December Bucket List: 31 Ideas For The Best Last Month

The ultimate December bucket list with 31 fun, festive, and wintery ideas. Let’s end the year right, people!

Time works at the same steady pace year-round, but December feels even faster because of the holiday chaos and because of our anticipation of the new year.

But if there’s any month of the year that deserves a celebration, cozy moments, and its own bucket list, it’s December.

You spend December right, and you enter the new year feeling right too.

It’s an amazing month to shed what doesn’t fit your goals, be better, and enjoy the winter (you can do that even if you’re not a fan of the cold, and I’ll tell you how in the post).

This December bucket list is about reclaiming the magic while acknowledging the madness.

It’s about creating moments that matter in the midst of the chaos, finding joy without burning out, and actually enjoying the season instead of surviving it.

We’re going to look at 51 fun, cozy, and seasonal December activities you can pick from to end the year feeling fully satisfied in life.

Pin the post now to save this list!

So here’s how to make December feel less like an obligation and more like the culmination of the year it’s supposed to be:

31 December Bucket List Ideas

1. Drive Around Looking at Christmas Lights

I just learned to drive this year (late to the party, I know), so this is the first activity on my December bucket list.

Pack hot chocolate in a thermos, get in the car, and just drive through neighborhoods looking at lights. Let yourself feel like a kid again as holiday music plays in the car.

You can also do this in pajamas and make it a late-night adventure. The more ridiculous, the more memorable!

2. Visit a Christmas Market or Festival

Even if it’s crowded and overpriced and you don’t buy anything, go to a Christmas market or festival and just wander around.

The lights, the smells, the festive chaos of it all — it’s pure magic.

Get the overpriced hot cider, listen to carolers, and look at handmade ornaments you don’t need but kind of want.

Let yourself be part of the seasonal energy without overthinking it.

3. Buy Meaningful Gifts

Buying gifts has turned into a holiday checklist item, but it’s actually meant to be a meaningful tradition. Keep this in mind while you shop for presents.

Think about what people would love, use, or remember.

It doesn’t have to be expensive, because sometimes the best gifts are books you loved, homemade treats, or experiences you can share.

And if you’re stuck? Ask people what they want. Revolutionary concept, but it works. Everyone wins when gifts are actually wanted.

4. Bake Cookies and Decorate Them

Make cookies and throw frosting and sprinkles at them with reckless abandon.

Make weird color combinations, and give the snowmen six eyes if you want.

Do this with kids if you have them, or with friends, or alone while watching a holiday movie.

The point is the process, not the product. Though eating them warm from the oven is definitely also a point, lol!

5. Go Ice Skating

Doesn’t matter if you spend more time clinging to the wall than actually skating, because that’s part of the charm.

Go with friends so you can all be terrible together, or go solo and feel like you’re in a movie montage.

Either way, it’s a quintessential December activity that you shouldn’t miss out on.

6. Buy From Small Businesses and Local Makers

Skip Amazon for at least a few gifts this year, and go to local shops, craft fairs, and artists’ websites.

Yeah, it might cost a bit more or take more time, but you’re supporting someone’s actual livelihood.

Plus, the gifts tend to be more unique, and you get to feel good about where your money went. Win-win!

7. Do Something You Loved as a Kid

There’s no age limit on joy. If it made you happy at 8, there’s a good chance it’ll make you happy now.

This December, give yourself full permission to be a kid again. Do at least one thing you used to love doing as a kid.

Make paper snowflakes, build a gingerbread house, or watch the holiday specials you grew up with.

Have cookies and milk, draw in a sketchbook, or read a children’s book (that’s A Christmas Carol for me, and I am so looking forward to re-reading it this month).

8. Have a Holiday Movie Marathon Day

Pick a day where you have absolutely nothing scheduled (good luck, but try), and make it a full day of holiday movies.

Set up your coziest spot with blankets and pillows, make special snacks, and wear your favorite comfy clothes.

Dedicate an entire day to doing nothing but watching feel-good movies and being comfortable. With the ultimate holiday vibes, this activity should be unskippable!

9. Perfect Your Hot Cocoa Station

Upgrade from basic hot chocolate stuff and set up a nice little station in one corner of your kitchen.

Get good cocoa, different types of milk or cream, fancy marshmallows, peppermint sticks, whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and maybe some cinnamon or nutmeg (doesn’t work for me, but you might like).

This way, you can make the perfect hot chocolate whenever the mood strikes. It’s a small luxury that makes December feel more special!

