The COVID-19 pandemic is casting a somber shadow over Christmas celebrations this year. Our excitement and enthusiasm during “the most wonderful time of the year” are tempered by unease. Though we are experiencing so-called pandemic fatigue (we’re tired of wearing masks, social distancing, cleaning high-touch surfaces, being unable to travel, etc.), it is not time to throw out the life-preserving precautions of which we are so tired.
The U.S. is currently losing around 3,000 individuals every day to COVID-19. If you are anything like me, then you can’t wrap your head around numbers like this. Around 3,000 per day and 298,649 over the course of the pandemic so far (source). These numbers are so huge that I have difficulty seeing them as anything but numbers. However, the reality is that these are moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. They are nurses, doctors, teachers, firefighters, police officers, custodians, librarians, truck drivers, and cashiers. They are beloved family members and important members of our society. We shouldn’t ignore this because it is difficult to process. Likewise, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that our actions as we celebrate Christmas could very well mean life or death for someone around us as we head into 2021.
When public health officials encourage Americans to avoid travel and celebrate Christmas in small groups, they have been accused of being at war with Christmas. This is absurd. Taking precautions to avoid the spread of COVID is not the same as telling people they shouldn’t say “Merry Christmas” or telling people not to celebrate. Public health officials aren’t trying to cancel Christmas; they are trying to save lives.
Thankfully, there are many fun, festive ways to celebrate Christmas that don’t involve interactions that are likely to spread COVID. Check out these ideas!
How to celebrate Christmas while social distancing
Videoconference with family and friends
For many of us, Christmas doesn’t feel like Christmas without family. We don’t have to give up having contact with one another just because we aren’t gathering in large groups. Thankfully, we live at a time when we have access to a number of videoconferencing technologies (Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, etc.). These allow us to see and connect with our loved ones.
As you make plans to spend time together on or around Christmas, consider fun options such as sharing Christmas dinner together (you can all exchange recipes beforehand so everyone shares the same foods). If you’d like, you can even use my 30 Questions to Ask Around the Christmas Dinner Table to generate meaningful discussions. Another fun idea is to open gifts together. Everyone can send or drop gifts by in the days before Christmas and then open the gifts while together on the video call.
Attend a church service online
Many churches are livestreaming their services. We’re grateful that our church has been doing this since the pandemic began, allowing us to attend church and stay connected from the safety of our own home. If your church or other churches in your area are offering online services, then consider taking advantage of these in order to safely attend special Christmas services.
Prepare traditional foods
Food is a very important part of Christmas around here. Is this also true for your family? Thankfully, there’s no reason we can’t prepare and enjoy traditional foods this Christmas. Though stores had unpredictable stocks of many foods early in the pandemic, this is not common now. Most stores have plenty of flour, sugar, eggs, yeast, and other ingredients needed to make cookies and other baked good. The same is true of the ingredients needed to make Christmas dinner.
One thing my family does each year is share Christmas cookies with our neighbors. We don’t have to give this up because of social distancing! According to the CDC, there isn’t really concern about the spread of coronavirus through food. It’s person-to-person transmission that is the main issue. Therefore, if I take precautions while cooking (see ideas here) and wear a mask and maintain physical distance while delivering the cookies, everyone should be safe.
Read Christmas-themed books
We usually get a bunch of Christmas books from the library a couple of weeks before Christmas. Thankfully, our libraries are open again and are offering curbside pickup. We picked up a large stack of Christmas books about a week ago and we’re thoroughly enjoying them! Books are great all of the time, of course, but they’re especially wonderful during the pandemic because they help us use our imaginations to travel to other places and experience things that we can’t in real life because of the pandemic.
Watch Christmas-themed movies
Like books, movies transport us to another time and place. There are so many great Christmas movies available! I can’t wait to pop some popcorn and gather my kids for a Christmas movie night.
Deliver gifts via ding-dong ditch
Ding-dong ditch is a childhood prank where kids ring someone’s doorbell and then run and hide so the victim comes to the door and finds no one there. I’m not encouraging you to prank people, of course, but this can be a helpful way to deliver gifts while maintaining physical distance. Whether it’s for a White Elephant gift exchange, a Secret Santa gift exchange, or some other gift exchange, we can deliver gifts to the homes of friends and family members by setting the gifts by the front door, ringing the bell, and stepping back (we don’t necessarily have to run off or hide). This is how we are delivering cookies and gifts for a gift exchange with our Bible study this week.
Complete Christmas crafts
Pull out the craft supplies and make some Christmas cards, ornaments, wreaths, etc. A quick search on Pinterest or a search engine yields hundreds of ideas for easy crafts. These can be fun for the whole family and can get everyone feeling festive.
Drive around and look at Christmas lights
When I was a kid, we would pile in the car every Christmas and drive around the city to view Christmas lights. Some years we would have hot chocolate or hot apple cider when we were done, which was the “cherry on top” of an already fun evening. This is a perfect activity for Christmas during a pandemic! It allows families to get out of the house without having contact with others.
Some communities have Christmas light decorating contests and some local publications publish lists of streets where many homes are decked out, so check your local newspaper and online discussion boards to find out the best areas to view Christmas lights in your community.
Go on a scavenger hunt
My girls love going on scavenger hunts! Last year I created a Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt for them. As we go drive around to look at Christmas lights, we’ll take this with us so they can search for the specified items.
If you don’t want to leave the house, then you can still do a scavenger hunt. Here is a Christmas scavenger hunt I found that can be completed within your own home.
Final thoughts
As you can see, there are many fun, safe ways to celebrate Christmas during this pandemic. I know it is difficult, especially after nearly a year of restrictions, but the most loving thing we can do for our families and our communities is to be safe in how we go about celebrating Christmas.
How will you and your family be celebrating this year? How are you maintaining traditions while avoiding activities that may spread COVID?
THANKS for these ideas!
Carol Cook
You’re welcome! We’re having a great time with our Christmas preparations (decorating, baking, wrapping gifts, etc.). I hope you guys have a wonderful time, too!