Some of the sweetest holiday memories can be made over a friendly gingerbread house decorating competition, or watching A Charlie Brown Christmas together every year. But after you’ve gotten in your favorite traditions, how do you keep the fun going? How do you find things to watch and play that everyone can enjoy without scrolling, scrolling, scrolling on your streaming app, or opening up search tab after search tab, trying to find games to play? Don’t worry—Emily’s got you covered! Emily’s sharing her favorite movies, TV shows, and games for people with all kinds of interests and ages to enjoy during the holiday season—and even perennial favorites that are perfect for any time of year! From watching a “Sherlock” marathon to playing Christmas Pictionary, your people have plenty of fun ahead of them this holiday season.

Movies, Shows & Game Recommendations

Christmas Movies

• The Grinch
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
  
  
• Christmas Movies that ‘80s and ‘90s Kids Loved
• A Muppet Christmas Carol
• Home Alone
• The Santa Clause
• Elf

• It’s a Wonderful Life 
• A Christmas Story
• And of course, there’s always Hallmark movies!
  

Movies for Any Time of Year

• Classics
• The Wizard of Oz
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
• Back to the Future
  
  
• Musicals
• The Sound of Music
• The Muppets 
• Hamilton 

• Pixar
• Toy Story
• Monsters, Inc.
• The Incredibles 
• WALL-E
• Up!  (You can get past the first 5 minutes, I know you can)
• Inside Out
• Luca
• Onward

• Big, sweeping epics
• Star Wars
• Indiana Jones
• Harry Potter
• Lord of the Rings

Bingeworthy TV

• Sherlock
• The BBC nature series Planet Earth
• The Great British Baking Show. 

• Moms and sisters-in-law and teen daughters and nieces will love… 
• Downton Abbey
• The Pride & Prejudice mini-series with Colin Firth
• Anne with an E

• Sci-Fi Favorites
• Stranger Things
• Doctor Who

• Good comedy series (for teens & up)
• The Office 
• Parks & Rec
• The Good Place
• Brooklyn 99

Games

• Gingerbread House Decorating Competition
• “Name That Christmas Song” 
• Christmas Movie Charades
• Christmas Song Pictionary
  

• Pin the Heart on the Grinch
• Candy Cane Hunt
• Jingle Bell Toss 
• Stocking Guessing Game
  

• Monopoly
• The Game of Life 
• Clue
• Yahtzee
• Jenga
• Dominoes
  

• Uno
• Skip-Bo
• Phase Ten
  

• White Elephant
• Jackbox Games (with the Family filter on)

A Blessing for Your Week

As you gather your people this season, I hope you create memories that’ll bring a smile for a lifetime. I hope everyone in your celebration feels safe and seen and warm. 

I hope you take a few minutes to remember how blessed you are to have people to laugh with. 

And I hope you remember the love that holds you here on Earth, and up above, on this day and always. 

Merry Christmas, everyone. 

Simplicity Tip of the Week

Does your family play a lot of board games? Do you find yourself having to sub in a random item from the junk drawer to replace a missing token or making a homemade Park Place card for your Monopoly board? If your board game has a ton of pieces that aren't so organized, try buying one small, reusable bag with a zipper on top to store those loose game pieces in instead of having them rattle around at the bottom of the box. I don't know what it is about all the little board game pieces, but those things like to travel. Keeping all of those pieces in a zip top bag or even in a few different bags if your game has lots of pieces might take a second longer than tossing everything in the box. But when you come back to play, everything will be in its place and it will be easier for the fun to start. 

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