10. Read a Holiday Book by the Fire (or Fake Fire)

Pick a cozy holiday novel or a collection of winter stories, or anything that makes you feel warm and nostalgic.

Get under a blanket, light some candles, and sip something warm as you get lost in someone else’s holiday story while you’re living your own.

11. Create a December Playlist That Isn’t All Jingles

Yes, have your traditional holiday music, because, duh.

But also make a playlist that captures December’s other moods—cozy, reflective, wintery but not necessarily holiday-specific.

Whatever songs remind you of quiet winter mornings, or night winter driving, or sitting in silence, add them to your playlist, because as long as it feels like December, it counts!

12. Make Your Space Feel Festive (Your Way)

A lot of things in our lives are inspired by the internet these days, but for December, I say decorate your space in a way that feels good to you.

Don’t look to Pinterest for inspiration, but just run with your choices.

Maybe you want a full tree with all the ornaments, or some string lights and a few candles, or just one perfect wreath?

Your space should reflect your version of the season, not someone else’s aesthetic.

If minimalist works for you, do that. If maximalist explosion of holiday cheer is your vibe, go for it.

13. Write Down Your Wins from the Entire Year

Here’s a cute little end-of-year activity for you — Write down all your wins from the whole year.

You survived 365 days. You grew, you learned, and you made it through hard things.

Acknowledge all of it—the big achievements and the small victories that kept you going, and then read your wins out loud. Feels really good, trust me.

14. Make Peace with What Didn’t Happen

It’s nearly impossible to have a perfect year.

Things go wrong, we lose motivation, we change, and the year might end up looking different than what you’d imagined initially.

So, in December, make peace with everything that didn’t happen.

All those goals you set in January that didn’t pan out, the plans that changed, and the person you thought you’d be by now versus who you actually are.

December is the time to forgive yourself for being human and release the guilt.

Please, for the sake of growth, let go of the shoulds and embrace what is. That’s how you’ll actually get better and do better in the future.

15. Set Intentions for the New Year

New year’s resolutions can often fail if you don’t set good intentions for them in advance.

Resolutions fail because they’re about force. Intentions succeed because they’re about direction. How do you want to feel next year? What do you want to prioritize? Who do you want to become?

Write them down but hold them loosely. You’re allowed to change your mind as you learn and grow.

16. Host a Low-Key Holiday Gathering

Holidays can be stressful, and it’s easy to forget to have fun. Keeping it low-key might be the way to enjoy a gathering of your close people.

Host a casual get-together where people can just show up and hang out.

You can ask people to wear ugly sweaters to even remove the pressure of dressing up (yeah, I really mean it when I say low-key).

Make it potluck style, so you’re not doing all the cooking. Play games, watch a movie, sit around, and talk.

Some of the best holiday memories come from the gatherings that weren’t trying too hard.

Don’t miss: 100 Holiday Bucket List Ideas To Make Your Season Extra Special

17. Call Someone You Haven’t Talked to All Year

December gives you a very good reason to call up anyone, which is to wish them happy holidays. It’s a built-in permission to reconnect.

Call that friend who moved away, the family member you keep meaning to catch up with, or the person you think about but never reach out to.

Have a real conversation, laugh about old memories, and remind yourself why you care about them.

18. Send Unexpected Messages of Appreciation

Text people and tell them specifically what they mean to you.

Write detailed appreciation texts like:

• Thank you for always knowing when to check in on me.
• You made me laugh during a really hard time this year.
• I’m grateful you exist.

People need to hear this stuff, and you need to say it so that they know you care.

19. Make Time for the People Who Matter Most

December gets so busy that sometimes we’re constantly with people but never really present. So, carve out time for quality over quantity.

One good conversation is worth ten rushed interactions, and one meal where you’re actually focused is better than a week of distracted hellos.

So, protect your time with your people and make the moments count. They are so worth it.

20. See a Holiday Light Display or Show

There are many holiday light displays and shows happening in December. At the mall, at the park, and the markets. They’re everywhere.

Make sure you hit up a big light show where the entire space is covered in lights.

Yes, it’ll be crowded and probably touristy, but it’s also magical.

Bring someone who will appreciate it with you. Walk slowly and take pictures, but also just look with your eyes.

Let yourself be impressed by the spectacle of it all.

21. Make or Buy an Ornament to Remember This Year

Make or purchase an ornament that reminds you of the year you’ve had.

When you hang it on the tree next year, you’ll remember this particular December—who you were, what mattered, what you were hoping for.

