So when your 3-year-old innocently asks, "What is Diwali, mommy?" and you have no clue, what happens next? And honestly, most parents don't have a quick answer ready. They will then resort to googling Diwali dates or trying to remember if Kwanzaa has anything to do with a special star that leads wise men to the baby Jesus. The many questions that children have, about seemingly innocuous issues like celebrations, are truly endless and seem to start at the most inopportune moments. It starts innocently when kids notice classmates bringing in cakes, cookies and other goodies that the child has never seen or heard of before. Before you know it, your kid is pestering for details about what they are celebrating and then, wondering when their classmate's special day was and even wondering when will be their turn to bring in some "real cake".
Winter Holidays for Kids and Why They Matter
Winter holidays for kids are filled with celebration, presents, break from school. But they represent something much deeper. Winter solstice celebrations which underpin many holiday seasons represent a transformation — the shortest days of the year, the longest nights and the feeling that things are coming to a close and beginning anew. The human experience reaches back into the distant past to make meaning of these changing times of year through light, food, togetherness and story.
In Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city, that's exactly what people get: front row seats to humanity at its most diverse. Stroll through just about any neighborhood here and menorahs will be hanging in windows, Christmas trees will be sprucing up balconies and pictures of Babaji or images of a winter hut with stars and African patterns will be placed in the local community center. Here in Santa Monica, a district known for combining as much beach as possible with as much holiday cheer as possible, the mixture of lifestyles that define California blends together in very Californian ways. Here, in a city with some of the most multicultural children in the world, those children learn about cultures that would be unknown to children back in, say, Oklahoma or Omaha because those places don't have the same degree of ethnic and international diversity as Los Angeles.
Knowing all about a holiday and really understanding what that holiday is all about are two completely different things. My kiddo can certainly learn all about the history of Hanukkah through text after text, but until they actually get to experience it for themselves all that reading will be basically blank for learning. I know first hand that there is no better teacher than first hand experience. And I'm not talking about just a "craft" and calling it good either. I'm talking about actually being included in some sort of holiday celebration or event. Kids need hands on activities, games and truly memorable experiences if they are going to connect to and truly understand a holiday. They need to feel and learn through taste, smell, hearing, sight and touch. Anything less is simply not enough.
Winter Holiday Games for Kids That Actually Teach Something
So, this is what I've learned: Kid-friendly winter holiday games are most effective when they are the least obviously educational. Who wants to be cheated by a worksheet masquerading as a game? A simple dreidel game, with the promise of winning chocolate gelt, turns a historical tradition dating back millennia into a real page-turner. With a bit of luck, a handful of spinning top victories, and a few minutes of concentration, they'll pick up a Hebrew alphabet, get a feel for basic probability, and have a blast. None the wiser.
Same with games from other cultures. Our Mexican lotería boards that we see pop up this time of year. Or the Scandinavian tradition of hiding a single almond in a rice pudding. Many of our cultural games hold a story or a history and as children inevitably ask the reason behind why we play a certain game, the history of that game comes alive. Winter holiday games for kids don't have to be complicated to carry real meaning.
Los Angeles has so many communities that they seem to celebrate almost anything. Filipino Simbang Gabi celebrations that started centuries ago, the ancient winter festival of Persian Yalda that's still observed with lanterns, pomegranates and poetry, Chinese preparations for Lunar New Year, the start-of-year festival that, in California, always falls in winter. If you know where to look in LA, it's a seasonal textbook come to life.
The indoor playhouses have become a haven for families during this time. Parents are desperately looking for an alternative to what has become the monotony of 'watch another movie' or 'watch TV for another hour'; kids just want to play and run around and apparently it doesn't matter that it's not Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever holiday they celebrate. Life in Southern California has very little of the cold and darkness that accompanies the cold winter months in other parts of the country and yet it can still be plenty intense: short days, school holidays, the unrelenting pressure to be constantly producing 'magic moments' for our kids.
All About Winter Holidays for Kids in Diverse Families
All about winter holidays for kids really comes down to this — how do you help children understand that their way isn't the only way? That the family down the street might celebrate something completely different, and that's not weird, it's wonderful. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever really touched on that in a funny way with the Tuckers and their bunch of tiny thieves learning what is really important to the true story. It made me think of Multicultural Holidays around the World and how it can spark an interest and open eyes and hearts to others' traditions, customs, and beliefs.
LA makes this way easier. Exposing kids to diversity here happens organically. Their friend might be fasting for Ramadan. Their teammate on the soccer team might head home early on Friday evenings to celebrate Shabbat with their family. These types of real life encounters will teach them so much more than we ever could in a classroom.
Tolerance is not automatic. It has to be worked for. Special events and community spaces where all cultures feel welcome can help. So can playgrounds where children of all backgrounds can learn to have fun with one another — where the common language is not a religion but playfulness. Some of the best places to achieve this are indoor play spaces. At most of these facilities kids remove their shoes at the entrance, and they then spend their time climbing on similar structures, playing in the same ball pit, and making the same silly sounds as other children. These are not occasions when the uniqueness of their culture really matters. When exhausted three-year-olds just want to take a nap and parents are trying to do the same, celebrating different holidays is not high on anyone's agenda.
