I’m in love with Christmas and although I haven’t checked to make sure, I think Christmas loves me back. Growing up in a low-income single-parent home didn’t offer lavish or expensive gifts but maybe that’s why I love it so much! I usually went into Christmas with low expectations as a kid but it always proved its magic. Christmas to me is about family, it’s about fun traditions, and its about celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Speaking of Christmas, can someone please explain the mermaid tail to me?? I read on the news that typically electronics are the hot items every year, but this year the most watched item on Amazon is the Mermaid tail!!! What is with that?! They are cute, but really??? I find it very amusing (and I not-so-secretly wish I was the one that came up with the idea).
Anyway, right now I want to talk about some fun Christmas traditions because they are one of my favorite aspect of Christmas!
Christmas Kindness Elves.
A fun alternative to “Elf on the Shelf” that focuses on doing kind things for someone every day leading up to Christmas. You need to order this one early so it ships on time!
Christmas Treasure Map This is a fun scavenger hunt that leads the kids to a new Christmas activity each day leading up to Christmas. You can customize it however you like!
CHRISTMAS STALKER: In our family every year we draw names and whoever has our name is called our “Christmas Stalker” meaning you should “stalk” the family member you have to find out what gift would be most meaningful for them to receive. Another reason we were called “stalkers” is because our gift was to fit in a stocking….large or small…bought or made. We had themes every year; sometimes the gift had to be hand-made, sometimes it had to be from the classifieds or a yard sale, sometimes it had to be something we already had, and sometimes it was purchased but had a spending limit (usually $10 which resulted in all of us watching the Amazon Lightning deals to see who could find the best deal for $10).
See my previous post for a fun Christmas Stocking Tradition, as well as some ideas for stocking stuffers!
CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS TREE: A few years back I babysat for someone who had a neat Christmas tradition and I have decided to carry it on in my own little family. They had a separate “mini” tree for the kids that they were welcome to decorate and re-decorate over and over. Underneath the tree were Christmas books all wrapped up. Each night the children got to pick a present to open and they read that book as a family that night. This tradition kept the kids from messing with the decorations on the larger tree because they had their own, and it also kept them from getting into the presents under the big tree because they got to open one everyday from their own tree anyway. The books she put under the tree weren’t all Christmas books either–some were holiday books, some were silly books, and some were children’s books that teach life lessons.
I saw on Pinterest the other day a kid’s tree using felt. I didn’t really want one on my wall, so I made my own version using a 28 ” safety cone that I bought off Amazon. I wanted something that I could use year after year and that wouldn’t fall apart. When Christmas is over, I can store the felt tree with my Christmas stuff, and put the orange cone in the garage. See my post Toddler Felt Tree Tutorial for more instructions.
Texts From Santa This one is REALLY popular year after year, and for good reason. You sign up for Santa to send your kids personalized text messages for the days leading up to Christmas, and then on Christmas morning you get a picture “catching” him in your living room by the tree! Here are some new features I am excited about this year:
> New storyline, photos and games for the 2016 season
> Different storyline versions for multiple children per household
> Choose the time of day texts are sent
> Includes 3 custom texts for parents
> Santa selfie sent on Christmas morning
CHRISTMAS PAJAMAS: I know of many families that do this one and have decided to do it myself. On Christmas eve, there is a knock at the door and Santa’s elves secretly leave new Christmas pajamas for everyone. This always makes for fun pictures. I always find our Christmas jammies on Zulily, but you can also find a good selection here.
Santa’s Elves leave a special Christmas Eve Box or Bucket at the door on Christmas Eve filled with PJ’s, cocoa, & more!
Gingerbread Village and Hot Cocoa: For me, it’s just not Christmas season without decorating gingerbread with the kids. Make up some of this homemade hot cocoa (make it once and then you have a pre-made mix for the rest of the season), and make a gingerbread village as a family!
SANTA’S FOOTPRINTS: Growing up I loved to go over to my best friend’s house on Christmas morning to see Santa’s “footprints”. A cookie sheet with flour was left at the fireplace so that in the morning the kids could run to the fireplace and see that Santa really did come because his “boot prints” were imprinted in the flour. Very cute tradition.
MAGIC REINDEER DUST: Leave carrots or oats outside for Santa’s Reindeer. Leave whoppers or chocolate covered raisins on the ground so that the kids can see proof that the reindeer have been in the yard! Here are a few printables for Magic Reindeer Dust Poems.
PUTTING CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS Each year on mothernsiche.com, we try and give you some fun and creative ideas for celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. This year, we have given TONS of fun ideas to go along with the #LIGHTtheWORLD initiative. You will definitely want to participate with your family this year. Check it out here: Light the World Challenge.
