With the holiday season rapidly approaching, there are so many ways to spend time with friends and family in a season accurate way. If you’re anything like me, you love spending time with friends, but often find that you have nothing to do with them. You’ve already gone to the mall twice this week and nobody can agree on a movie. The coming holidays provide a myriad of fun to have with your loved ones, as well as a solution to this type of issue. So, with that, here are some ways to have fun over the break.

First off, making various holiday foods, desserts, and snacks is a great way to celebrate the season with friends and family. If you’ve been scrolling on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, or other similar social media platforms, you’re probably well aware of all the recipe videos they have. Just the other day, I made a baked pasta from a video I saw on Instagram, which turned out to be the best I’d ever had. Most of these videos have delicious foodstuffs worth making. Doing this with a group of friends could make for a great time. Activities like potlucks and baking challenges are amazing ways to spend the holiday season this year.

Another option is going out to see plays, shows, and events. In most local areas, there will be plays ran by members of the community, such as school plays from elementary, middle, and high schools, or from local theaters. There are also several events going on nearby. Like the Gaylord Hotel’s famous holiday events, including ice tubing, Gingerbread house decorating, and the Cirque de Soleil mini show “Spirit of Christmas.” Disney, Seaworld and Univeral all have holiday events going on in their theme parks.

Lastly, getting together with friends and watching holiday movies with your snacks of choice is always great. Some popular picks are “Elf,” “Santa Clause,” “The little drummer boy,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “A Christmas Story,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and “The Polar Express.” Or you could binge-watch all 6 of the Home Alone movies. Even if you’re only watching some of these to laugh at them, it’s still some holiday quality time you can spend with friends. Of course, you need snacks to watch a movie. 9th grade visual artist Sophia Hilbert says, “I recommend sugar cookies, hot chocolate, pound cake, or pumpkin pie for dessert during a movie, but whatever snacks your friends can agree on are a good option too.”

Overall, anything you and your friends want to do is good time spent together. If you guys are having fun, that’s holiday spirit in itself, or at least the core meaning behind it. The holidays only come around once a year, so consider calling some friends over and having some fun.