Family Christmas Traditions
Traditions are one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I love traditions, because they bring families together. It’s a way for us to spend time together, connect with each other and create positive memories that will last forever. Traditions don’t need to be elaborate. A couple years ago, I spent hours and hours baking and preparing nativity gingerbread houses to decorate. Was it fun? Absolutely. But, do you want to know which tradition my children remembered and loved the very most? The family sleepover under the Christmas tree. The tradition that didn’t cost any money or any amount of preparation time. Children just want quality time with US.
Below you will find some of our favorite activities we've done through out the year. The activities with asterisks are our very favorite.
Download the PDF File: Family Christmas Traditions
**December 1: A Night in Bethlehem
Last year, we decided to start out the month of December with a dinner we call: “Dinner at the Inn.” It’s a great way to start out the month focusing on the purpose of Christmas - which is Jesus Christ.
Here’s what to do:
- Make a family favorite dinner. If you want to go the extra mile, you can serve similar Holy Land Foods as in this photo.
- Serve dinner over candle light. This makes it extra memorable.
- Read the story of Christ’s Birth in Luke 2. If you’d rather watch the story instead, here is a great link.
Christmas Jammies
I know most families like to open pajamas on Christmas Eve, but I love to do it early in the season so we can enjoy them all month long! Our favorite pajamas are from Hanna Andersson. We have gotten pajamas from Hanna Andersson for multiple years now and they are so soft and durable.
The past couple of years we bought Grinch themed pajamas to wear during our Grinch Night (see more about this later in this download). This year, we decided to buy the ski pajamas that I think are darling. There are a bunch of different style to choose from and are our favorite pajamas!
Read Christmas Books
Every year, we add a new book to our Christmas Book Collection. I love having the books out all season long for us to enjoy. Last year, we put the books around the bottom of the Christmas Tree (along with presents), but most years we have them on our coffee table. One of my favorite places to find a new family Christmas books is from Janssen at Every Day Reading. Every year, she compiles a new list of Christmas books with summaries. Click the links below to take you to a few of her book lists.
24 New and Classic Christmas Books
We checked out three books from the library in 2020 (from the last link) and I lost count how many times my boys wanted to read them: The Gingerbread Pirates, Santa Samurai, and When Santa Was a Baby.
We also love: The Night Before Christmas (Mary Engelbreit), How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Moostletoe, Little Blue Truck’s Christmas, The First Christmas Night and I Believe in Santa Clause.
**Visit a Live Nativity
If you have the option to visit a Live Nativity, I highly recommend it. Utah’s Adventure Family put together a post of all the live nativities in Utah if you are a resident here. We absolutely loved A Babe is Born in Lehi, Utah. We went here last year and I was blown away at the work that went into this live nativity. It’s indoor and the first room you walk in looks like a scene straight from Bethlehem. The manger scene was beautiful and hot chocolate/donuts are served at the end.
If you don’t have access to a live nativity, you could dress up and reenact the story. We also have a lego nativity set that we have been using the past couple of years. Another year, we made a gingerbread house and turned them into a nativity scene. Click here: Nativity Gingerbread Houses.
Polar Express Night
Every Friday, we have a family movie night. During December, our movie nights turn into themed Christmas movie nights! You can make this simple by just watching the movie or more elaborate by printing Polar Express Tickets, dinner “on the train” while watching the movie and drinking homemade hot chocolate. This year, we are going to make our own Hot Chocolate on a Stick for Polar Express Night. We tested this SIMPLE activity a couple weeks ago, my kids loved it. You might already have all the things you need to make it at home (chocolate chips, mini muffin tin/ice cube tray, marshmallows, sprinkles and a popsicle stick/plastic spoon). Click the links below:
*FREE* Polar Express tickets from Party Like a Cherry
Hot Chocolate on a Stick from Jac of All Things
**Sinterklaas Eve (celebrated the night of December 6th)
In many countries, children leave their shoes out by the window sill at night and when they wake up in the morning, “Sinterklaas” (Saint Nick) has filled their shoes with little candies or toys. Children can use their every day shoes for this tradition or make “Wooden Shoes” from model magic. (Simply mold the clay into a shoe. Leave it overnight and color it with marker). We make Danish Pancakes the next morning, but you need a Aebelskiver Pan to make them and this is very optional. We love this recipe: Aebelskivers from A Bountiful Kitchen.
Christmas Symbols Scavenger Hunt
We are a Christian family, and it’s important to me to teach my children about Jesus Christ during Christmas. Every year we go through our “Christmas Symbols Family Night” and learn about how Christmas symbols remind us of Christ. Print the symbols (double sided) on page 9-12 of the PDF download -- found at the top and bottom of this post -- and print the Scavenger Hunt on page 13-14. Throughout the season we point out the symbols and how they remind us of Christ.