SLEEP OVER: Another fun tradition is to have all of the kids have a sleepover in one room and know that they can stay up as late as they want together watching Christmas movies and playing games, but they have to stay in the room (usually the furthest room from the Christmas tree so they don’t over hear “Santa”). This also keeps them up late and makes them tired, hopefully keeping them from waking up mom and dad at 4 AM.
CHINESE: I have a friend whose family goes out for Chinese in their Christmas pajamas every Christmas Eve. Christmas traditions like this are fun because the kids look forward to it every year and the pictures are priceless. This wouldn’t have to be Chinese, you could adapt it to your own family’s preference.
SANTA vs. PARENTS: I really, really like the idea of marking most of your children’s gifts from mom and dad, and having one special gift be the gift that Santa brings. This way children don’t feel entitled to a bunch of toys from a magical being and they learn the principle of gratitude. The magic isn’t taken away because Santa still comes, but they know to ask for one special item they would like from Santa, and the rest comes from mom and dad if they are able to do so. This way you don’t have to always wrap presents in such secrecy either. It doesn’t ruin “Santa” if kids walk in on you wrapping presents because they know that they get gifts from you as well.
REINDEER NAMES: This is a fun way of tagging Christmas gifts. Rather than put the child’s name on each present, assign each child a reindeer name. This keeps the children from running to the tree and pulling out all the presents with their name on it because until present opening starts, no one knows who’s nickname is “Dasher” or who is “Prancer.”
SERVICE: Although it sometimes happened a few days before Christmas, my mom would usually try to arrange a service for us to accomplish on Christmas morning to help us understand the true meaning of Christmas. Sometimes this was volunteering at a soup kitchen, visiting an old folks home, playing “secret santa” to another family, or singing to a group of kids with special needs. These were always tender and special moments that made my Christmas memorable.
GIFT FOR JESUS: We did this one several different years. We would write up a gift that we were going to give to the Savior over the next year and put it inside of an ornament. The next year we would read what we wrote and hopefully smile that we accomplished our goal.
NATIVITY: My mother always did some type of Christmas Eve “devotional”, and part of it usually consisted of us dressing up and acting out the story of Christ’s birth from the book of Luke. Now that a lot of us are older, the grandchildren now act out the story.
I enjoy falling in love with new Christmas traditions and making them my own because family traditions are extremely important for family unity. Traditions contribute to healthy family life because they give children a sense of belonging–that they are part of a group rather than a solitary individual.
What are some of your family’s favorite Christmas traditions?
Also…..if you have children, help other parent’s out this upcoming holiday season by sharing what toys have been the biggest hit over the years. Share your thoughts on my post here
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I love the children’s Christmas tree. Do you happen to have directions on how to make it?
Rhoda, I have received quite a few requests for instructions…so I will post a tutorial on my blog tomorrow or Friday. Keep an eye out for it! 🙂
Oh my gosh I love this post! I had really great traditions with my family growing up and so I’m excited to continue them with my family now. When I was younger, the day after we always made a big day of going out and cutting down the Christmas tree. Finding the perfect one, being cold, drinking cocoa.. It was fun. We also always got to open the pajamas present on Christmas Eve. My mom still gets my entire family pj’s 🙂
These are all such great ideas too.. I LOVE the Chinese dinner idea. That would be so much fun.
Love these traditions!! Thank you so much for sharing, I am posting this to my blog today along with your Christmas tree felt tutorial.
Thanks Sonnet! You have a cute blog!
Thank you for sharing your Christmas Traditions. While I have a few of my own I love bringing new ones in. Being a grandmother to 6 grandchildren (5 boys, 1 girl) I find it even more important to make those lasting memories.I love listening to my grown up children talk of their Christmas memories. But now I need to make those special memories with my grandchildren. I am going to see if I can arrange a night that we can do the chinese restaurant in our jammies. That would be a fun and memorable moment. Thanks again for sharing.
This is a fantastic post! Thank you for all the wonderful ideas! Our family is young (5yrs, 3 yrs, 2 yrs, and 9 mos) and we’re formulating our new family traditions…thanks for the help! Merry Christmas! 🙂
my family has a lot of traditions around Christmas time, but the one I remember the most and will pass on to my kids one day is… my sister and I when we were little would go out into our back yard and throw fruit loops out for the reindeer and when we woke up on Christmas morning, there would be something resembling reindeer poop. It was so much fun waking up and seeing “Santa’s” reindeer really had come
Love these ideas. Christmas is my absolute favorite. I want my children to love it as much as I do.
