It's the most wonderful time of the year. The temperature is dropping. The coffee shops have their Holiday flavors on the menu. Kids are finishing up school for the year, and they will be back home for Winter Break soon. Here are the top five ways to make Christmas magical for your kids at Camden this year.

1: Involve Them in Decorating and Make it Fun for Them

One of my favorite memories growing up as a kid was helping my parents decorate for the holidays. I loved putting up the Christmas tree. It always sat front and center of the window where everyone walking and driving by could see it.

A trend in Christmas decorations for kids are DIY projects using felt that would be great for apartment homes. One example is a felt tree that you can tape to the wall. Kids can make their own ornaments and use Velcro to stick them to the tree. There are kits available to buy, or you can do the whole thing as a family DIY project.

There is always the time-old tradition of creating ornaments with kids. There are kits available in stores with clay ornaments to paint. I always had some sort of dinosaur or superhero. You can also use several different materials such as popsicle sticks, paper plates, construction paper, and pom-poms to create your own ornaments. The same materials can also be used to make wreaths for the door. You can find more examples here.

DIY Snowflake - Photo courtesy of Camden

2: Bake Up Memories in Your Spacious Camden Kitchen

A time-honored Christmas tradition in my family was baking sugar cookies and decorating gingerbread men and houses. Every Camden apartment home comes with a spacious kitchen. You will want to take advantage of this to bake memories with your family this holiday season.

With the kitchen having such a large amount of counter space, you can spread out all the ingredients very easily, leading to baking too much. If that happens, don't worry, you don't have to eat everything yourself. Instead, you can share them with your neighbors on the My Camden dashboard activity wall, or you can also bring them by the office to share with your leasing team. To be honest, I might be a little bias toward that second option.

If your child's school has a bake sale, you could also use the MyCamden activity wall to let your fellow neighbors know. They could come and help support you by buying your baked goods, or they could even bake something to donate as well.

Bake up goodies in the kitchen at Camden Dunwoody

3: Get The Kids Out of the House

When kids are out of school, it can be challenging to find ways to help them use up their energy. Luckily, there are many places around various Camden communities in Atlanta to take your kids.

Camden Shiloh residents can bring their kids to Jumping World. This is the perfect spot for kids to get out any extra energy! They have trampolines galore, foam pits, basketball dunking, dodgeball space, and for little ones- toddler world. For your teenagers, they have a teen night on Fridays from 7 pm – 11 pm.

For our friends at the Camden Phipps, Camden Buckhead Square, and Camden Paces locations, you let your child's imagination run wild at Legoland. They have a mini-land which is an Atlanta replica made of over 1.5 million Legos. Your child or your inner child can create and race your own Lego car creation down their speed ramp.

Last but not least, our friends at Camden St. Clair can visit Leaping Lizard, an indoor inflatable playground. Their prices are wonderful if you want a budget-friendly option. Children 2 years and younger are $5, and children 3-10 are $8. The great news is that parents with a paying child are free! If your child loves history and always wants to learn more, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History is a great place to explore.

Camden Deerfield residents don't even have to leave the community because they have a playground right there. It is complete with a slide, swings, and things on which to climb. This is the perfect place for kids to run around and bond with neighboring kids in the community.

Playground at Camden Deerfield in Alpharetta, GA

4: Hot Cocoa & Christmas Movies

I did this as a kid with my parents, and I'm continuing the tradition in a new way with my wife. We will go to Target to buy a new Christmas mug, and pick up a fun flavor of hot cocoa and Christmas-themed marshmallows. Then, we'll curl up on the couch and watch Christmas movies.

My wife, Dallas, and I like to experience the magic of the Christmas season through movies. There is always something fun to watch, from classics like Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, and Home Alone to modern-day classics The Santa Clause, Polar Express, and Elf. Of course, our guilty pleasure is watching the Hallmark Christmas movie of the week starting before Halloween even ends.

This is easy to do with Camden and a great use of your internet and cable technology package. With over 140 channels with most packages, there is access to countless TV networks that play Christmas movies all season long. The movie portion doesn't have to cost you anything extra!

5: Visit from Old Saint Nick

It isn't Christmas without Santa Claus. Camden makes it easy with several locations that have fireplaces, such as Camden St. Clair in Atlanta. Santa can easily use those when he visits. However, if you don't have a fireplace in your unit, don't let your kids stress about it. This year, we've given Santa Chirp Access to make sure no kid is missed!

For readers that aren't aware, Camden has smart door locks and gates. Residents can move throughout the community and get into their homes using only their smartphones. The app that assists with this is called Chirp Access. With this app, you can also give visitors guest access through the gate and into your unit. Ideal for guests like Santa Claus, or family and friends visiting for the holidays.

Example of a Chirp Access Lock - Photo courtesy of Camden

There are many ways to use Camden features and amenities to make Christmas memorable for your little ones this year. For additional suggestions, check out our other holiday blog posts. We've got you covered this season.