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It’s that time of year again and Christmas cheer is in the air. This year things may look a little different but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate old traditions and create new ones. Today I am sharing with you 15 Christmas Traditions Your Kids Will Love.
15 Christmas Traditions Your Kids Will Love
I remember growing up we had a lot of Christmas traditions we followed on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We weren’t much of a celebrate starting November kind of family but that’s okay, because now I am. The holidays start November 1st in our household. Our pumpkins come down and our tree goes up. Okay, so not really right away, my spouse loves Fall so I try and give them an extra day or two of it. But when it’s time to decorate it’s a whole thing. In the past my spouse would surprise me by decorating on their own while I was at work. But since I am no longer working and we are forever at home we decorated together. Which brings me to my first tradition.
Related: How To Create The Perfect Themed Christmas Basket
Decorating your home and Christmas Tree
This is seriously one of my most favorite Christmas traditions. It was a huge deal in my house. I remember my and dad would take down the boxes from the basement and grab them out of the garage and they’d be scattered all throughout our living room. Christmas music would be blaring and we would put up every decoration possible in one night. We had a huge tree faux tree which took us hours to assemble fluff and decorate. But once everything was added and cleaned up we would turn off all the lights and only keep on the Christmas lights. It was beautiful. Now that we have our little family we do something similar. We don’t have a huge tree because we don’t have to space for it but we assemble and decorate it all the same. The kiddos love helping put out all the Christmas decor.
Making Christmas cookies and Hot Chocolate
I’m a baker and I love the aesthetic of baking during the holidays. I try to make sure we have one baking day during Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love having the kids add the ingredients and mix it up, they love sneaking a taste of the batter and helping cut out shapes and watch them bake. Then we decorate with sprinkles and frosting and enjoy them with a nice cup of hot cocoa.
Have A Christmas Movie Night
I love Christmas movies more than anything! A good cheerful and festive movie makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We usually combine our baking and hot cocoa night with a movie night so we can enjoy some nice treats while we watch.
A Few of our Favorite Christmas Movies:
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas
- The Grinch
- Noelle
- A Christmas Carol
- The Polar Express
Visit Santa Claus – Christmas Traditions
I know right now times are different and we can’t have our annual picture with Santa. But there are ways to virtually chat with Santa so your kiddos can still get a feel of Christmas.
Take Family Christmas Photos
Okay, so this one may be more for the adults but having a family Christmas shoot will be perfect to look back on especially if your kiddos are still so little.
Learn about Other Holidays during this time of year
Christmas isn’t the only Holiday that gets celebrated during this time of year and not everyone celebrates it. so It’s important to remind your kids that Christmas isn’t the only holiday. It’s the best way to teach them about inclusivity and celebrating everyone. There are shows and books and videos you can use to help make it easier to understand.
Read a Christmas Book
Growing up we would read a Christmas book on Christmas Eve. We would sit around the tree as my dad would read us a story. It was usually Rudolph or Frosty the Snowman but I loved every minute of it.
Open one present on Christmas Eve
Another one of my favorite traditions we had growing up was being allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve. It was usually something small or a set of pj’s but I remember always being so excited to open my gift because I just couldn’t take it.
Get Matching Family Pajamas – Christmas Traditions
This is something K and I kind of did even before we had kids. We never really matched But I made sure we had some type of Christmas Pj mainly to wear while we watched a Christmas Movie. But now that kids are involved I have gone full blown Christmas basic and have bought matching Pj’s ever since and yes even the dogs match us!
Check out Christmas Lights
I wish we lived in a small town that goes all out during Christmas time just like the movies, snow everywhere and carolers every you go. But I live in California so snow is not really a thing in our area. But there are a few towns just a drive away that decorate the entire neighborhood as a Christmas wonderland. Every house is decked out and in years past people would sit out and sale hot chocolate or even sing some Christmas Carols. It was magical and something we look forward to every year.
Make a Family Recipe for Christmas Dinner – Christmas Traditions
When I think of Christmas I think of one specific year. I was maybe around 6 or 7 and I remember helping my aunt make tamales. Our sink was filled with a hug pot surrounded by corn husks and a lot of masa. It honestly looked like she was making hundreds of tamales. The kitchen smelled amazing and everyone was covered in flour from baking cookies, to red sauce from making the pozole. There’s a lot I love about Christmas but the food was my most favorite part. Now with K’s family I bring authentic from the Mexican grocery store tamales and make homemade pizzas with my in-laws which adds its own level of special.
Have a Sweet Breakfast on Christmas Morning
Even before we had kids K and I would have our own special Christmas morning breakfast. We would give our dogs their Christmas present and I’d bake frozen cinnamon rolls. It has been something we’ve enjoyed for as long as we’ve been together and are excited to share it with the kids.
Use an Advent Calendar To Countdown to Christmas
I remember having one of these growing up filled with chocolates I couldn’t eat because they were for adults only. Now we buy ones that are obviously Disney related and filled with little story books to read together.
Create Christmas Crafts
A fun way to get your kiddos involved when their little is creating fun and creative Christmas crafts. This way you have memories and fun pictures to look back on when they are older.
Pick Out Yearly Ornaments
We just started this one this year with the kids. We go to the store, mainly Target, and have them pick out one ornament of their choice. K and I did this the past few years but at Disney World. We plan to continue that once we can travel again. But it allows them to feel involved and you can look back on all the ornaments collected.
What are some of your family holiday or Christmas traditions? Let me know in the comments!
Hi, just wanted to say, I loved this post. It was helpful. Hulda Kermit Babcock