HOLIDAY ACTIVITY GUIDE
November 24, 2025
The holiday season is the perfect time for a Storytelling Session! There are so many great activities and family traditions that happen this time of year. Why not capture those precious moments and have your family photos taken at the same time? It’s all the fun and none of the stress. And here’s a list of a few holiday activities that make great family photos.
Picking out your Christmas Tree
There are so many Tree Farms in the Madison area, but two of my favorites are Enchanted Valley Acres or Hanns Christmas Farm. Both of these places have little holiday shops and refreshments. Enchanted Valley Acres often takes you on a tractor ride up to the “North Pole” to get your tree, which is really fun. And at Hanns Christmas Farm you can even meet Santa. If you don’t care as much about having lots of activities and just want to go and get a tree, Summers Christmas Tree Farm and Jensen Trees are also great options.
Holiday Baking
Lots of yummy baking happens around the holidays and every family has their favorite recipes. This is a great activity to have someone else photograph because when you are baking with small children it is a MESS! It’s hard to take photos when you are covered in sticky icing, so let me do that for you. Little kids love looking back at baking photos too and seeing the edible masterpieces they made when they were younger.
Holiday Family Traditions
Any special holiday tradition your family has will make wonderful family photos. These are the types of photos that bring generations together as they share the ways they celebrated the holidays at different points in time. Some traditions stay the same and some change at bit as families grow or time passes. Looking back on these photos inspires lots of wonderful conversations and I really love that!
Zoo Lights at Henry Vilas Zoo
Lots of families do Zoo Lights at Henry Vilas Zoo during the holidays. Animals, lights, hot chocolate, unlimited carousal rides, and meeting Santa, what's not to love? This one is really hard to photograph on your own because it is so dark. So let me bring an artistic eye and get creative to capture the magic.
Edgewater Hotel- Skating and/or Fire Pit
The Edgewater Hotel is always decorated for Christmas in the most beautiful way and you can go ice skating there. Last year it wasn't cold enough for ice skating and they shifted to roller skating so you should be able to do some form of skating either way. They play holiday music and have a warming house with hot chocolate, so it's lots of fun. You can also reserve a fire pit if you want to. Reserving your skates in advance is recommended.
Snow Globe and Santa at Hilldale
Hilldale is another place that goes all out in decorating for the holidays, so it makes great photos. A few fun things to do there would be to have lunch or dinner in one of those winter globes at Hollander. You'll definitely need a reservation to do that, but you can make one here: Winter Globes at Hollander Cafe. You can also meet Santa at Hilldale, just take a look at the schedule to see when he is there: See Santa at Hilldale
These are just a few things I've done with families before, but I'm open to ANYTHING. There are also some great guides to holiday fun around Madison online. Here is one that I really like: Destination Madison's Guide for Holiday Lights.
What is your favorite holiday tradition? Please share anything I haven’e mentioned already and let me capture your family enjoying this magical season.
