25 Christmas Traditions to Start With Your Family This Year
Christmas Traditions to Start With Your Family This Year
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I absolutely love spending time with my family during the holidays, and am so excited to make memories as my son gets older.
These Christmas traditions are not your average ones like making a list or decorating the tree together. This is a list that can grow with your family. So what are you waiting for? Let’s make some memories!
Make Breakfast on Christmas Eve
Make something that just needs to be popped in the oven in the morning so that it can be baking while everyone is opening presents. The kids will have fun helping and it’s less work for you come Christmas morning! This year, I am going to try making cinnamon rolls from scratch. You could also try a quiche, breakfast casserole, or anything your family enjoys.
Find the Pickle
This is such a fun game that the whole family will enjoy. Get a pickle ornament such as this one, and hide it somewhere on your tree. Whoever finds the pickle gets to open the first present on Christmas morning!
Bake Some Gifts
When I was young, my mom and I would pick a day in December and spend hours baking. We’d mix, bake, decorate, and pack treats to give out to family and friends. It is one of my favorite memories with my mom. Plus, you can teach your child about sharing and spread cheer to neighbors with your goodies!
Volunteer
Show you kiddos how to give back to their community by volunteering around the holiday. It could be at a soup kitchen, Homeless shelter, animal shelter, or anywhere that you’d like to show them how to care for others. As they get older, you can let them choose how to participate by voting on where they would like to volunteer.
Christmas Eve Movie
Each year on Christmas Eve, my family spends the day together at home. We bake cookies and watch Its a Wonderful Life together. It is one of the highlights of Christmas for me. My husband and I started doing this together when we first got married, and I love that our little family does it each year.
Go Light Hunting
I used to love finding the neighborhoods with the best light displays each year when I was a teenager. You can even look for attractions in your area for light displays that are set to music. I get to take my little one on an adventure and it is pure joy on his face to see the glowing lights and all the fantastic light patterns.
Watch a Parade
There is something so fun about watching a Christmas parade! Kids love seeing all of the floats, and it’s a great excuse for hot chocolate. Be sure to dress warmly!
Give Each Child Their Own Tree
This is a tradition we are starting this year with my son. He gets his own miniature tree to decorate and keep in his room. It is just a special way for him to feel the Christmas spirit. If you have multiple children, you can decorate together and then move them into each kid’s room since the trees are smaller.
Switch Out Their Pillow Cases
To make their bedrooms a bit more festive, switch out their regular pillowcase with a festive one. These are some of my favorite. It is a small way to celebrate and get them excited for the season! This is one of those Christmas traditions that can grow with your kiddo by starting with what they like when they are young and allowing them to choose what pillow cases they like each year.
Make an Ornament
This is a fun craft you can do each year, and if your kiddos have their own trees, it can feel really special to put their new ornament on their own tree. You can buy ornament kits or look up a tutorial to create your own!
Go Ice Skating
This isn’t just for Christmas, but make it more festive by dressing in Christmas pajamas, ugly Christmas sweaters, or your own take on the holiday!
Christmas Boxes
This can be done on Christmas Eve or right after Thanksgiving to prolong the fun. Fill a cardboard (or decorated!) box with Christmas pajamas, reindeer food, hot chocolate mix, and a themed mug. Let everyone get dressed and prepare their snacks as you settle in to read a Christmas book!
Run a 5K
Many cities have events for families during the holidays. Look for one that donates to a worthy cause if possible. Who knows, maybe this will be a Christmas tradition that extends to friends as well!
Build a Gingerbread House
These are so much fun to do together, especially if you have a large family! Last year we got to spend time with friends, and ended up having a decorating contest that was so much fun! Use a kit like this one so you don’t have to worry about scrounging up supplies.
Select a Yearly Ornament
Each year, update your Christmsa tree with a new ornament. What makes this special? You get to decide together what the theme of the year is. The Year we got married, we got an ornament commemorating that. The same for the year we bought our home and the year our son was born. Maybe it is an ornament from a family trip you took. Maybe this year you want to be reminded of the furry friend you brought home. Whatever the theme for the year, it is so much fun to look back on all the years you’ve spent as a family.
You could also choose an ornament for each member of the family, based on something that has happened that year. Maybe a tooth ornament for your daughter losing her first tooth or a hockey ornament for your son making playoffs.
Play Board Games
There are some great Christmas themed board games and/or puzzles out there! This is something you can do throughout December that will definitely get the kiddos into the holiday spirit. Check out my favorite ones below:
Christmas Present Scavenger Hunt
Instead of hiding the presents under the tree, send your kids on a scavenger hunt around the house to find their presents. This builds anticipation and extends the Christmas fun!
Wrap Their Bedroom Doors
After the kiddos have fallen asleep, ‘wrap’ their doors in wrapping paper so that they have to burst through in the morning. You could also do this over the entryway to the living room (or wherever you keep your presents) so that they all see everything Santa brought at the same time.
Save Your Tree Rings
If you do live trees each year, be sure to cut a slice from the bottom before it gets tossed out. You can label it and drill a hole for ribbon to become an ornament for next year’s tree.
Feed the Reindeer
Leave carrots in the yard on Christmas Eve for Santa’s Reindeer. After the kiddos have gone to bed, replace the carrots with bells that ‘fell off’ the reindeer while they were eating.
Switch Out Their Books
If you have a toddler (or older child) who loves to read, switch out their bookshelf for holiday-themed books! This is great for littles because there are so many board books out there! Check out this post on Children’s Holiday Books for some ideas.
Have a Christmas Light Sleepover
After decorating your tree together, make a night of it by camping out in the living room under the pretty lights. This is one of those Christmas traditions that will feel super special and magical!
Practice Giving
Give each child a set amount of money (this could be just $20) and let them find a way to give to someone in need. If the kids are older, let them control how they want to give. If they are younger, help them by discussing what giving means. I think this is a great way to transition from ‘getting from Santa’ to becoming Santa.
Draw Names for Stockings
Instead of mom and dad filling everyone’s stockings, have everyone draw names after Thanksgiving dinner. Each person gets assigned someone else’s stocking and they have all of December to think of ways to fill it.
Check out a Performance
Many cities have Christmas plays, shows on ice, ballets, or other events that are family friendly. This is a great way to get out of the house and make some memories that (hopefully) turn into Christmas traditions.
Remember that Christmas traditions are still memorable even if you don’t get to ALL of them each year. Just try to be present in this busy season and enjoy your family. You would much rather give your kiddos memories of a happy mom than a frantic, stressed out one.
What is your favorite Christmas tradition? I would love to add it to my list! Let me know in the comments below. Merry Christmas!
Great ideas! I felt so cozy and in the Christmas spirit while reading it.
Growing up my grandmother would sew us new pajamas so that we looked cute and put together for pictures. Now that she is gone, we just buy new pajamas as a Christmas present and open them the day before Christmas.
I love these ideas, there are so many good things to try. My kids would love if I got them each their own Christmas tree, what a lovely idea.
These are great suggestions. i would love to start some of these Christmas traditions, like baking and making a Christmas breakfast! Board games would be fun as well!
I love these family traditions. Especially the volunteering. that’s a fantastic way to work together and have fun for a good cause!
Excellent ideas for the holidays!
Thanks for sharing these lovely suggestions.