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I’ve always loved the holiday season. From the lights to the festive music and decorations (not to mention the food!), there is something for everyone. But one of my favorite parts by far is making memories through fun family Christmas traditions.
Growing up, we had a number of family traditions that made the season special. Now, years later, my sister and I still keep some of those same traditions and have even incorporated them into our own families.
Even if you did not grow up with any family Christmas traditions, it’s never too late to get started. Especially if you have kids, having some fun family traditions throughout the holiday season will make them look forward to the days leading up to Christmas and not just to Christmas Day.
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Some of my favorite Christmas family traditions are free or cost very little, yet they provide fun for our whole family and memories for years to come. If you want to include some new traditions in your own family’s holiday celebrations this year, feel free to pick some from my list below or research some other ideas that may work better for you.
Below are some of my favorite ways to get in the spirit of the holidays and celebrate the entire month of December rather than just focusing on Christmas. These ideas are also fairly frugal since none of them require spending a lot of money to enjoy the season as a family.
Pick and decorate a Christmas tree as a family
Ever since my oldest was old enough to start figuring out what Christmas trees are, we’ve taken him to help us pick out our family tree. He always has a lot of fun with picking out which tree will be ours and then helping us decorate it when we get home. You can also pull out a fake Christmas tree that you have in storage and decorate it with your kids as well. For us, going out to the store and walking around, trying to decide which is “our tree” is part of the fun.
Ever since my oldest was old enough to start figuring out what Christmas trees are, we’ve taken him to help us pick out our family tree. He always has a lot of fun with picking out which tree will be ours and then helping us decorate it when we get home. You can also pull out a fake Christmas tree that you have in storage and decorate it with your kids as well. For us, going out to the store and walking around, trying to decide which is “our tree” is part of the fun.
When it comes to decorations, we usually use the same ornaments and lights every year, sometimes adding new stuff bought on clearance after Christmas for 80-90% off the previous year. Since I have little kids, the majority of the tree ornaments we have are non-breakable and kid-friendly. This way, I don’t have to worry about anything breaking and my kids can just enjoy helping decorate the tree.
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Create a Christmas countdown chain
Doing a Christmas countdown chain is a fun project, especially if your kids are still little and do not understand the concept of time very well. For kids, it seems like everything takes forever. My oldest has been asking about Christmas pretty much since the beginning of the year and does not understand much about how days and months work.
Doing a Christmas countdown chain is a great visual way to show your child how many days are left until Santa comes. Those can easily be made by creating red and green loops from construction paper and alternating them to form a chain of 25 loops – one for each day in December leading up to Christmas. Then, each morning, you and your kids can cut a new loop from the chain to represent a new day – that much closer to Christmas.
Bake cookies and take them to family and friends
Baking and decorating cookies are such fun activities with kids. They love to help cut out different shapes and add frosting, sprinkles, crushed up candy and other fun stuff to the cookies. You can also do different types of candy or snack mixes.
This is also a great tradition because it lets us share it with family and friends. After the cookies are done, we put together holiday-themed goodie bags with the cookies, candy, etc. and deliver them to family, friends, and neighbors. It’s a fun way to share the spirit of the holidays with those you love.
Cozy up with Christmas movies
My sister and I have a couple of favorite holiday movies that we love to watch every year (Christmas Vacation and Home Alone). They are a great way to get the season started and get us in the mood for Christmas. Now that I have my own family, those movies are top of the list every year and we continue to keep the tradition going.
I love introducing my kids to new holiday movies and helping them create their own favorites. It’s a great way to get everyone in the spirit of the season while we have a quiet family movie night featuring hot chocolate and popcorn as we cuddle up on the couch under some blankets.
Enjoy the Christmas lights
Going on a Christmas lights tour is a great activity with kids. My entire family has enjoyed going to check out the most decked out houses in our home ever since I was a kid. It’s amazing how crazy people get with their holiday displays, sometimes even including music that is synched with the flashing of the lights.
Driving around with the kids to look at Christmas lights is now a favorite activity for the whole family. The boys have a blast checking out all of the different lawn ornaments, inflatable Santas, and light-up reindeer. You can just drive (or walk) around your own neighborhood if your neighbors are big into holiday decorations. Or, if you would like to check out some crazier displays, drive around some of the larger neighborhoods in your area that are known for their holiday light displays.
Get into the holiday spirit with Christmas PJs
Another fun family tradition is getting Christmas pajamas for the kids to wear all of December. Some people do those as a Christmas Eve present but I like to give them to my kids at the beginning of December to kick off the holiday month. They love getting special PJs and wearing them the whole month. It also makes for some really cute photos on Christmas morning, especially if you can get matching jammies for all of the kids.
Have a special Christmas morning breakfast
Planning a special Christmas morning breakfast is a great way to start the day off celebrating and in a good mood. One of my favorite Christmas morning breakfasts is homemade cinnamon rolls. We don’t usually have those very often throughout the year so Christmas morning is a great excuse to have them. I usually make those the day before, put them in the fridge already in the pan and just bake them in the morning.
You can make a special casserole, baked oatmeal or a big breakfast with eggs, bacon, muffins, fruit, French toast – just about anything that strikes your fancy. Just keep in mind that if you are having a large Christmas lunch, you may want to limit the size of the breakfast spread or have a really late lunch so everyone has a chance to get hungry enough.
These are some of our favorite fun family Christmas traditions. Our kids are still very little – both under five – so we are planning to add more fun things as they get older. I remember the holidays being a magical time when I was a kid and would love to create the same experience for my own children.
What are some of your favorite family Christmas traditions? Are there any new ones you plan on adding this year?
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I’ve always loved traditions of Christmas way more than the presents!
Same here! They’re a great way to make memories for years to come. Presents are often forgotten shortly after Christmas is over.
For the past three years, our family has made a tradition of going into the woods and decorating a tree for the birds, rabbits, deer, etc. We string popcorn on the tree, fill pine cones with peanut butter and seeds, etc. It’s always a lot of fun.
We also get the kids in their PJs, make some hot cocoa, and hop in the car to see neighborhood Christmas lights. Since some people go overboard, we have made it a tradition to label houses “Crazy House 1” or “Crazy House 2” The house with the most outlandish our gaudy decorations wins.
That’s such a neat idea! I love it. I bet the kids have so much fun.