7 Great Cottage Activities for the Holidays
December 12th, 2007If you’re heading to the cottage for the holidays and are taking a gang with you, here are some group activities to keep them amused and prevent you from getting cabin fever.
- Puzzles - Placing a puzzle on a side table is like putting out a bowl of potato chips. People will pick away at it until it is finished. It’s a great activity for any age group, but if your crowd is older, you might want to pick up a 500 piece puzzle.
- Gingerbread House - Do not attempt to make one from scratch! Costco, Superstore and any other retail outlet stock gingerbread house kits. They can be assembled in under 45 minutes and cost less than $10. Encourage your kids to get creative and host a prize for the best house. Not sure if they’ll have more fun building it or eating it.
- Movie fest - Invite your guests to bring their favourite DVD or video. Pop a bowl of popcorn and let the credits roll.
- Make your own Christmas movie. Make a documentary of your family’s holiday. Ask them to share their favourite memories of 2007, one thing they would like to do to change the world, and their wishes for 2008.
- Get outside and play in the snow, assuming you have snow of course. Pack the tobaggon, the foot warmers and a thermos of hot chocolate with a nip of Bailey’s and hit the slopes.
- Take along a yoga DVD and mat to the cabin. Try doing it first thing in the morning before anyone else is up. It’s a great way to stretch and centre yourself, especially if you’re holidaying with a large group.
- Board game tournaments - Break out the Scrabble or Monopoly board. If you are looking for something new, here are Amazon.com’s best sellers: Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader, Apples to Apples, and Blokus Strategy Board Game. Play nice.
I always love to hear what you’re up to - so fire away and let us know how you plan on spending the holidays.
Cheers,
Julie
Email This Post
December 12th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Go Geocaching!! My favourite activity.
We will be spending Christmas Day at my son’s house. He is a firefighter and will be coming home from a shift that morning. His wife is a paramedic and will be working until 7pm so we will be saving our food bingeing and gift exchange until the evening. So, the plan is to spend the afternoon working up an appetite by taking the dogs out for a few hours of walking, and we will be geocaching at the same time. If you’ve never heard of this before, it’s treasure hunting for the 21st century. With a hand held GPS unit and a list of co-ordinates of caches (hidden containers ) downloaded from www.geocaching.com, you’ve got an absorbing activity that will keep the family occupied in a healthy outdoorsy way, for hours.
December 12th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Thank you Heather,
I was reading about that on your site www.cottagenews.ca November 10th’s posting. I am intrigued about this outdoor activity. Thank you for your suggestions.
Cheers,
Julie
December 12th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Puzzles - LOVE them. The rest of my family hates them, so I’m usually on my own with this activity!
Gingerbread House - I used to make one every year when my kids were little. We made houses, wreaths, trains, mailboxes with letters, nativity set, etc etc. It’s tradition in my sister’s family to ‘destroy’ it on a big sheet placed on the floor. All the kids take turns smashing it!
Movie Fest - Tradition in our house is to watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation EVERY YEAR. We all know the dialogue by heart!!
Make your own movie - What a hoot this would be. Perhaps the family could write a skit or play together, then dress up and perform it! Go one step further and play the UGLY GAME and you’re GUARANTEED lots of laughter!!! http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=729531 Even more fun would be to video tape the family playing the Ugly Game!!
Write a story together. Each person writes one paragraph and it grows and grows and grows. You can also write a poem or a song if there are musicians to put it to music!!!
As for the board games - you’ve got to try PIT. WAY fun!!!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_(game)
Geocaching is cool! You’re right Heather, you could spend hours with this activity!!
We enjoy the Question Game. Here’s how it goes: You can sit comfortably where ever you want - no supplies needed. Inside, outside - it doesn’t matter!!
First person starts and thinks of a Character or Celebrity but does not tell anyone. It can be a fictional character [like Roger Rabbit or Yogi Bear] or a real person [like Michael Jordan or Kevin Bacon] or a movie/TV character [like Harry Potter or Lassie], a musician, sports figure, etc. Anyone famous. The possibilities are endless. Everyone else asks questions of you that you can only answer YES or NO to. Let’s say you pick Harry Potter. The game might go like this:
Are you alive? YES
Are you a male? YES
Are you on TV? NO
Are you in a movie? YES
Are you the main character? YES
Was this movie made in the 90s? NO
Is it a family movie? YES
Are you an adult? NO
Do you wear glasses? YES
etc etc etc.
Your turn is over when someone guesses your character/celebrity. That person then picks a character and it goes on as long as you want!! You can be flexible if you wish and decide ahead of time how picky you want to be with the rules! It’s really a lot of fun - for every age too!
December 13th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Thanks for the ideas Debb!You always have so many good ones.
Cheers,
Julie