Enjoying a nice meal with family and friends during the holidays is a joyous event.

But putting together a successful meal or hosting a party is also a lot of work! And during these busy preparations, children can sometimes feel overwhelmed or overlooked.

This year, rather than asking your children to busy themselves elsewhere, think ahead to have a few tasks that are their special responsibility.

Holiday Preparations Your Kids Can Help With

Folding Napkins

Hand your child a stack of paper or cloth napkins. Decide together how you’d like them folded, or let your child take the lead! Remember that each fold doesn’t have to be perfect, your guests will understand. Here’s an easy how-to video.

Putting napkin rings on napkins

Rolling and placing a napkin ring on a napkin is a great activity that helps your child build fine motor skills! They’ll need to use their pincer grip, which requires concentration and finesse.

Stuffing tissue paper in gift bags

If you’re attending a party and need to bring a gift, consider letting your child stuff a gift bag full of tissue paper. To get the paper really fluffy, demonstrate how to grab the center of the sheet of tissue paper and pull the sides up around that center point. Easy and fun for your child!

Drawing or crafting a homemade card

If you’re going to be a guest at a party, practice a little gratefulness by asking your child to design a thank you card. Your child can hand it to your host or hostess! If you are hosting the party, your child can decorate name placeholders to set on the table.

Arranging center pieces for the table

Center pieces are fun for a child to make and can involve a lot of different tactical experiences. Find a few large glass vases. Prepare a few different sparkly decorations like tinsel, scented pinecones, bows or jingle bells. Let your child mix and match to fill the vase full! Any combination will be beautiful.

While it can be tempting to ask your child to find other work while you prepare a holiday gathering, getting them involved can be so much more fulfilling.

Not only are they learning some new skills and taking on responsibility, you will all get to spend extra time together in a unique way!

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