Christmas is a holiday that children love and it is not just the presents. They love the decorations and the warm feelings at this time of year. They can also be very impatient and hyper in waiting for Christmas to arrive. Here are some ideas to help you keep your children busy and happy.

Create a picture frame out of cinnamon sticks by laying them log cabin style and gluing together at the corners. Take a picture of the family and place it in the frame. Write the year on the back and hang it on the tree.

String popcorn and cranberries for the tree. For fun alternate with gum drops. This adds a nice spark of color while keeping it festive.

Starting in October, write down a list of the things that you do for the holidays that the children would like to do too. Create an advent calendar for the last 12 days of Christmas and give to the children early. Let them know that this is one of the gifts that they are getting. They will be thrilled that they will be included in the holiday preparation and will know what to expect. Your love and time will be remembered for years after.

After the first good deep snow storm, go outside and make snowmen. Take sprayer bottles and fill with water and add food coloring. These are then refrigerated for about 1 hour to get the water real cold. We then go out and color our snowmen. It doesn't hurt the grass and the food coloring is diluted so it will hardly ever stain. I have had some very beautiful dresses on the snow women and the men look very dapper in a sprayed on vest.

Most kids by now know how to use a computer. If you have access to a computer at home, a library, school or college, have the children use their know-how to design the family Christmas cards. Select a few they have created on the computer or drawn on their own with a pencil and take them down to a copier. Copy them on green or red paper to send this year.