I am all about family traditions. I know the things I remember fondly from my childhood are the family traditions that we did over and over, usually tied to the holidays.
So, one of my main goals as a mama is to give my kids lots of family traditions from which to build those special memories. A few weeks ago we shared some creative ideas for Thanksgiving traditions “from the mouths of moms.”
ow, let’s see what our best mama blogger friends have up there sleeve for creative family Christmas traditions…
Family Christmas Traditions
1. Open Stockings First
“Opening stockings. We always do that first.” Jennifer from The Good Long Road
2. Christmas Lights Drive
“We love driving around looking at Christmas lights. We get to stay nice and warm in the car and have some great family time together.” Amanda from Dirt & Boogers
3. Christmas Lights Trail
“We go to a trail of lights each year to view the Christmas lights display. This post is about a scavenger hunt which isn’t yet a tradition but it shows the lights.” Rebekah from The Golden Gleam
4. Elf on the Shelf
“We have lots of fun with our Elf [on the Shelf].” Laura from Play Dr. Mom
5. Christmas Eve Elf Visit
“Santa’s elves visit our house every year on Christmas eve (usually while we’ve been celebrating with the grandparents’ all afternoon) and leave Christmas pajamas under the tree, special Christmas ornaments to put on the tree, and Christmas books to read before bed. They also report back to Santa whether we are all cleaned up and ready for Christmas.” Krissy from B-Inspired Mama
6. Annual Christmas Ornament
“I always buy Goblin and Hublet a new Christmas tree decoration each year. When Goblin is old I want him to look at the tree and see the really old ones from when he was a baby.” The Monko from Taming the Goblin
7. Christmas Songs
“We sing lots of holiday songs. Starting around the end of November we listen and re-learn all the words to our favorite songs.” Ariadne from Positive Parenting Connection
8. A Tree Decorating Party
“We get in the spirit bu drinking hot cocoa and listening to Christmas music while we decorate the tree. Then we finish off the night with some Christmas movies.” Krissy from B-Inspired Mama
9. Handmade Christmas Ornaments
“Each year I make my girls a new Christmas tree ornament. I love seeing their little faces when they see what I have created especially for them.” Jennifer from Kitchen Counter Chronicles
10. A Birthday Cake for Jesus
“We have a few traditions at our house we have done for several years. The shepherds move toward the creche a little each day, Jesus gets a birthday cake at Christmas dinner, and we make ornaments.” Deirdre from JDaniel4’s Mom
11. A Letter to Your Child
“For my daughter’s first Christmas, my husband and I decided we would start a new tradition. We decided that we would individually write a letter to her each year on Christmas, save them all, and then give them to her when she turned 18.” Brittany from Love, Play, Learn
12. Christmas Movies
“We didn’t watch regular television – just videos and figure skating events, so it was a special time at Christmas to watch many Christmas movie videos in the evenings from Thanksgiving through Christmas. We also went to see Christmas movies at the local theater.” Deb from Living Montessori Now
13. Gingerbread House Decorating
“[We make] Gingerbread Houses!” Kristen from Busy Kids = Happy Mom
14. Goodies for Service Workers
“[We bake] goodies for the firemen and delivering them on Christmas Eve.” Valerie from Glittering Muffins
15. 3 Symbolic Gifts
“Each of the kids only gets 3 gifts to symbolize the 3 gifts from the wise men to the Christ child.” Becky from The Reading Mama
16. Kids Exchange Gifts
“My boys give gifts to each other on Christmas Eve. We started the tradition when we had just two boys, and now that we have four, it’s even more fun!” Sarah from Frugal Fun 4 Boys
17. A Kid-Decorate Kids’ Tree
“We purchase a tree just for the kids and then the kids make all the decorations.” Kristin from Toddler Approved
18. Magic Reindeer Food
“We like to make ‘Magic Reindeer Food’ that we sprinkle on the lawn on Christmas Eve.” Brittany from Love, Play, Learn
19. Cookies for Breakfast
“[We have] cookies for breakfast on Christmas day!!!” Melissa from Mama Miss
20. A Gold Coin Trail
“Santa leave gold coins in a trail on the stairs leading to the presents.” Rebecca from Here Come the Girls
21. Kid Made Ornaments for Grandma
“The kids make Christmas ornaments each year as gifts for their grandparents.” Krissy from B-Inspired Mama
22. An Activity Advent Calendar
