Activities to Enjoy Around the Fireplace During the Holidays

New Hampshire winters can be foreboding, and while the weather outside is frightful, the fire is so delightful – so get the family together and maybe invite a few friends over to enjoy some special holiday activities around the fireplace. Here are ideas to get you started.

Read a Christmas story

Christmas tree decoration

Everybody loves a Christmas story, especially smaller children. Let everybody take turns reading favorites such as A Christmas Carol, The Night Before Christmas, The Elves and the Shoemaker and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Holiday stories are always better with a fireplace crackling in the background.

Enjoy a hands-on holiday snack

Nothing beats marshmallows roasted over a roaring fire. Everyone can participate, as long as younger children are given safety instructions. You can also make yummy s’mores, hot cocoa and anything else that goes well with a frosty December night.

Follow Santa on Christmas

Use Google’s “Santa Tracker” to keep up with the big guy’s travels and learn about everything-Santa. The tracker provides lots of fun activities for people of all ages to enjoy.

Camping in the living room

If you like camping out during the summer, why not try it during the winter? Get supplies like sleeping bags, pillows, lanterns, snacks, a radio and more and have a fun campout in front of a lively fire in the living room this Christmas season.

Play games

Computer games are fine, but nothing brings the family together on long winter nights like a real old-fashioned board game or card game like Scrabble, Uno, Monopoly or Yahtzee. Go as a group to the toy store and pick out some games everybody can enjoy and do well at.

Throw a tree-decorating party

If you have a Christmas tree, get everybody together – including friends, family and neighbors – and make a party out of tree-decorating. Cook some food, make some snacks, pour some drinks and crank up some holiday music to make the event memorable.

Watch a holiday movie in front of the fire

Get your fireplace roaring, get cozy and cue up a cool holiday movie to while away the winter evening. Consider titles like Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, Scrooged, Home Alone, The Muppet Christmas Carol and other exciting flicks.

Fireplace safety: an important activity all winter long

To get the most out of your fireside holiday activities, make sure your fireplace is running safely and optimally. Here’s how.

Chimney Sweep In Amherst, NHKeep it clean: Schedule annual chimney sweep services to remove creosote from the chimney and reduce the chance of a chimney fire.

Let the air flow: Along with creosote, have obstructions like tree debris and small-animal nests removed from the flue to allow smoke and gases to exhaust properly.

Inspect your chimney: Have a CSIA-certified technician inspect your chimney for signs of leaking and damage.

Burn dry wood: Seasoned (dry) wood burns better and produces much less smoke than wet, unseasoned wood. Always burn dry wood.

Check smoke detectors and CO monitors: Make sure your detectors and monitors have fresh batteries for the winter season. If you don’t have smoke and carbon monoxide monitors, install them now.

 

 

Black Moose Chimney of Antrim, NH, wishes everyone a happy and safe holiday season that’s full of enjoyment and wonder. We’re here to do our part in making your holidays safe by providing expert chimney cleaning, chimney inspection and chimney repair services. We work year-round. Call us at (603) 525-7905.

 

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John RantaJohn Ranta
17:01 22 Mar 24
They arrived on time, worked quickly and showed me the results. Prfessional throughout. jr
william greenwilliam green
23:21 14 Mar 24
Really helped me out can't say enough good things highly recommend!!!! The young man that came to my home was very knowledgeable and friendly great attitude all around answered all my questions and left me stress free best of all left no mess.🤙🏻🤙🏻
Michael Dell'OrtoMichael Dell'Orto
18:39 14 Mar 24
Jaime ConleyJaime Conley
17:13 14 Mar 24
Sarah GilliattSarah Gilliatt
01:46 13 Mar 24
A very thorough and careful job done! Thank you.
Larry CookLarry Cook
15:11 07 Mar 24
I wanted to give 5 stars but they are very busy which meant I had a good wait for both the inspection/cleaning, then for a quote on repairs and then for the repairs. Their prices seemed a little high to me but I have nothing to compare with as they were highly recommended by someone I trust and other companies had plenty of negatives reviews which kept me from getting additional quotes. I am happy with the work and they promptly returned to fix a mistake that had been made. Chris the inspector, Jennifer in the office, and Alex and his repair crew were all pleasant and took the time to answer all of my questions. Alex and his crew even took their shoes off (it was winter) before entering my house without even being asked! So if you are not in a rush and want to ensure you chimney is as safe as possible then I think you'll be happy with Black Moose.
Rebecca DeFuscoRebecca DeFusco
22:35 21 Feb 24
After a recent sweep of our chimney, it was discovered that our flue tiles were cracked. Black Moose techs were hard working, detail oriented and professional! Nice jobs guys! See you next year for my cleaning!
Karen CKaren C
14:52 14 Feb 24
Excellent I highly recommend Black Moose Chimney and Stove; Kelly and Liam are awesome, they did a great job. Extremely professional, arrived early, went through everything with a fine tooth comb ensuring pellet stove was thoroughly cleaned. They also were respectful of my home, conscientious and cleaned up after themselves. Made sure stove worked prior to leaving and told me to call promptly if anything came up afterward. Will definitely use them again.
Denise ClarkDenise Clark
16:32 31 Jan 24
We've had Black Moose clean our chimney for a number of years.But recently, we had an emergency situation at our home involving our chimney & oil furnace flue, which was caked full of soot from a malfunctioning furnace. They came & cleaned out both flues in no time, even going up on the roof with snow on it! They cleaned up after their work in the interior rooms where the oil furnace and the woodstove are located. Great work. Reasonable prices. Very nice people. You can't go wrong with Black Moose.
Joe GJoe G
18:30 24 Jan 24
Goods: The technicians know their business, very efficient in cleaning/inspection along with cleaning up after the 'dirty work'.Others: Communications could be more effective. Despite early coordination about scope of work (multiple flues within same chimney) the estimate provided did not reflect this and the final invoice was significantly more than the estimate provided.Quote for follow-on chimney relining was significantly more than that offered by other companies in the area (and far more than neighbors experienced for similar work accomplished by other companies)
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