It seems that Christmas is often all about they money. With the hubbub of Christmas shopping and lists of things to get done, we sometimes forget that Christmas is a chance to spend time with those we love the most. This is a list of ideas to help make the season a magical, not financial, celebration.

Spend an evening touring the classic Christmas lights: Go for a drive with the family and go see Christmas light. You can take a simple drive around town, cruising neighborhoods of friends and family. Many towns have areas that are more decorated, like a closed neighborhood or a downtown area. Park and bundle everyone up. Take a walk around; letting the kids pause at the places they love the most. Don’t forget to bring some thermoses of hot chocolate!

If you live in a snowy winter wonderland, get outside and enjoy it! Spend an afternoon sledding. If you don’t have sleds, cardboard works surprisingly well. Build snowmen in your front yard, dig snow caves in the hills, and roll around to make snow angels. If you rolling in the snow is too much for you, fill up spray bottles with water and food coloring. Take the kids outside to “paint” the snow. Snow graffiti is fun and cleans up by itself!

Another great activity is to play dress up with your girls by pulling out those Cinderella costumes, and dressing their dolls up to look like them. There are a lot of 18″ doll clothes out there, and there are a lot of them that will match children’s Christmas dresses. And of course there are 18″ doll clothes that will match a Cinderella costume! Take pictures of your little girl with her doll, and let her bring her matching doll with her when you go out for holiday celebrations. She will enjoy her matching companion, especially if she’s spending the evening with a lot of adults!

Baking sugar cookies with your kids is one of the most traditional ways to celebrate the holidays. Turn on some holiday music and help your kids cut out the cookies. Let them decorate. Even little ones can put sprinkles and treats on the frosting. Baking together gives a lot of time for conversation, and it gives your kids a sense of accomplishment to be able to make something they love to eat. To continue with the spirit of giving, put plates together with a few cookies on each plate. Put the children’s Christmas dresses on and go caroling with cookies to neighbors.

Help your children remember the meaning of Christmas by reading the story to them. Recently a Charles Dickens story, The Life of our Lord, was published and provides a simplified story version for younger kids. Often people act out the nativity story with their children. Try recording the nativity story; you children will love watching their acting, especially in the future years.

For a simple family evening, pop some popcorn and watch a Christmas movie together at home. The Charlie Brown Christmas movie is a classic for younger kids, and The Christmas Story is a hit with older generations. Each year, there are new Christmas movies released and it would be impossible to mention them all. Whatever the movie your family likes (maybe it’s a Bob the Builder Christmas!) take the time to have movie night together.

Whatever you do, take the time to give the best present to your children-the time with them that it takes to make a magical holiday.