This post is all about Christmas Traditions so you can have a memorable and amazing Holiday Season
Featured Image: @_ericashaw
Before I be became a mom, I never really gave much thought to Christmas traditions. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Christmas, but when I gave birth to my daughter I was so much more excited for it than my pre-mom era!
I had so many flashbacks of myself growing up, decorating the Christmas tree and making cookies that I knew I wanted my daughter to have similar, amazing memories.
However, my family didn’t have set ‘traditions’ per se, we kind of just winged it every year.
But I wanted to have memorable moments that we can look forward to every year.
So I talked to my husband and scoured the web to find the best traditions our little family could start.
Here are a couple of our favorites and we will definitely be incorporating many of these this holiday season to see what ‘sticks’ and which we enjoy best. I encourage you to do the same!
Memorable Christmas Traditions To Start This Year
Write a Letter To Santa
If your kids are old enough to write, this is a great tradition to start! Not only is it incredibly cute, your child will be so excited to receive a letter back. Getting them that much more excited for the Holidays.
You can write the letter from Santa yourself or purchase a customizable letter that looks official!
To get a stamped envelope back from ‘Santa’ in the North Pole follow the instructions here (note: you have to send YOUR prewritten Santa letter to be sent back).
But don’t forget to photocopy the original letter for your own memory books!
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Put The Christmas Tree Up On The First Sunday of December
I know everyone has a different time when they like to put the tree up, however, the first Sunday of December is the perfect time slot if you want to start a Tradition!
It’s likely everyone will be home on Sunday and you can go out early in the morning to pick out a tree and spend the day decorating, making for a memorable (and amazing) day.
Everyone can plan ahead and get excited for that first Sunday every year to come.
(Another popular day to put the tree up, is the day after Thanksgiving, but my family occasionally travels that weekend, so it would break the tradition for me)
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Decorate Christmas Ornaments
Things hold more value when they are made by those we love and cherish.
That’s why having a tree decorated with ornaments your family has made makes it that much more special.
You can get clear plastic ornaments which could be filled up with a anything you want (confetti, string, etc.).
But my personal favorite is the wooden ornaments you can paint yourself! Such a treat to decorate the tree with the hand-painted decorations.
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Do a Holiday Scavenger Hunt
Yes, this one will take more planning, but how exciting would it be to have the kids go on a Scavenger hunt every Christmas?!
Bonus points if the scavenger hunt leads the children to their presents!
Leave a riddle under thee tree and watch them have an amazing time even before they get their toys!
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Make (or Purchase) an Advent Calendar
Advent is practices in many homes and churches worldwide. It is a time to prepare for the nativity and coming of Jesus at Christmas.
You can make your own advent calendar or purchase some amazingly beautiful ones to celebrate the Holiday.
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Have A Christmas Themed Movie Night
Invite all the children in your family and watch some amazing (and classic) Christmas movies to celebrate the season.
There are so many amazing ones to choose from like The Grinch or Home Alone! Years can pass, and these will still be a classic.
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Bake Christmas Cookies
Children loooove baking and playing with their hands. Getting the entire family involved in baking sweet reindeer shaped cookies is a great way to bond and celebrate the season.
Get Christmas themed cookie cutters and find plenty of delicious recipes on youtube for free!
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Drive Around The Neighborhood
This had to have been one of my favorite things to do growing up!
We would all get in the car and drive around for hours just looking at decorated houses and lights! Finding one that was all decked out felt magical!
Children’s eyes just light up seeing a brightly lit, christmas-y house!
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Wear Matching Pajama Sets
Going to bed on Christmas eve and the entire family waking up in matching pajamas is just so cute!
Don’t forget to have a photo-op every year in the matching pj’s!
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Christmas Morning Family Photo
Set a self-timer and have everyone in-front of the Christmas tree, hair a mess, in matching pajamas with big smiles!
Those ‘natural’ pictures without loads of makeup and preparation are the ones you’ll cherish the most!
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Hang Stockings
Putting up stockings has become such common practice that we forget it’s a tradition!
I absolutely love stockings. I think they feel even more Christmas-y to me than the Tree. There’s just something about having them over the fireplace that warms my heart.
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Start A Giving Tradition
This will look different from family to family but it’s good to set it up one year and have everyone looking forward to it!
In my family, we set up a ‘Secret Santa’ type tradition but only with handmade gifts! That way, the kids can participate and make something special for grandma (or whoever their Secret Santa pick is).
Plus, we tend to cherish handmade crafts more than purchased goods.
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Hide The Christmas Pickle
Such an odd tradition! Hiding the Christmas pickle os a fun little thing you can do and whoever finds it get’s to open the family present.
The family present can be anything, like chocolates. Or you can create your own ‘prize’ for whoever finds the pickle.
(By the way, you don’t have to use a real pickle! You can buy a fake pickle for less than $10 and reuse every year)
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Make A Gingerbread House
Get the . entire family together to decorate your very own gingerbread house!
You can all design one gingerbread house or have have everyone design their own and have a little gingerbread village (how cute!)
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Practice Gratitude
The holidays are a time to be grateful and it’s important to remember that.
Whether you had an amazing or difficult year, we all have things we can give thanks for. As your family to come up with 25 things they are grateful for.
You can read it out-loud to one another or put hang the lists up around the house as a gentle reminder during the season of everything you are blessed to have.
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What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? Will you participting in any of these traditions this year?
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