Blog post by Second Year Law Student, Ellie House.
Although lockdown ends on 2 December, the new tier system will bring its own challenges – especially as we try to navigate through the Christmas period. Here are some top tips on ways to feel festive this December, while still staying within restrictions and keeping safe!
- Take a walk with those in your household/bubble
A great way to stay active during this time is taking walks outside. There are many beautiful walking spots around Kent and within Canterbury and exploring those with your household could be a great activity! If you also want a festive feel, try taking a walk through Canterbury (or your local area) and looking at this year’s Christmas lights.
- Try some festive baking
This is an activity you can do by yourself or with those in your household! Try making a festive cake or some cookies and get creative with your decorations. If you’re feeling extra Christmassy, you could even try building a gingerbread house, or having a gingerbread house making competition with your friends – this could be together if you’re a household or over Zoom.
- Take time to do some festive arts and crafts
A great activity if you feel like you’re in a creative lull is doing some festive arts and crafts! There are many different things you can create with a Christmas theme, but if you’re stuck for ideas, you could try a wellbeing art kit.
- Decorate!
If you haven’t done so already, decorating is always a fantastic way to feel more festive. You can put up a tree and decorate your home with all the glitter and tinsel you can find. Whether you stick to a traditional red, green and gold colour palette, or change it up with something a little different, you’re bound to feel more in the Christmas spirit once your decorations are up.
- Have a Christmas movie night in
Unless you’re the Grinch, Christmas movies are bound to get you in the festive spirit. Set up a movie night with your household and watch all your favourite Christmas classics, and maybe even a few new releases out for Christmas this year. You can make it more interesting by having each person pick their favourite film, or if you don’t have time to binge-watch them all, pick them out of a hat. You can also feel more festive by drinking hot chocolates and eating festive snacks!
- Make your own Christmas cards or gifts
Whether you’re creative or not, you can still get into the Christmas spirit by making some DIY gifts for your family and friends. There are lots of tutorials online for all sorts of gifts, so you’re bound to find something you’d enjoy making and that would be appreciated by your friends and family.
- Have a ‘Zoom’ Secret Santa
Use an online Secret Santa generator to each pick someone to get a gift for and set a budget for how much you’re each going to spend. Then, buy your gifts online and get them delivered to each other’s addresses! Make sure you set a date for when you’ll all open the gifts and call each other whilst you open them to see everyone’s reactions.
- Festive ‘Come Dine With Me’
Why not get together with the other members of your household and have a festive ‘Come Dine With Me’? You can each cook a meal for everyone in the evening, and then each ‘guest’ can rank the meal out of 10! Whoever gets the highest score for their meal wins. Make sure to add a festive element to each of your meals, maybe by making a Christmas-themed dessert or even just adding some brussels sprouts to your dish!
- Hold an online Christmas quiz
You can find plenty of Christmas-themed trivia questions online or come up with your own. Put them together in a quiz and test your friends’ Christmas knowledge. You can come up with a prize for the winner, or just play for fun – it’s completely up to you!
- Volunteer
During this difficult time, it’s especially important that we give back to our local communities and help those in need. Helping others during this festive period, even if it’s just donating a small amount of your time, can really make a difference to someone’s Christmas. Take a look at the volunteering opportunities around your local area and see what you can do to help. Whether you’re able to give up your time for charity, or you have some change to spare and buy some food for the foodbank on your weekly shop, helping others during this difficult December is something we should all strive to do.
No matter how you spend your Christmas, try to get the most out of December whilst staying safe.