Before I get into it, I just want to say that I’m not anti-Santa at all. In fact I love the man in red. Big fan. Think he’s great. However he is absolutely everywhere when December hits. Now that my biggest kid is older I don’t want her to see him too often, because I think seeing him too much might take the magic of Santa away a little bit. And I really want to preserve that magic as long as I can.

I still love a good Christmassy activity or day out though and have come across some really fun things to do throughout December. So here are some of my favourite festive activities we’ve done in the past few years. Or things that I’ve noticed and thought I’d really like to do!

Free Festivities

There are some free family oriented events on this year, with street performers, Christmas characters, reindeer, festive food, choirs, market stalls and loads more. The man in red will most likely be around, but it won’t be the meeting of Santa so I’m including them in the list!

  • 24th Nov, 1-5pm: The Glasgow Style Mile Christmas Carnival An afternoon of festive spectacle, performance and entertainments in and around the Style Mile in Glasgow city centre. There will be 12 performance zones along Buchanan Street, with magical fantasy characters, giant artworks, performing troupes and dancers and musicians to help get everyone into the Christmas spirit.
  • 24th Nov, 12-6pm: Ashton Lane Winter Wonderland The charming West End lane is being transformed into a magical Winter Wonderland, as Santa and his reindeer fly in for a visit! Adults can enjoy Christmas music, festive food, pop-up bars serving delicious winter warmers as well as grab some presents from the festive market.
  • 2nd – 17th Dec, on weekends: Paisley’s Big Christmas Weekends Free family entertainment on weekends leading up to Christmas. With festive stilt walkers, magicians, jugglers, balloon modellers, face painting, music and lots more.

Go Ice Skating

Ice skating always reminds me of those old timey Christmas movies. Maybe it’s the getting all wrapped up warm, but it just has such a festive feel to it, especially the open air ice rinks. Places you can skate this year are:

Run a Santa Dash

We haven’t done a Santa Dash since before the kids came along and every year I think to myself “I really want to do this next year!” They are totally family friendly – lots of people run a bit and walk a bit; there are dogs (dressed up too, obviously), buggies, little kids on scooters, everything!

It’s such a fun event, and probably the most festive thing you can do. I mean, there’s no way you could not be in the Christmas spirit when you’re with thousands of Santa’s running up the road. Or even just watching them! All proceeds go to various charities, so it’s all for a good cause too.

  • This year the Glasgow Santa Dash is on December 8th and profits from this year’s event will go to the Beatson Cancer Charity. More info at glasgow.gov.uk.
  • St Andrews Hospice are hosting a Santa Dash and 1000ft zip slide on Sunday 8th November in Strathclyde Park. You can find the info here at Santa’s Zippity Doo Dash.
  • You can also run a slightly different festive race in Mugdock Country Park on the 8th of December. Take part in Mugdock’s annual Reindeer Run; a 2km run with antlers provided. Register online in advance. More info here.

See Some Reindeer

We went to Aviemore a few years ago at the very end of November, and went to see the Cairngorm reindeer herd while we were there. It wasn’t Christmassy at all; there was not an elf nor a sliver of tinsel in sight, but it still felt a little bit festive and was such great fun!

Obviously that’s a pretty long way to go to to see reindeer, but there are usually a few opportunities closer to home.

  • This year Santa’s reindeer will be at Paisley Winterfest on Saturday the 7th December.
  • Other places to see reindeer are at Culzean Country Park (included in NTS passes if you happen to have those) and the Scottish Deer Centre in Fife, which has reindeer plus loads of other types of deer, some other rare Scottish animal species and a few others. They also have some special events on this Christmas which are worth checking out.

Meet Mrs Claus

Meeting Mrs Claus at Pollok House was always such a sweet activity for little kids. Pollok House is getting a bit of a refurb this year, and so this year it will take place at The Hill House, another NTS property.

At the Mrs Claus events, kids usually do a little treasure hunt (they have to find 5 toy reindeer or snowmen or something along those lines that are hidden around the house) and there’s always some colouring or a craft activity. Then they go in to meet Mrs Claus who has a wee chat with them and they get a gift on leaving. This was one of our favourite Christmas events and a great festive pre-schooler activity.

See all the info on the National Trust Scotland website.

See a Pantomime

There are so many pantos and Christmas shows around it’s hard to know where to start. There are obviously the pantomimes in Glasgow’s biggest theatres. This big ones this year are:

There are a couple of other theatres that are excellent places to see a panto. A few that I think look great this year are:

  • 22nd Nov – 5th Jan: The Tron Theatre are showing Peter Panto & the Incredible Stinkerbell this year. (Recommended for 7+)
  • 3rd – 24th Dec: This year Platform (at The Bridge in Easterhouse – not the one in town) are showing Rumpelstiltskin. (Recommended for 5+)
  • 23rd Nov – 29th Dec: Cumbernauld Theatre always put on a fantastic family friendly show and this year are showing Pinocchio for those age 7+.