22. Start a New December Tradition

December is built on traditions, but they don’t all have to be inherited.

This year, create a new December tradition that feels meaningful to you.

Maybe it’s breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve, or a candlelit dinner on the solstice. Maybe it’s watching the same movie every year or making the same meal.

Whatever it is, make it yours, and make it count.

23. Take a Winter Walk at Night

When it’s cold and quiet and the world feels still, take a winter walk at night.

Bundle up, see your breath in the air, and listen to the crunch of frozen ground or snow under your feet.

Night walks in December are special. The darkness comes so early that you can walk after dinner, and it feels like a completely different world.

It’s peaceful, restorative, and grounding.

24. Buy a Cute Winter Outfit

Often, we shop for pieces separately and then mix and match stuff, but buying for a specific outfit is classy on a whole new level.

You can use every piece of the outfit with other outfits, too, of course, but knowing you have this perfect outfit ready is super cool.

If you like the idea, make your own December outfit and wear it as many times as you want, and feel authentically pretty!

What I have in mind for the month: Burgundy coat, skinny blue jeans, black ankle boots, cozy white scarf.

25. Watch a Sunrise and a Sunset

Witnessing the beginning or end of a day feels more significant in December.

Maybe because you’re aware that time is running out on the year, or the cold makes everything still and beautiful.

Pick one day to watch the sun rise, and pick another to watch it set.

Bring hot coffee in a thermos to drink as you watch the view. Ah, coffee just makes everything better in winter, doesn’t it? So grateful for its existence.

26. Clean Out and Organize for the New Year

Cleaning and organizing might not be your idea of a fun time, but it’s kinda important to do it in December.

Trust me, you do not want to start the new year with cluttered drawers and dusty bookshelves.

Throw away everything that’s not usable anymore (like papers) and donate clothes you haven’t worn and books you won’t reread.

Organize your wardrobe, nightstand drawer, and shelves. Pay special attention to the kitchen.

Start the new year with space, both physically and mentally. It feels symbolic, but it’s also just practical.

27. Go Somewhere Wintery If You Can

I understand this may not be an affordable option, but in case it is, go somewhere wintery like the mountains, a cabin in the woods, or anywhere that leans into winter instead of fighting it.

Forget your to-do lists for a weekend and just enjoy nature while celebrating the end of year.

If you can’t travel, create a winter retreat at home.

Turn the heat up, make it cozy, pretend you’re snowed in somewhere remote. Sometimes the vibe is just as good as the location, you know.

28. Finish Something You’ve Been Putting Off

This will differ from person to person. Maybe you have a pending project, an unfinished book, a conversation you are avoiding.

Whatever’s been sitting on your mental to-do list is making you feel guilty; either finish it or officially let it go.

Don’t carry incomplete things into January. Closure matters, dear reader.

29. Take Photos You’ll Want to Remember

In December, click on real pictures that will take you back in time when you look at them.

Your messy kitchen while baking, you people laughing, the lights on your street, and your pet doing something ridiculous.

December goes by so fast, but if you document the ordinary moments, you’ll be able to feel stillness when you look back on the month.

Also, it’s the best way to capture all the moments from your bucket list.

30. Have a Winter Picnic

Pack thermoses of hot soup or cocoa, sandwiches, hand warmers, and blankets. Find a spot outside at the park, your backyard, or wherever.

And then have a winter picnic! Eat outside, embrace the cold, and feel alive.

It’s uncomfortable in the best way, and it’s memorable precisely because nobody else is crazy enough to do it (except us, of course).

31. Celebrate Making It Through Another Year

You made it through 365 days of being human, which is harder than anyone admits. That deserves recognition and celebration.

You can do it with a quiet self-care day at home, or loudly with a party with your close people.

You can do it with cake, which you eat yourself over two days, or by buying a book set that you’ve been eying for months.

I am gonna let you decide how to do it, but just enjoy fully, and set the tone for a happy new year.

End The Year on a Good Note!

December is the month of taking a bow. All the chaos and magic and stress and beauty wrapped up in 31 days.

How you spend these 31 days is up to you, and this December bucket list is my way of making sure you make every day count.

The year is ending. It was probably harder than you expected and better than you realized.

So, please honor both of those truths, and have fun ticking off items from this bucket list (whichever ones you want to).

Meet you next year!

Bookmark now: The Ultimate 2026 Bucket List For A Year Of Fun And Growth

Which of these December ideas called out to you the most? Let me know in the comment box, or send me wishes. It’s always a treat to hear from you!