This Is What Holiday Play Actually Looks Like

Why the themed sensory bin might matter less than you think

Sometimes, holiday play online looks like an ad for family holiday pajamas, and I want to make sure you know it doesn’t have to be about doing more. It’s about noticing what’s already working and adding just a dusting of holiday magic to that.

My book But I’m Bored is officially open for pre-order. I wrote But I’m Bored for every parent who’s ever questioned the hustle. Who’s looked at the endless enrichment options and wondered, “Is this really what my kid needs?”

This book is for you if you’ve ever thought:
What if we just… slowed down? What if play is the thing that builds everything else? If you preorder But I’m Bored and forward your receipt to ButImBored@penguinrandomhouse.com, I’ll gift you six free months of my paid Substack, Something Playful by The Workspace for Children.

This means six months of deeper support, practical tools, and behind-the-scenes insight, completely free, just for helping me bring this book into the world. If you’re ready for a more connected and less pressured way to parent, preorder But I’m Bored today.

Someone messaged me the other day:
“My 3-year-old doesn’t process the holidays through play. She’s just mostly chaos.”

If you’re watching your kid dump out the holiday-themed sensory bin you carefully set up, yell “Ho-Ho-Ho” and run away, I get it.

Here’s what I want you to know about holiday play for little kids…

When your kid wraps a plastic zebra in tissues for the sixth day in a row and tells you it’s a present for their imaginary cousin? That is holiday play.

When they spin in circles singing “Jingle Bells” until they collapse on the carpet, sweating and screaming? Also, holiday play.

It’s not curated or quiet like an Instagram ad for matching pajamas. It’s definitely not cute.

But it’s real. And that play matters because your child is processing all the changes that come with the holiday season.

Your child isn’t performing joy. They’re not trying to “make it magical.”

They’re not worried about whether they’re doing enough.

They are making sense of the season. The buildup, the sugar, the new pajamas, the weird energy in every room, the mix of traditions and overstimulation, and what is even happening this week energy.

They’re not acting out the holidays.
They’re practicing how to be a person inside them. They are making sense out of a lot of changes in routine.

When my kids were little, after a particularly long day, I walked into the playroom and saw them building a menorah out of unit blocks and battery-powered tea lights. They’d wrapped stuffed animals and tiny loose parts in toilet paper- it was everywhere. They were deep in their game.
My first instinct was to gush over the menorah, but I held back. I’m glad I did. Because it wasn’t just block play or a sweet setup for me to photograph.

When I took the time to pause and observe, I found out that they were playing school. And in their imaginary classroom, they were teaching other kids about Hanukkah. Most of their real-life friends weren’t Jewish, and this was how they were working that out.

They weren’t doing a “holiday activity.”
They were just playing about life lately… and that’s what holiday play really is.

It doesn’t have to be about the themed craft, the matching pajamas, or the sensory bin with candy canes and glitter.

It’s the regular stuff. The repetition. The wrapping and rewrapping the same block ten times in a row. The parties for stuffed animals. The “Look what I made!” moments that don’t always make sense to us but clearly make sense to them.

You don’t always need to design something meaningful. Your child is already doing that part.

If you want to offer something extra, great. (I love the little extras.) A few battery-powered tea lights. A few festive figurines added to their magnetic tiles. A big old jar of jingle bells dropped into the playroom. A candy cane while they take a long bubble bath.

You don’t need to overhaul anything. Use what you already have. Add to what’s already working.

And the biggest gift you can give?
Stepping back from the crafts, baking, and projects that feel like too much for you. Because kids want us to feel jolly and excited alongside them, and when we are creating crafts they participate in for two minutes, overcomplicating baking, and trying to make every moment magical? We get grinchy. And that’s the opposite of what we wanted in the first place.

You don’t need to create holiday magic. They’re already in the middle of it.

This is part of a series I’m calling Holiday Play, Reframed.
It’s not about doing more. It’s about noticing what’s already working and adding just a dusting of holiday magic to that.

If you’re tired of trying to get it right and ready to let it be true, this series is for you. Paid subscribers get the full Holiday Play, Reframed series delivered straight to their inbox- no searching, no missing a day, just the gentle reminders you need this season.

x Lizzie

Toys That Put Childhood First: A Curated Gift Guide from The Workspace for Children This isn’t about presents. It’s about play. Forget the hot toy lists. Here’s what your child will still love in April….