See a Christmassy Show

Then there are the Christmas shows that aren’t pantos. They’re shorter in length, all are on during the day and they are aimed at younger kids – up to around age 6 or so. We’ve been to a few over the years and there hasn’t been one we haven’t absolutely loved.

See a Musical Number

One of the most Christmassy things I can think of is seeing some carollers singing, or choirs singing Christmas songs. It just gives me all the warm and fuzzies and truly puts me into the Christmas spirit. A great place to see choirs etc is in Princes Square during December.

There are also some music based shows that are suitable for families. The only one we’ve been to in the past is the Fun Box Christmas show, but I keep saying I’m going to start a new Christmas tradition of going to see The Snowman…

Do Some Christmas Crafting

A bit of Christmas crafting with your kids is always a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Of course you can do that at home, but there are some lovely pottery painting places you can take the kids as a wee treat. Some places you can paint Christmas themed pottery are:

Go tubing with elves

Slip and slide down the slope in big rubber rings with some cheery Christmas elves, then relax with a hot chocolate after. There might even be a gift for the little ones! Takes place at Newmilns Ski Centre.

See the Christmas lights

I’ve never met anybody who has gotten hold of those elusive Christmas Lights Switch On tickets in George Square, but you need those anyway. Make an evening of it and head into town to see the Christmas lights all around Glasgow. Start at George Square, see the beautiful lights inside House of Fraser, and the big Christmas tree in Princes Square. This always gets me in the Christmas spirit!

Head to the Christmas market down at St Enoch Square and have a wee hot chocolate (mulled wine obvs for the adults). I think the helter skelter will be back again – usually skins you a few quid but it is fun.

Go to a festive lights event

There are a couple of these around now and they are beautifully Christmassy.

Watch a Drive-In Movie

Get your cozy blankets, your flasks of hot chocolate, your popcorn and head along to one of the Christmas drive-in movies there are around glasgow this December.

Itison and M&D’s (not announced yet) do drive-in movies at Christmas time. They must be booked in advance though, so make sure you get in early for tickets!

A cheeky cheat (and cheaper) option for this would be making sure your laptop or tablet is charged up, heading to a nice wee spot and setting up your own wee drive-in movie. Pack some sweeties, stick a couple of fairy lights up, bring your blankets and boom: you have your very own drive-in. You could even take a wee colander campfire with you and pop your corn or toast some marshmallows in that!

I would really really need to clean my car out for this (and then do it immediately because a clean car lasts about 6 seconds) so instead I might set a wee tent up in the back garden for the same effect. Or if you don’t fancy it, just watch a Christmas movie from the comfort of your own sofa!

Take a Trip to the Edinburgh Christmas Market

Hop on the train and head through to Edinburgh for a great day out. Mulled wine, Christmas stalls, bratwurst, and down in the bottom of the park there are the little kids rides. We’ve successfully managed to avoid the absolute pelting rain once in the past 9 years, but it still manages to be a lovely festive day out.

Chop Your Own Tree

You can’t beat the smell of a lovely real Christmas tree. If you’re planning on getting a real tree this year anyway, you could make a nice wee family day out of it, do something totally different and cut your own tree down; making a difference to a small business at the same time. We did this last year. And by we, I mean me. I sawed a whole tree down.

Now I don’t mean just head to the park with that axe you’ve got lying around. You can’t go cutting down any old tree – that’s not what I’m suggesting and I doubt it would be legal in most places. But you can go pick your own tree to cut down and take home with you at a few different places near Glasgow.

The nearest place we found where you can cut down your own Christmas tree was at Finlaystone Country Estate in Port Glasgow. You can tag your tree from the 16th November and reserve it until you go to cut it down whenever you’re ready. You can also cut down your own tree at S&J Duff Christmas tree farm in Buchlyvie, on the road out towards Aberfoyle.

Both of these are small local businesses, so you’d be keeping that carbon footprint nice and small and contributing to the local economy. And don’t forget to recycle your Christmas tree after the festivities are done. You can either cut it into bits and pop it in your brown bin, or take it to your local recycling centre to be composted. Alternatively you can take it to one of a handful of parks around Glasgow where it will be mulched and used within the parks. (You might even be able to get some mulch yourself – usually from Pollok Park.)

Head to the Irn Bru Carnival

This is definitely more of a post-Christmas event for us, during that between-Christmas-and-new-year lull, but the Irn Bru Carnival has become an annual tradition for us. The kids absolutely love it.

There are always a good few rides for the wee ones to go on, plus a lot of spinny rides for the big ones. Also a big room of inflatables for younger kids too. A great fun day out.