The traditions continue as we enjoyed our annual night of viewing Christmas lights while sipping on hot cocoa and munching popcorn. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to watch our children carry on our family traditions with their loved ones. Of course, that is what traditions are, right?
A few changes were made to this year’s Christmas light adventure. Normally the kids would grumble about any changes made to our family traditions. However, we all enjoyed these fun additions, so we didn’t hear those usual complaints. It all began with a hot cocoa snack board. We have always enjoyed cocoa while driving around looking at the festive lights, but this year, everyone got to create their own cocoa masterpiece.
This is so much fun to create and, of course, there are no rules! When assembling your snack board, keep in mind that some goodies will be for the hot cocoa and some will just be for snacking. This being the first year, I had a lot of fun assembling the goodies, but my mind is already swirling with different ideas for the next occasion.
Ideas for Creating Cocoa Snack Board ~
The other good thing to remember is that this just doesn’t have to be a Christmas thing! We drink cocoa as many times as we can throughout the winter months. This leaves more opportunities to have fun with this chocolate-filled idea! As mentioned earlier, the goodies are endless that can be included in your setup. Here are some fun ideas:
- Candy canes or peppermint sticks
- Crushed peppermint candies
- Marshmallows – plain, flavored or festive shaped
- M & Ms
- Malt Balls
- White mini Kit Kats
- Chocolate nonpareils
- Gingerbread cookies
- Graham Crackers
- Caramel candies
- White chocolate pretzel rods
- White chocolate chips
- Various candy Kisses
- Biscotti
- White chocolate covered Oreos
It was so much fun watching the kids create their specialty cocoas. Addi even discovered a new favorite…she couldn’t get enough of the chocolate nonpareils (also known as sno-caps). We used the disposable soup bowls for each person to create their own snack mix. Each bowl started with a little popcorn and then they filled them to their heart’s content.
Hot Chocolate Bombs ~
Have you seen this new and totally fun idea for hot cocoa??? This is definitely something I will add to the snack board for next year. But why wait???? You can make these all winter long! They have gone viral on Tik-Tok and everyone is raving about them. They are available in stores to buy or you can make your own. I have saved several posts for reference, but I especially like the post by Gluesticksblog.com. She gives great ideas and tips and also references a video of them if you have not yet seen how they work. How to Make Hot Chocolate Bombs by Gluesticksblog.com.
We will definitely be making our own soon and will share our results once we have done so. However, I am starting preparations for them now and ordered the silicone chocolate mold so I am ready to go. After reading many reviews and scouring for the best prices, these are the chocolate molds I ordered. These are the chocolate molds I ordered for Hot Chocolate Bombs! From my research, I have discovered you need to pay close attention to size. I also saw where many of the chocolate mold companies weren’t so good on delivery!
Marshamallows are obviously an important ingredient as well. The dehydrated marshmallows work best as they are small and easier to work with when making hot chocolate bombs. If you do not plan ahead, these can be very hard to find in the stores *voice of experience here!!! Here are some handy and fun links to help out with that…
Dehydrated Marshamallows in 1-Pound Sealable Bag –
Mini Marshmallows With Snowflake Sprinkles & Chocolate Jimmies –
Off To View the Lights ~
Everyone gathered their hot cocoa and snack bowl and loaded into the car for the next step. Unfortunately, I believe this will be the last year that we will all be in the same vehicle. Fortunately, that means our family is growing…❤! Next year we will have to use 2 cars….but you can be sure that won’t stop this family tradition! We drive through neighborhoods to enjoy the festive decorations. To those people who decorate every year…thank you! Some of the displays are the same as they were when our kids were youngsters. How cool is that?
Carry Out and Puzzles ~
The final part of the evening is Chinese take-out at the end of our Christmas light viewing. We call ahead and pick it up on our way back home. Our little Addi already asks for this when we start choosing the date for this night. Those traditions obviously make a difference even at a young age. This just melts my heart!
The other new activity we added this year is doing a Christmas puzzle. Not a large one, as we want to be able to finish it the same night. My suggestion is to stick with 100 pieces or choose one that is a “family” style puzzle with three different sizes of pieces. Have you seen these kind? They are truly so much fun when you are puzzling with a variety of ages.
Here are a couple options of the family time puzzles. Our family has had one since the kids were young and we would do that same one every year. Now there are even more options.
Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Family Time Puzzle ~ The image Amazon includes here doesn’t show the different size pieces, but if you click on the link you will see that the Family Time puzzles have small, medium and large pieces for family puzzling.
Snoopy and Linus ice skating – Peanuts Family Time Puzzle ~ A super cute Family Time puzzle that also has small, medium and large pieces.
Christmas lights and cocoa has long been one of our kids’ favorite traditions of the many we try to do throughout the month of December. I love watching our grown kids still juggle their schedules to make it all work. Family time is oh so valuable and especially during this wonderful holiday of celebrating the birth of Christ!
Merry Christmas everyone!
