12 Small Things You Can Do For Family You Can’t See This Holiday

christmas

If you are like so man of us who are away from family over the holidays, here are some small, sweet ideas you can do to stay connected.

Even long past the days of social distancing and isolation, these could turn out to be special traditions for your family. Have any to add? Let others know your great ideas in the comments.

Play a virtual card game together.

If you go to PlayingCards.io you can create an online game room to play games with family you can’t see in person like chess, go fish, checkers, crazy 8’s, etc. with families members no matter where they are in the world.

Mail a hug.

Trace and cut out your kids handprints and attach them to a nice ribbon the length of their waist span. Send it in the mail to a family member you can’t hug in real life. Cute idea from Wunder Mom.

Make a craft together.

Gather your supplies and sit together at the table on Zoom or FaceTime to work on a craft together. Some fun ideas are these painted rock photo holders or ribbon tree ornaments.

Send homemade cookies.

Is one of the things you are missing this year a special treat a family member traditionally makes like chocolate chip cookies? Well, guess what. You can mail them! Here is the information from UPS on exactly how to do it. Your family could even have a full long-distance cookie swap!

Start a book club.

Pick out a book and order a few copies to send to family. You can meet up via Zoom or FaceTime once or twice a week to discuss!

Decorate cookies together.

Just like the craft, gather up some baked sugar cookies and all the toppings and decorate together.

12 Small Things You Can Do For Family You Can't See This Holiday

Secret Santa.

Even if you aren’t in the same place, you can still have a really fun Secret Santa this Christmas. Pick names as you normally would and ship them to the recipient. Everyone gather on Zoom to open together!

Send funny things in the mail.

Make checking the mail fun! Did you know you can send someone a potato? Seriously, you can put stamps right on it! You can also put stamps directly on a box of candy or a frisbee. Check out more silly things to mail here and here.

Write letters.

I know for sure that grandparents would adore getting hand written letters from grandkids. To make it even more fun, add little things that can fit in the envelope like drawings, magazine clipping, a piece of gum, lottery scratcher or stickers. You can also send local postcards.

Send real photos.

We have so few actual photographs anymore and now is a great time to send family some. Go upload your photos somewhere like Shutterfly and let them mail photos directly to your family.

Drop offs.

If you are close, within driving distance, go drop off something fun on their front porch every few days. It could be some flowers, a batch of brownies you made, a craft or art project done by the kids… there are so many sweet ideas.

Long Distance Lamps

This isn’t technically “small” but I couldn’t leave this precious idea off the list. These two lamps are synchronized no matter how far apart you are. “When you turn one on with a simple touch of your hand, its mate emits the same ambient glow, no matter where it is and who is on the other end.”

Liz Nieman

Liz is a just a mom trying to keep it real about how little she sleeps, how often she gets puked on and how much she loves them. You can find her here every day writing about real-mom moments.

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