3 unexpected ways to surprise your kids on Christmas morning

Get creative this year and give your children some extra reasons to be excited on Christmas morning.

One great way to surprise your kids is to leave signs of Santa's visit for them to find when they wake up. Of course, there is the tradition of leaving a plate of cookies and a glass of milk out when the kids go to bed, which you can then eat and drink once they're asleep, leaving crumbs.

• Consider leaving carrots out for Santa's reindeer and leave large bite marks in the pieces left behind.
• Take the remnants of Santa's visit to a whole new level, leaving a swath of red cloth near the tree or fireplace, as though he got stuck in his haste to get in or out.

• Rather than piling all the gifts under the tree this Christmas, wrap a note for each child leading them on a scavenger hunt through the house and yard for some of the biggest gifts.
• This will not only allows kids to exercise their creative thinking muscles, but it also extends the Christmas morning celebration, which is often over way too fast.

If you've gotten your children something non-tangible for Christmas, like a vacation, a fun way to surprise them is by putting the letters that spell out the destination inside balloons.

• Write the letters on index cards, roll them into small scrolls, and insert them into the balloon before blowing them up.
• After you've spelt the destination in balloons, cover the rest of your floor with empty, blown-up balloons.
• Challenge your kids to pop the balloons, find the letters and spell out the place you'll be going.
• Not only is this a fun activity for families, but it's also a festive decoration for the holiday morning.

There's no doubt that every child who celebrates Christmas considers it to be one of the best times of the year. After all, it's a day of presents, eating and friends and family.

Making Christmas even more special is possible for parents, too, by creating some thoughtful and exciting surprises for kids to wake up to on the big morning.