A couple of traditions I originated that have been passes down to my children for THEIR children are: since my 1st born came along my husband, baby and I would go out to a tree lot and pick out a tree together. When he was old enough, around 3yo, we would each find a tree then decide together which one would be best for our home. When the next 2 children came along, of course we continued the tradition but at that point all the children had to decide as one which tree would be best. It taught them to consider each other and work together to not be selfish on what each of them wanted but instead our family values. The other great tradition I had and still have is, I make a game every year for one special gift each child is to receive, whether big, small, expensive (not usually) or inexpensive. I make a puzzle or word search or some type of game. I start with a clue in the stocking. Each clue leads to another and each one is placed in AND out different parts of the house. It’s a scavenger hunt really. When the kids were little it was more simple clues like, ‘you have mail’ and the clue would be somewhere in or on the mailbox. As the kids have grown and are now in their 20’s it has been a bit more challenging but it’s been great fun. When my oldest son and wife had their 1st baby they started the tradition in their own home. I was honored to know I’d created something special with my kids that carried on 🙂
Every year growing up, Santa left “clues” to lead my sibs and I to our gift from Santa. The first clue was in an envelope hidden in the Christmas tree, which contained a letter from Santa about how proud he was of our accomplishments that year. At the end was the first clue… Such as, “Go to the place where the cat loves to sleep”, then each clue would lead to another until finally leading to the big present.
We do the same thing!!!
Speaking of Santa’s getting all the credit for gifts. I continue with the tradition my parents did with me with my daughter. We have to “pay” Santa for the gifts he delivers. This also keeps those items that a family could never afford not a problem. When my husband and I go out Santa shopping (great date night for us too) our daughter knows this is when we go talk to Santa and “pay” him. We’ve even ran into Santa and had our picture made with him. Our daughter has always thought it was special we met up with Santa.
Our tradition is a variation on the felt Christmas tree. I would purchase huge faux evergreen wreaths at the after Christmas sales for the kids to decorate the next Christmas. We would have craft days when they would make, draw, paint, etc. their own ornaments. We would glue clthes pins on the ornaments or put fancy string on them. I hung each wreath in the house, down low so they were reachable. They could decorate and redecorate to their hearts content. Each year we would make more ornaments until the evergreen was hidden.
One tradition that my mom started with us kids is that we each would get 1 new ornament every year and when we got old enough and moved out she would give us all of our ornaments collected over the years to put on our own trees and start the tradition over with our own families. Some years we would even make our own ornaments too!
I love this! Awesome idea!
When my children were small we always orange juice in wine glasses while I read the Christmas story before anyone was allowed to open gifts. On Christmas Eve I always read the Night Before Christmas. My 40 something kids still insist that we carry on these traditions.
My mother started a tradition of the twelve days before Christmas. We were allowed to open one small gift each night until Christmas Day. It kept us from worrying about the bigger presents under the tree. Now as an adult, I have continued the tradition of the twelve days of Christmas with my own children and grandchild.
Christmas tradition in my family was that none of our presents were left under the tree. My parents didn’t have a lot of money and usually were really stretching their dollars. Every year they would tell us how there wouldn’t be too many gifts. On Christmas Eve when all five of us kids went to sleep my parents and grandma would stay up all night til about 3 in the morning wrapping allllll the gifts. Because there was five of us when we woke up in the morning the floor would be completely covered with presents. So exciting! We loved that. And now all my sisters and I continue this tradition with our kids. Another thing we always did was youngest child opens a present then the second youngest etc. we would take turns opening presents one by one. I love this because it prolonged the joy and everyone got to enjoy the surprises instead of rushing through the chaos and missing people’s expression when they opened an awesome gift.
We also open one gift at a time, starting with the youngest, then second…..then back the the youngest, etc. I like this because it prolongs it (so it’s not over in 15 min) and it taught us to appreciate others’ joy.
I make Jesus’ birthday cake:
It is round to represent the world
It is white to represent Jesus’ purity
It has 12 red candles…..they represent His light when lit, His blood when they drip and the 12 months of the year. ( I stick them in candy cane lfesavers)
It has 1 gold star that represents the star that led the Shepard and Wise Men to Him.
It has 1 Angel that represents the Angel Gabriel who told Mary of the coming of Christ.
And it has something green around the bottom of the cake to represent everlasting life. ( I use green mint leaf candy or green tree shaped cookies.). I also have the tape HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS that we sing along to after we go over the meanings on the cake and light the candles. My kids are grown now, so I do it with the grankids now.
My dad started 2 years ago where we would plant the round peppermints in the ground (peppermint seeds as my 5 year old calls it) and the magic of Christmas grows the candy canes by Christmas morning. We all love it.
Love this post!! Since my daughter was little- we run away Christmas Eve afternoon to the movies…It doesn’t matter what is playing, she picks a movie, we get treats and hide from the hussle and bussle….we both look forward to it every year!!