I don’t know about you, but there’s something quite exciting and comforting about the Winter season and spending more quality time indoor with my family. For me, it’s more about the nesting season, as I’m on a short countdown now until I get to meet my baby girl I’ve been carrying around for 33 weeks (and hoping to carry her for another good 6-7 weeks and go right up to my due date!).
I never worry about running out of things to do during the colder months, but I know that some people out there, especially over the Christmas and New Year period, who look for exciting ideas on how to keep busy and occupied. I mean, sure, we all know how to binge on Christmas movies, but there is so much more on my to-do list for December and January that I’m actually really excited about staying cosy and warm indoors and getting through my list of activities!
If you’re reading this and are currently needing some fresh inspiration for entertainment ideas, whether for yourself and your partner, your entire family, or even just for yourself, then read on…
December and January can be surprising very productive months, so before you make a plan of things to do, see what you think of some of my to-do list ideas. You’ll find that my Winter months are actually quite action-packed, and I’m just hoping I get to enjoy them all before the baby arrived!
Have a retro night
Remember back in the day when Game Boys, puzzles and video games took up all our time? Well just because we’re not kids anymore, doesn’t mean we can’t bring out that competitive side anymore! The best way to get back into this world of fun is to plan a retro night, picking an era – like the 80’s or 90’s, and filling it with a fun themed from this time.
It can consist of battling with puzzles, playing on a old Sega Mega drive, playing old games like charades or a ‘win, lose, draw’ style game on a whiteboard, and have music from this era playing for the evening. If you can plan your night in advance, you can even go a step ahead and get custom puzzles which are tailored for your age group, or to a certain person!
You can even get old airings of Top of the Pops online and on the TV if you search hard enough!
Start a journal or blog
Everyone is passionate about a certain topic, and the best way to express that passion is by setting up your own corner of the internet that shares this! During the Summer months, we’re less likely to be dedicating so much time to laptops and tablets, but while snuggled up on the sofa, it’s good to take a break from movie binging and use your creative side instead.
Perhaps you’re vegan and want to share vegan desserts with the world. Maybe you’re a keen chess player. You might have a skill around creating homemade beauty products from your kitchen – whatever it is, you can use WordPress and other platforms to create pretty, professional looking sites easily these days!
Enjoy the art of games
Some of us – like me – have lost touch with games recently due to being so busy with work this year. But if there is one great thing about the Christmas holidays, it’s that it allows us that down time to lose ourselves in having a little relaxed fun, playing games interactively with friends or even on your own. If you want to de-stress, sometimes the more action-packed fighting games like the classic bloody roar 2, or anything that releases that competitive streak, can help! And if you want to use games for escapism, fantasy, story-based games like Hogwarts Legacy or Final Fantasy are a good shout.
You can play purely for entertainment, or to be a little competitive with friends! A lot of people play games for real money these days!
If you’ve been researching which ones to get stuck into, don’t get yourself too confused about all the different types of games. You just need to break down the live casino jargon and decide which games you think you’d enjoy playing the most!
You may even find you’ve got a knack for it and can start to get your friends and family joining in too (either with you or virtually!).
Get back into music
Why is it that when we’re children, we’re encouraged to learn musical instruments, but we’re quick to drop them when we get older? Now, it’s easier than ever to learn how to play the piano or keyboard, guitar or ukulele, clarinet or flute. You can go down the traditional route of learning to read music, or follow the more modern practice of watching YouTube tutorials and learning online.
I mean, you might want to check that it won’t bother your neighbours too much. And if it won’t, then dust off that old instrument and practice! My partner has got an electronic piano in the house now, and every now and again we learn along to YouTube videos. We got ourselves a stand and a Jansen Piano Bench to go alongside it, so we were all set up ready! It’s definitely something we plan to do together throughout the quieter months of the end of December, January and February.
Meditate and tap into a better mindset
If you’re anything like me, you might be one of these people who never stops running at life at 100 mph. I barely have time to rest and I never really give myself much time to focus on myself, my growth, and where I want to be going.
I truly believe that those who do make time for this are the ones who will succeed in life. There’s nothing finer than understanding your goals, focusing on your own mind, and putting in extra time to make steps based on how to get there. Experts say meditation, goal planning and working on your mindset is the best way to do this, so if you have some down time in December, then why not make a start?
Put together the most attractive charcuterie board
Ok, the last one on my list might seem a strange one, but have you noticed that attractive food platters and sharing boards are becoming big? Those platters of food that get delivered to homes with neatly arranged cured meats, olives, cheeses, chutneys, crackers, fruits, and all kinds of nibbles? The art here is that they look phenomenal – beautifully presented and almost too good to eat! They started off being based on meats, cheeses and savoury snacks but now I’ve seen dessert boards and all kinds!
If you’re a foodie, it’s something you could try on work on this December and bring one round to the family on Christmas Day. I’m totally hoping to have a go of one!
If I’ve missed out any other fun activities for entertaining yourself or the family this Winter, di let me know in the comments …
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