I don't know if it's just me, but Santa Monica does a remarkable job of capturing the holiday spirit in our beach communities. Openness is a characteristic of beach life and perhaps that's why holiday activities are inherently more inclusive to families and visitors. Add the majestic lights on Ocean Avenue and the distant sounds of waves crashing against the shore combined with holiday music and what you have is a holiday celebration that feels more joyous and less exclusionary. Understanding all about winter holidays for kids becomes easier when the whole community seems to embrace that spirit.
Best Winter Holiday Destinations With Kids Who Have Too Much Energy
Reality Check. Best winter holiday destinations with kids are often those with the most space to run, move, climb — really burn off that excess energy caused by months of heightened excitement and consumption. While some of our dear children have actually enjoyed playing in the snow this December and this weather has been perfect for skiing and sledding, many of us will be desperate for some space by January. Beaches are obviously always on the cards for us as they are always at the front of mind, but let's be real, they are at their best when the weather matches the sunburn we're hoping to avoid. Likewise parks are always part of our winter holiday plans as well but inevitably someone always gets cold or bored so it's good to have more plans in place to avoid too much "I'm boooored".
Indoor play structures have become one of the unsung necessities of holiday season life. Air-conditioned or heated — you never know what LA weather will bring to an indoor play structure. A quiet place where your kid can be loud without annoying you. Separate play areas for different age groups so that your 2 year old isn't being continually run over by a 4 year old.
The "good" places for kids recognize that parents are human beings that need something too: a decent seat to sit in, a cup of coffee, clean bathrooms, staff that seem to actually care that you and your tiny human are even there. For families searching for best winter holiday destinations with kids, these details make all the difference.
I feel like community centers, libraries and the Y get bombarded with families during winter break. Who really wants to hike in Big Bear in the snow? Or shell out hundreds of dollars to take their two year old to Disneyland? Families want to have fun but don't want to take all day to figure out how to make it happen. They want a fun outing that feels special without turning into a logistically monumental endeavor.
Best Winter Holidays With Kids in LA
Best winter holidays with kids in LA mean accepting a certain paradox. You might be wearing shorts on Christmas Day. There will probably be traffic, even on holidays. The city doesn't stop — it just shifts rhythm slightly, becomes a little quieter in some neighborhoods, a little louder in others.
But the upside is real. Diversity of experience, having the ability to celebrate different traditions and actually being part of a community of people celebrating those same traditions. And decent weather during a season when back east they're more than ready to put snow shovels to the top of their garages.
What do kids really remember of holidays? Not, most likely, the meal we worried over, or the house we struggled to get looking right. It's the feelings. The people they were with, the things they perhaps learned, but probably not the physical and emotional exhaustion that was the real highlight of the day. The lying on the back seat of the car exhausted, twitching into wakefulness on the driveway home, still able to smell the damp inside of the car and hear the sounds of last night's dinner in their ears.
Consider this when planning winter activities. Simple can be better. An uncluttered afternoon at an excellent indoor playground can be way more fun than a packed day of "enriching experiences". Kids don't need social media worthy moments. They need presence, play and to feel fully accepted and embraced for who they are. That's what best winter holidays with kids really look like when you strip away all the pressure.
Why Fun Play World Works for Holiday Season Families
This is what our center in Santa Monica sees every December. Families showing up to our center during winter break. Parents looking weary and frazzled. Kids bouncing around full of holiday cheer. And our space works to capture some of that joy.
The play structures give children options. Climbing for the brave, hiding places for the shy, and open space for the social. For an hour you will see children playing with each other — strangers becoming fast friends, and parents talking about everything from their kids' schools to their neighborhoods to the best place to get hot chocolate.
Birthday parties in the wintertime take on a whole new level of meaning. Winter birthdays often get lost in the holiday season, as kids born in December can attest to. Having a dedicated space where the actual birthday of the child is acknowledged and celebrated, where the party truly feels about one special person as opposed to being a holiday party to include everyone, feels really important to me.
Cleanliness is key this time of year. Influenza and cold season is upon us and we are working hard to keep every corner of our playground clean and tidy for all of you. Please remember to wear socks before going on the play structures. We actually stand at the doorways to the play structures and between playtimes and clean in between all of the little hands that love to climb and play on our structures. So worth it for tired, frazzled parents to have this kind of attention to cleanliness when they just need a few moments to themselves in between juggling everything that parenting brings our way.
The Feel of a Good Winter Play Session
The noise of a well-designed play space over the holiday period is unmistakable. Echoes of the sounds of unbridled joy — the thud of a child bouncing on a soft surface filling the air, the crashing of feet on foam, children falling over and crying, only to pick themselves up seconds later.
You can hear joy in a room. It has a frequency. You can hear when the atmosphere is shifting, when a space is becoming overcrowded or noising out the people around you and when excitement is bleeding into frenzy. Good management involves trying to navigate this terrain and avoid disturbing the other people whose presence is necessary to make your work thrive.
Winter holidays around the world for kids is really all about community. Celebrating the passing of time with loved ones, enjoying food, retelling old tales, and having fun together. But maybe the most unexpected places where this tradition plays out are the indoor playgrounds. Places that feel to us like just a destination for a fun day with the kids. But when you look closer, you start to see them as more than that — as modern-day gathering spaces for families of every stripe and socioeconomic status, all living in close proximity to one another in our cities.
