I can’t believe that we just finished with Halloween and now Christmas will be here before we know it! This year, I want to make it the happiest time of year, ALL MONTH LONG, so check out these 10 Best Christmas Holiday Traditions to start this year as well.
Read: How to plan & save money for the holidays on a tight budget
Christmas traditions are deeply rooted in my family. Growing up in England, we always had a chocolate advent calendar and watched a Christmas eve movie with a hot drink and just so many more special memories. These are the intentional acts that I want do this year at Christmas with my family and create long lasting traditions to pass on to my children.
Stores come and go but ‘Traditions’ can last forever. On this list, you’ll find a combination of family tradition ideas we practice and some new ones we’ll do that you may want to try this year.
I hope you find one or more of these Christmas Traditions suitable for your family and make plans to start this year.
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10 of the Best Christmas Holiday Traditions to Start this Year
1.Deck the Halls before December 1st!
Blast the Christmas music, put up the tree or trees in my case(!), decorate the house and light up that Christmas Scented Candle! It’s time to set the holiday in motion so when December 1st rolls around, you are festive and ready to go!
There is nothing better than the smell of Christmas and we don’t get a real tree (you can’t beat the convenience and cost savings of an artificial tree!). Get that extra smell by diffusing some Holiday scent in your oil diffuser (don’t use too much as it will choke you out!). Add extra scents found in good quality candles such a cinnamon, peppermint, gingerbread and pine…this will certainly set the holiday mood!
2. Find or Create and Advent Calendar
An Advent calendar is a unique way to count down the days from December 1st until Christmas Day. They are often familiar to Christian traditions but can be adapted for all families to use during the Holiday season. They now come in the forms of not only chocolate, but also wine and whisky calendars too! This makes a great gift!
Many Advent calendars take the form of a large rectangular card with “windows” one for each day of December leading up to and including Christmas Eve (December 24). Consecutive doors are opened every day leading up to Christmas, beginning on the start of the Advent season for that year or in the case of reusable Advent calendars, December 1.
Often the doors are distributed across the calendar in no particular order. The calendar windows open to reveal an image, a poem, a portion of a story (such as the story of the Nativity of Jesus), or a small gift, such as a toy or a chocolate item. Advent calendars may also have puzzles and games printed on their reverse side! You can make them or purchase them easily online.
For Kids, check out these chocolate treats calendars.
For Adults, check out these Whisky and Wine ones! (you must be 21 for delivery!)
3. The Big Book Countdown
Similar to the Advent Calendars I think it’s a fun idea to wrap 25 books as we countdown to Christmas and unwrap one each night to read.
It can even be books you already own, the fun part is unwrapping it to find out what you’ll read that night.
They don’t all have to be about Christmas but try and include some as we get closer to the big day. I’m marking the books by number to help me out. Here are some Christmas books on Amazon Prime if you need to get some.
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Christmas
- Elf on the Shelf with Accessories
- Secret Santas and the Twelve Days of Christmas Giving
- Little Blue Truck’s Christmas
4. Have a Christmas Kickoff Dinner!
On December 1st, gather your friends and family for a pot luck and decide on 3 Christmas activities to do together, such as go see the Nutcracker, go Ice Skating or go and see a Christmas Movie! Check out your local holiday guides to see all the activities for the month. Create a calendar and STICK TO IT!
Use a wall calendar to keep track of all your events! For your first Christmas Pot Luck, pull out the festive tableware such as placemats, table decor, disposable holiday plates & cups! Help keep your food warm using these awesome food warmers by Crock Pot!
5. Family Game Night!
There’s not much more that I love than Game Nights. I love spending time with family and winning! I don’t care how old you get Monopoly will always be a family favorite.
You can even top it off with the classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer themed Monopoly game.
I was recently at a party where we played Quiplash and it was a BLAST! It’s only fun if you get ridiculous with your answers so make sure you are with a fun group.
Game nights are something we do often but it’s more special when we do it around Christmas. We like to make a picnic style dinner with all finger foods and favorite snacks! We set up the game on the Dining room table and we are ready to go! Make it special by buying some fun holiday treats as prizes such as a popcorn cone or a christmas craft!
6. Make a Gingerbread House or Village Together!
If you’re anything like me, you’ll buy the pre-baked Gingerbread kit instead of trying to make it yourself but if you love to bake try this recipe.
We don’t intend to eat this but it’s a fun activity to do with the kids and leaves a great smell in addition to topping off our Christmas decor and who can resist a cute Gingerbread Village…not to self, do not leave in a spot when dogs or cats and access it!
Remember to blast the Christmas music when doing this, music sets the tone and makes things more enjoyable.
7. Christmas Table Crackers
This is a tradition that I grew up with in England. Christmas crackers are a table treat typically served on Christmas Day during Christmas Dinner. Crackers are typically pulled at the Christmas dinner table or at parties. In one version of the cracker tradition, the person with the larger portion of cracker empties the contents from the tube and keeps them. In another, each person has their own cracker and keeps its contents regardless of whose end they were in.
Typically these contents are a coloured paper hat, a small toy, a small plastic model or other trinket and a motto, a joke, and a riddle or piece of trivia on a small strip of paper. The paper hats, with the appearance of crowns, are usually worn when eating Christmas dinner. You can buy all kinds of themed crackers, from Disney to Tiffany’s from all price ranges. They are a lot of fun and I plan to serve them again and explain them to guests every year!
8. Make Christmas Eve Special for Kids and Adults Alike
When my husband and I first started dating, we made it point to have a specialty Christmas cocktail with a homemade Christmas cookie and watch Four Christmases on Christmas Eve…I think macaroons were our favourite for a long time! Now that we are married and have a child, we have added a Christmas dessert treat (and still enjoy our cocktail ;)) with a more traditional Christmas movie.
This Christmas, make a traditional holiday cocktails from this Good Housekeeping list for adults! Include kids in on the fun and make them a special drink such as a Rudolph Punch so they too can celebrate the season!
9. Add a Baby Christmas Tree to Your Kids Room
We have two large Christmas trees in our house, one more formal tree in our Living Room and one fun family tree in our Family Room. Both trees are meticulously (adult) decorated and themed…gold and white on the Formal Tree and lots of rainbow colors and gold on our Family tree. We have space to hang up our son’s cute homemade creations, but he doesn’t get to put it on the tree.
So, make Christmas extra special this year by buying a small tree for your kids rooms that they can decorate however they want! You can find mini trees already pre-lit and have your kids choose the different types of decorations, from Disney Characters to Star Wars, there are all kinds of things that they can come up with and enjoy in their room!
10. Do something Kind for others
Did you know that kindness is contagious? Try with your family this year, an act of kindness, to model with your family to season of giving and love. If you need help, check out Work It Women’s book, Make Kindness Your Culture to get started! Why should you Make Kindness Your Culture?
- See: These 20 acts of kindness increase the production of serotonin in the brain as well as boost the immune system in a positive way.
- Act: Serotonin is the naturally occurring neurochemical that has a calming anti-anxiety effect on our mood…the natural feel-good.
- Do: People who observe an act of kindness experience the same increase of serotonin and boost in their immune system.
So now you have seen some of the Top 10 Best Holiday Christmas Traditions! Try them out, let me know what you think in the comments! Have fun…it’s Christmas!
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