**Grinch Night
We have done Grinch Night for the past four years, and it is on the top three of my favorite Christmas Traditions. We wear green clothes, make Grinch Pancakes (my no fruit/vegetable eater loves these!) with Grinch Fruit Kabobs, and watch The Grinch!
Grinch Pancakes:
2 ripe banana
2 eggs
2 cup tightly packed spinach
2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1) Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until there are no more spinach chunks.
2) Heat a griddle or large skillet to medium heat. Spray with cooking oil.
3) Pour 1/4 cup of batter to the pan. Wait for the pancake to bubble and flip. Cook the other side. Serve with butter, maple syrup, whipping cream and sprinkles.
Makes 12-14 pancakes.
Grinch Kabobs:
Green Grapes
Sliced Bananas
Strawberries
Toothpicks
Push a toothpick through one green grape (vertically), one slice of banana and one strawberry as shown below.
Watch our Grinch Night 2020 on Instagram!
December 13: Saint Lucia Day
In Sweden, they celebrate Santa Lucia on December 13th. Learn more about the holiday here: Saint Lucia Day and Christmas. Last year we rolled homemade candles and included our version of sweet buns to serve with dinner.
Caramel Sticky Buns:
- 20 frozen Rhodes Rolls
- 1 package COOK AND SERVE butterscotch
- pudding - do NOT use instant.
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
1) Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray (you can also use a 9x13 pan - I noticed the rolls cook more evenly in the 9x13 pan, but the bundt pan looks prettier).
2) Add twenty frozen rolls around the pan.
3) Evenly spread dry pudding mix over the rolls.
4) In a medium bowl combine sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Pour over rolls.
5) Leave on the counter, uncovered, and let rise 8-10 hours OR overnight if you want them for breakfast.
6) When ready to serve, place in oven and
bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
An Act of Kindness
Go through the link below with your children and have them choose an idea from the list. A few from the list are already on our calendar! Last year we went to the Dollar Store and left dollars around the aisles. Watch it on instagram! My kids loved this! Compliment your children on how helping others brings us joy. Growing up my my family always did The Twelve Days of Christmas for someone we knew.
50 Random Acts of Kindness from Six Sister’s Stuff
Decorate Gingerbread Houses
When we were little, my mom put together milk carton gingerbread houses almost every year. They are simple to make and easy to decorate. You can use an empty whipping cream or buttermilk carton for the base of the house as well.
- Empty Carton (small milk, buttermilk or whipping cream)
- Hot Glue
- Paper Plate
- Graham Crackers
- Frosting
- Candy (gumdrops, skittles, sprinkles, marshmallows, chocolate chips, etc)
Hot glue the bottom of the carton onto a paper plate. Break the graham crackers in half and hot glue each piece onto the sides and “roof” of the carton as shown below. Let the children frost and decorate their ginger bread houses!
Watch a tutorial how to make the houses on instagram.
You can also make Nativity Gingerbread Houses. We made these a few years ago and it was a fun spin on traditional gingerbread houses.
Family Activity Ideas
- Sledding (or ice block sliding if you don’t have snow)
- Drive Around to See Christmas Lights - we do this every year. Usually we get hot chocolate from Dutch’s Hot Chocolate to drink on our drive.
- Christmas Tree Farm
- Paint a Nativity Scene - We tried this Nativity Scene Last Year from Step by Step Painting
**Sleepover by the Christmas Tree
Christmas 2020, we read “Little Lamb of Bethlehem” and gave my older two boys a lamb stuffed animal to sleep with. We brought a mattress from our bed to sleep on, added some cozy blankets and snuggled up for a sleep over. This was both of my boy’s favorite thing we did last Christmas season. It would be fun to include a movie as well.
Christmas Eve Board Games
For Christmas Eve, we started a tradition of playing board games. The kids open a new board game after dinner and we play together. Three years ago, we played Pie Face (make sure to wear sun glasses!). My kids died laughing in this game and request to play it all the time. This year, we are going to get Parks Board Game or National Parks Monopoly, since we are visiting some of the National Parks this year. The three most often games we play as a family are Life, KingDomino, and Uno.
Other Game Ideas:
- The Best Games for All Kids from Busy Toddler
- 101 Family Games from The Dating Divas
A Cake for Jesus
Around Christmas, we also eat cake. The cake reminds us of Baby Jesus and his birth we celebrate at Christmas. You can go the simple route and buy a cake or make a family favorite. Last year, we made Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes.
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