The Christmas season is important in our household. Having 3 young children, and lots of family in the area, typically means lots of events and lots of fun. One of my favorite things about the holidays, is getting to share traditions from my childhood with my kids. It's so much fun getting to relive some of that childhood magic. I also love finding new traditions to try out and incorporate into our holiday season.
Here are a few of my family's favorite traditions:
Decorating the Tree
Growing up my family always set up and decorated our tree the day after Thanksgiving. It was, and still is, one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I love waking up before the kids and sitting in the quiet, with a cup of coffee by the tree. There's something almost therapeutic about sitting next to a lit Christmas tree on a quiet morning or evening.
Most years we use a fake tree, so we stick to family tradition and set it up and decorate on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It's a much more relaxing way to spend the day than out fighting the Black Friday crowds.
Secret Santa Basket
This is probably my favorite holiday tradition, though we don't always get a chance to do it. The idea is to pick an individual or a family that you know could use some holiday cheer, and make them a gift basket to secretly deliver to them.
Some of the things we've put in baskets in the past are: Sparkling cider, fuzzy socks, gloves, gift cards for coffee, wine, chocolates, Cracker Jacks, glow sticks, fruit, candy canes, hot cocoa mix, new coffee mugs. My kids love helping pick out treats and set up the basket, and I love watching them get excited about giving to someone else.
Ice Skating and the Light Parade
Our town sets up an outdoor ice rink every year, that's open late November through mid January. My 9 year old loves to ice skate and doesn't think the holiday season is complete without at least one trip to the ice rink.
At the beginning of December there's usually a special event at the ice rink with a parade of trucks covered in Christmas lights. We weren't able to make it home for the light parade this year, but found a similar event here where we're currently living, so we enjoyed that one this year instead.
Baking Cookies for Santa
If you ask my kids what their favorite holiday tradition is, they'd probably pick decorating cookies. My kids love helping in the kitchen, and what kid doesn't love getting to play with icing and sprinkles?
We usually make traditional old sugar cookies because they're so good for decorating. Once the cookies are baked and cool, we cover them in icing and an assortment of sprinkles and candies. Then each kid gets to pick one to leave for Santa.
The Christmas Pickle
The origins of this tradition aren't exactly clear, but it's fun nonetheless. We have a glass pickle ornament that I hide somewhere on the tree on Christmas Eve, after the kids are in bed. The first kid to find it on Christmas morning gets a prize (usually chocolate or a couple dollars).
Feeding Santa's Reindeer
In addition to leaving out milk and cookies for Santa, we also leave out a snack for the reindeer. They are the ones doing the most physically demanding part of the job after all. There are lots of recipes for glittery reindeer food out there, but we prefer to leave something a little more eco and deer friendly, so we leave out oats and carrots.
The Drive Thru Nativity
In years past, our church has always put on a really neat drive thru event, with live actors depicting the Christmas story, scene by scene. Sadly we were unable to put it on the last few years because we're still dealing with the aftermath of the wildfire that devastated our community, but hopefully it will become tradition again in the future.
Here are a few of my family's favorite traditions:
Growing up my family always set up and decorated our tree the day after Thanksgiving. It was, and still is, one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I love waking up before the kids and sitting in the quiet, with a cup of coffee by the tree. There's something almost therapeutic about sitting next to a lit Christmas tree on a quiet morning or evening.
Most years we use a fake tree, so we stick to family tradition and set it up and decorate on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It's a much more relaxing way to spend the day than out fighting the Black Friday crowds.
This is probably my favorite holiday tradition, though we don't always get a chance to do it. The idea is to pick an individual or a family that you know could use some holiday cheer, and make them a gift basket to secretly deliver to them.
Some of the things we've put in baskets in the past are: Sparkling cider, fuzzy socks, gloves, gift cards for coffee, wine, chocolates, Cracker Jacks, glow sticks, fruit, candy canes, hot cocoa mix, new coffee mugs. My kids love helping pick out treats and set up the basket, and I love watching them get excited about giving to someone else.
Ice Skating and the Light Parade
Our town sets up an outdoor ice rink every year, that's open late November through mid January. My 9 year old loves to ice skate and doesn't think the holiday season is complete without at least one trip to the ice rink.
At the beginning of December there's usually a special event at the ice rink with a parade of trucks covered in Christmas lights. We weren't able to make it home for the light parade this year, but found a similar event here where we're currently living, so we enjoyed that one this year instead.
If you ask my kids what their favorite holiday tradition is, they'd probably pick decorating cookies. My kids love helping in the kitchen, and what kid doesn't love getting to play with icing and sprinkles?
We usually make traditional old sugar cookies because they're so good for decorating. Once the cookies are baked and cool, we cover them in icing and an assortment of sprinkles and candies. Then each kid gets to pick one to leave for Santa.
The origins of this tradition aren't exactly clear, but it's fun nonetheless. We have a glass pickle ornament that I hide somewhere on the tree on Christmas Eve, after the kids are in bed. The first kid to find it on Christmas morning gets a prize (usually chocolate or a couple dollars).
In addition to leaving out milk and cookies for Santa, we also leave out a snack for the reindeer. They are the ones doing the most physically demanding part of the job after all. There are lots of recipes for glittery reindeer food out there, but we prefer to leave something a little more eco and deer friendly, so we leave out oats and carrots.
The Drive Thru Nativity
In years past, our church has always put on a really neat drive thru event, with live actors depicting the Christmas story, scene by scene. Sadly we were unable to put it on the last few years because we're still dealing with the aftermath of the wildfire that devastated our community, but hopefully it will become tradition again in the future.
Candlelight Christmas Eve Service
Our home church always puts on a lovely candlelight Christmas Eve service. In my opinion it's the best service of the year. I just love all the Christmas hymns.
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