Easy Christmas traditions for kids to try over the festive season
Last Updated on November 14, 2024
Christmas is a great time to start some Christmas traditions for kids, that your kids will remember for years to come, and may even continue with their own family.
When it comes to Christmas traditions, choose ones that are fun, easy, and that are meaningful for your family, which not only makes for a stress free Christmas, but a memorable one as well.
If you’d like to start some Christmas traditions, here are some easy Christmas traditions for kids that you may like to try.
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Elf on the Shelf
Elf on the Shelf is one of the more popular Christmas traditions for kids, that you may or may not be too keen to start!
If it is something you’d like to do, this Christmas tradition involves hiding an Elf around your home and putting it in different situations, which your kids have to discover.
For example, one day you may place your Elf next to some cupcakes and a bowl with a cracked egg in it, so it looks like the Elf has been baking.
Another day you may decide to cut out a hole in a cereal box and make the Elf squeeze through it.
Here are some easy Elf on the Shelf ideas, if you’d like some fun ways to do this tradition.
Make your own advent calendar
Kids love advent calendars, opening the little doors and discovering what’s behind them is a great way to create excitement in the build up to Christmas.
If you’d like to make your own advent calendar, you can buy a fill your own advent calendar and place some advent fillers inside it.
Some advent calendar filler ideas are:
- Animal figures
- Chocolate coins
- Hair accessories
- Mini Lego figures
- Mini puzzles
- Stickers
- Temporary tattoos
Here’s some more advent calendar filler ideas if you’d like to try this.
Christmas crafts
As the weather gets colder, there’s nothing better than staying home and doing some Christmas crafts with your kids.
If this sounds like something you’d love to do over Christmas, here are 7 cute Christmas crafts that Twinkl have put together, that are perfect for kids of any age.
Christmas baking
Baking is a great Christmas tradition for kids, and some recipes you may like to try are:
If you have young children, it may be easier to get them to decorate a pre made baked good, like a gingerbread house, gingerbread men, or Christmas cookies.
Christmas reading
Reading to your children in the lead up to Christmas is another great way to get into the Christmas spirit.
Some of my kid’s favourite Christmas books are:
- Dear Santa
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas
- The Jolly Christmas Postman
- There’s a Little Snowman in your Book
- What the Ladybird Heard at Christmas
- Who’s Jolly?
Christmas decoration traditions
Kids love to decorate the Christmas tree and house for Christmas.
Some Christmas decoration traditions that you may like to do over Christmas include:
- Buying each of your children a new decoration each year that they can have when they’re older
- Creating a Christmas village, or putting a train track under the Christmas tree
- Decorating the Christmas tree as a family
- Letting a different family member choose the Christmas tree topper each year
- Making Christmas cards to send to loved ones
- Making Christmas tree decorations, or making some toddler friendly Christmas decorations if you have younger children
- Putting mini trees in your kid’s rooms that they can decorate themselves
Gift buying and wrapping traditions
Buying gifts can be expensive, especially if you have a big family, so here are a few ways to make this Christmas tradition a little more budget friendly:
- Buy your children something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read
- Do a Secret Santa, which is where everyone buys for only one family member, at a previously decided upon budget
- Schedule a day to wrap all of your gifts, which can be made more fun by listening to music, listening to a podcast, or enjoying a Christmas treat
Christmas family photo
Taking a Christmas family photo is not only fun, but is a great way to see how your kids have grown over the years.
You could have a different theme each year, dress up in the funniest Christmas jumpers you can find, or create a photo booth where each family member chooses different outfits and disguises to wear.
Santa photo
As well as taking a Christmas family photo, you may like to get a photo of your kids with Santa, which you can do at a number of locations including shopping centres, garden centres, and restaurants.
This is something that you will need to do when preparing for Christmas early, because many Santa photo slots book out as early as October, so keep your eye on your desired location’s website for details on when the slots are released.
Christmas bucket list
A Christmas bucket list is a list of activities that you’d like to do over Christmas with your family, so your family spends quality time together.
Some activities that you may like to add to your Christmas bucket list include:
- Attending local events
- Creating a hot chocolate station
- Making a Christmas music playlist to play over Christmas
- Taking a Christmas Day walk
- Writing a letter to Santa
Outdoor activities
Some winter activities that you can enjoy over Christmas include:
- Attending a Christmas light switch on, or Christmas tree lighting ceremony
- Attending a Christmas parade or Santa Grotto
- Going for a family walk
- Ice skating
- Making snow angels
- Sledding
- Snowman building
Christmas Eve traditions for families
Here are some Christmas Eve traditions for families that you may like to do over the festive season:
- Family slumber party
- Family board game night, some game ideas are:
- Family movie night, some ideas for movies include:
- A Christmas Story
- Elf
- Home Alone
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- Miracle on 34th Street
- National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
- The Grinch
- Getting snacks ready for Santa and his reindeer
- Going to bed in matching family Christmas pyjamas
- Having the same meal or side dish every Christmas Eve, for example waffles for breakfast, starters for dinner, or continuing a food tradition you grew up with
- Making a Christmas Eve box for your kids, which is a box filled with anything they need for a special Christmas Eve night, which could include slippers, hot chocolate powder, and treats
- Opening one present
Christmas morning traditions
Some Christmas morning traditions you may like to start are:
- Calling family you can’t be with
- Enjoying a Christmas morning pancake breakfast
- Looking to see if Santa and his reindeers ate the food you left for them
Christmas traditions for kids – a recap
There are many Christmas traditions that you may like to start with your family, from activities you can do at home such as Elf on the Shelf, baking, starting a food tradition, or getting outdoors and enjoying what Christmas has to bring, as well as many others.
Don’t be afraid to stop a Christmas tradition if you no longer find it fun, or it becomes too much work.
The idea of Christmas traditions are that they’re fun and memorable, so keep trying different ones until you find the ones that are just right for you and your family.
Do you have any family Christmas traditions?
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What would you recommend for making your own advent calendar? Would cardboard be sturdy enough?
Definitely, I think cardboard would be sturdy enough. You could make small cardboard boxes for each day and put an advent item inside each box. Or you could use cardboard to create a small card, where you could tape items inside. Or for something quick and easy, you could use paper cups, put a number on the front of it, and the advent item underneath it.
Lisa, I love these Christmas tradition ideas! I’m always looking for ways to create memorable moments during the holidays, and your list has inspired me to start a few new ones with my own family this year. The simplicity of some of these really shows that it’s the little things that make the season special. Thank you for sharing!
It’s definitely the little things that make this season special and I hope you find some here that sound fun for your family!