7 Family Christmas Traditions
December is usually a hectic month for families with young children. However, it’s also the most exciting and magical time of the year.
Many families adopt Christmas traditions of their own and make the celebrations memorable and fun for the kids. Do you have a family tradition that you do within your family? If you don’t or would like to add a new one, check out this list of fun Christmas traditions we put together.
Christmas cookies.
Bake and decorate cookies (possibly using an old family recipe) the night before Christmas to leave out for Santa and then also enjoy on Christmas day. These can be of a particular shape or decorations, which can be done for Christmas only.
Elf on the shelf.
This is one of the most popular Christmas traditions. It is sure a fun way of bringing magic to Christmas. On a specific day of December (usually, it’s the 1st of December. However, it is up to the family), an Elf appears in the house (kids need to search for him).
Some parents introduce the idea to kids by reading a special magic book together so the Elf knows the family awaits him. Each morning afterwards, the Elf ends up in different locations around the house. Usually, he is very naughty, so kids may find him wrapped in toilet paper in the bathroom or doing snow angels in flour on the kitchen bench. The main thing is that kids cannot touch the Elf, or his magic will disappear. The night before Christmas, Elf
disappears and returns to the North Pole to tell Santa whether the kids were naughty or nice.
Letter to Santa.
This is usually a must for many families, but if you don’t do it with your kids, it’s never too late to start doing it. How else will you know what your children are waiting for from Santa? ;)
This can be done a couple of weeks (or earlier if you’re a super organised parent) before Christmas. This tradition is straightforward - kids need to write a letter to Santa asking about the presents they would like. You can go the extra mile and get kids to write why they deserve these presents and in what ways they were “nice” this year. Then you can take letters to “post” them yourself or take them to your local post office together with children and give them to the person
behind the desk. Don’t forget to do a secret wink at them as you give them letters. You will most likely need to come back to the post office to grab the letters back. Unless you have a fantastic memory and remember everything your kids put in the letter.
Light display walks.
Each town has streets or neighbourhoods that create beautiful light displays on their houses or buildings. Make it a special evening outing each year and enjoy a favourite drink while walking around and watching the light display.
Christmas ornaments.
This is a very cool Christmas tradition where each year, parents get a new Christmas tree ornament for each child. The idea is that when kids are ready to leave your home, they will have a nice little box full of Christmas decorations to take with them to their new home. So when they have their own Christmas tree, they will display their unique ornaments on it.
Gifts for children in need.
Some organisations collect gifts for children in need leading up to Christmas. Let your kids choose a gift within your budget and wrap it (even include a personalised Christmas card). Then you can deliver it to a charity organisation to pass on to less fortunate children.
Food donations.
If there is an organisation that you usually donate to, chances are they will be busy and in need leading up to Christmas even more. Collect cans of food or anything else that will be accepted by your chosen organisation and drop them off together with the kids. This teaches children empathy and, hopefully, to appreciate and be grateful for what they have.
Whatever you do leading up to Christmas, make it fun and keep the Santa magic going around for as long as possible, as it doesn’t last long as kids grow up.