“We use a drawer advent calendar and include activities to do with our children. We open the drawers every morning so that we know what fun thing we get to do that day.” Beth from Living Life Intentionally
23. A Family Puzzle
“Each year I make a collage of my favorite pictures from the previous year [and make a puzzle out of it.] The puzzle is a fun way to help the kids remember all the fun we have together! They get the puzzle as one of the activities in our advent drawers.” Beth from Living Life Intentionally
24. A Christmas Book A Day
“[We] wrap up 25 children’s Christmas books and unwrap one a night and read it together as a family.” Susan from Kindergarten and Preschool for Parents and Teachers
25. Piano Playing
“Christmas Eve we dust off the piano and I’m “made” to play christmas songs that I learned as a child for everyone to sing along to it really sets the mood each year that Christmas is finally here.” Cerys from Rainy Day Mum
26. Bake Advent Cookies
“In Austria, it is a tradition to bake 8 or different Christmas cookies in the run-up to and during Advent. I like to make up small bags full of different cookies and give them as gifts to neighbors, friends, and family!” Maggy from Life at the Zoo
27. Christmas Eve Smores
“Funny tradition this one – We always have company on Christmas Eve and one of our rituals is starting the fireplace for s’mores. As fun as it sounds, it always gets the kids worked up; why? Now how is Santa gonna come??” Deepa from Blog Me Mom
28. Celebrate Christmas Until Three Kings Day
“Continuing the Christmas celebration through out January 6. Though it’s not a holiday here, we keep up all of our Christmas decorations, tree, and of course, a small display of the stable with three king figurines until January 6. Christmas in our home goes on until Three Kings Day!” Frances from Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes
29. A Handprint Christmas Tablecloth
“Each year the children in our family add a hand print to our family Christmas table cloth. It is so neat to see how much they grow from year to year. The table cloth makes a great gift for a grandma who “has it all.” Check out the DIY tutorial and get a cute printable to give with your gift here.” Zina from Let’s Lasso the Moon
30. Christmas Pajamas
“Every member of the family gets new Christmas pajamas each Christmas. This year we plan to start the tradition of wearing them to our family’s Christmas party on Christmas Eve.” Krissy from B-Inspired Mama
Christy says
Such great ideas!
Ann Hagenbarth says
We read “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” every year, It’s such a wonderful and funny story that really does an awesome job describing the true meaning of Christmas.
This year we have started a “sparkle box” It’s a box under the tree for Jesus, every time anyone in your family does something kind for someone else you write it down and put it in the box. On Christmas morning you get to open the box and read Jesus his birthday present.
Every year I have the kids make a present for their grandparents. Now that they are getting bigger the presents are really fun for them to make and they truly enjoy making them!
alldonemonkey says
What a great list! Such happy Christmas memories for these kids!
Krissy @ B-InspiredMama says
I know. They’re all such great mamas!
DianeMargaret Miller says
Christmas morning was pure TORTURE for us, as children!!!
We weren’t allowed downstairs until Dad got the coffee made (Mom FINALLY took over making the coffee, so it didn’t take as long!) and then we were only allowed to open our STOCKINGS!!!
Then we had to get ready for Christmas morning church service.
When that was FINALLY over, we practically RAN all the way home to open our presents, which we weren’t allowed to do until we had changed out of our church dresses!!!
TORTURE!!!!!!!! Every minute of it.
Krissy @ B-InspiredMama says
I used to go through the same thing when my older brother worked on the farm doing the morning milking. We had to wait until he got home and showered. Drove me nuts!!!
Mud Hut Mama says
So many lovely traditions – I’ve been thinking a lot about what traditions I want to start with my children – thank you for sharing these.
Beth (Homeschooler) (@LivingLifeInten) says
Great round up! So many wonderful traditions. Thanks for including ours 🙂
Deepa Blogmemom says
Awesome round-up! I agree with Valerie, such nice traditions.Thank you for including us.
discoveringtheworldthroughmysonseyes says
This is great! Thank you for including mine, too! Will be sharing it on my blog, and FB page. Gracias!
Valerie @ glitteringmuffins.com says
What an awesome round-up, such nice traditions! Thanks for including ours 🙂