At this time last year, no one thought we’d be worrying about how to enjoy the holidays in the middle of a global pandemic, but as we know all too well, change is always on the horizon.

When it comes to making adjustments to some of our holiday traditions this year, the best of us will find creative ways to adapt. Rest assured, plenty of opportunities abound for a fun-filled holiday—even if it is forced indoors and you’ve had to reduce your guest list.

Besides, no one really wanted to listen to your great Uncle Victor misremember the vast majority of his childhood…again. In fact, there’s been some debate as to whether you actually have an Uncle Victor.

For those looking to shake things up and provide your guests a new experience this year, consider giving whiteboard paint a try!

What is whiteboard paint?

I’m glad you asked.

Whiteboard paint is best known for its impact on the corporate world and in educational institutions by bringing dry erase options to any surface, effectively turning anything nearby, including desks and walls, into a collaborative workspace. This groundbreaking innovation encourages a dynamic and playful environment even where the most difficult problems need to be solved.

Which begs an important question: why relegate this innovation solely to those places where we labor? Why not implement whiteboard paint where we live?

The modifications we may feel compelled to implement into our holiday celebrations do not need to have negative outcomes. We can also make easy changes to the environment that inspire joy and forge fond memories.

Consider, for example, these three imaginative options for using whiteboard paint in your own home this holiday season:

Idea #1

Turn Wall Space into a Whiteboard

Everyone knows popular cooperative games like Pictionary, Last Letter First, or Dictation Race suffer when you’re scrambling to find enough pencils and pens for everyone. Even worse, how is that family member who took four years of art going to show off working on scraps of paper or unused napkins?

What if you had a wall—or a portion of a wall—dedicated to family night games?

Imagine the excitement your friends and family would experience if they were invited to take a marker to your game room wall! There, in the basement alongside the pool table, they could drive their teammates crazy attempting to draw a horse that looks exactly like a gas station pump. With whiteboard paint, you could have multiple, dueling artists simultaneously marking up your walls, only to wipe them down and start all over again.

Idea #2

Let Kids Wreck the Rec Room

Maybe the adults in your family are too refined for public shenanigans. Maybe they just want to sit around and watch football or take a long nap. That will never be the case for the kids.

Most parents fret about their children coloring on the walls of their house—a hypocritical idea considering what some people’s wallpaper looks like. This holiday, however, yours could be the home where the children entertain themselves for hours by spending time in a room comprised of numerous surfaces covered by whiteboard paint.

This does not require you to cover an entire wall with whiteboard paint if that’s what you wish to avoid. Imagine all the odds and ends cluttering up your attic and garage that you could allocate as in-house train cars for your children to “tag.”

In my backyard shed I can think of…

• An old grill
• A recycle bin
• A dormitory minifridge
• At least a couple of skateboards
• A 20-gallon fish tank

Consider how whatever junk you’ve collected over the years and lacked the energy or time to donate elsewhere now has redeeming value as a holiday art project.

The best part of this plan is that you can exit the room and let your kids’ imagination run wild while you patrol the kitchen to sabotage any discussions trending towards politics.

Even if you’re not hosting a family gathering, you can create a new tradition for your children by framing whiteboard paint with repurposed wood on a wall. This could eventually become a great place to list their weekly chores, but, first, encourage them to write their Christmas wish list there. Perhaps they can drop Santa some hints in that space.

Better yet…imagine what a troublesome Elf on the Shelf might do with whiteboard paint nearby!

Idea #3 

Collect and Share Messages to Family and Friends.

Robert Frost once wrote, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” Among other ideas, Frost was pointing out that one of the unfortunate traits of walls is that they exist to divide, to separate, and to create barriers.

Undoubtedly, this is why it’s become a common practice in many public spaces for people to express themselves on walls that have been repurposed for creative expression. In fact, graffiti and wall art have become welcome attractions in many communities, negating the adverse connotations the artform once held.

Essentially, whiteboard paint is one of the best inventions that doesn’t include a sledgehammer to subvert the notion that walls divide us! Thus, a more sentimental idea for whiteboard paint this holiday season might be to create an area for guests to share their heartfelt thoughts with each other.

Rather than the more traditional practice of taking turns around the table sharing what you are thankful for, imagine a shared space in the house for people to write messages to each other and to create lists of gratitude. Imagine, too, being able to capture those images in a photo or on video to be posted and distributed to others who were not able to be present.

This holiday season is rife with opportunities to create new traditions. Why not make whiteboard paint part of the festivities?