk a neighbor’s dog.
6. Ask you teacher if she needs any help after school.
7. Facetime a grandparent or relative who doesn’t live nearby. Tell him or her about your day.
When kids spread Christmas cheer, they bring joy to others.
8. Write a cheery Post-It and stick in on a friend’s locker or desk to find in the morning.
9. Tell a coach or club advisor you appreciate him or her today.
10. Pick up a neighbor’s newspaper on the driveway and place it on his or her doorstep.
11. Have Christmas music playing when your mom or dad gets home from work. Let your parents know you appreciate all their hard work for the family.
12. Cut snowflakes out of white paper and decorate a sibling’s bedroom windows.
13. Help your mom stuff Christmas cards in envelopes and put stamps in the corners.
14. Go to a dollar store and fill a stocking with gifts to surprise a younger child you know.
15. Make a Christmas card for your teacher.
16. Bake Christmas cookies and deliver them to an elderly person on your street.
Spreading Christmas cheer means thinking about other people.
17. Pray for sick children who will be in the hospital on Christmas. Print out iMOM’s free Christmas Prayers printable to guide you. 
18. Donate blankets to an animal shelter in your town.
19. Find out if there are kids in your community who could use your outgrown clothing or toys.
20. Decide on a charity as a family that you want to support and contribute some of your own money.
21. Write and deliver Christmas cards to a senior living facility or to your neighbors. Spreading Christmas cheer will make others feel good, but it’ll make you feel really good inside too.
22. Do a simple yard chore for an elderly neighbor or one with a new baby—pick up sticks from a windstorm, drag in the garbage bins, shovel the sidewalk.
23. Leave a candy cane on your teacher’s desk with a note: Merry Christmas! From, ___.
24. Be your sibling’s Secret Santa and leave a surprise on his or her pillow. It could be a drawing, a note, or a piece of candy.
25. To deliver Christmas cheer, greet everyone you see today with “Merry Christmas!”
What does delivering Christmas cheer mean to you?
