Ideas for New Christmas Traditions?

Question

I'm not talking about:
leaving cookies out for santa
setting up the tree same day each year
going to church service

I want to know your ideas of how to input some new traditions. Creative ideas!

Answer 1

watch a Christmas movie together on Christmas eve.

sing Christmas songs together.

if you are Christian, sing "happy birthday" to Jesus on Christmas morning with a cake.

have one night sometime around the 15 of december where everyone leaves one shoe under the tree. the "elves" (aka mommy and daddy lol) put a candy bar or treat in each shoe. in the morning, everyone sees what they get. it's a fun way to stay in the spirit of the holidays.

hmm...

If you're Christian, read the story of Jesus' birth out of the Bible.

do some crafts! get glue, scissors, hot glue gun, felt, construction paper, cardstock, glitter, mini Christmas decorations, anything - and use your imagination!

play fun Christmas games. a fun one would be to have everyone sit on the floor. with their hands behind their back and holding a pen/pencil and having a piece of paper right behind them, they have to draw a snowman. of course, most of them are going to look crazy because no peeking is allowed. the person whose snowman looks closest to the real thing gets a prize.

play Christmas charades. from reindeer to baby Jesus, from candy canes to Christmas trees.

most traditions start out when you do something new and the next year you decide to do it again. traditions, i think, are born every year. they make some of the greatest memories.

Answer 2

Consider decorating a real Christmas tree instead of an artifiical one each year. An annual trip to the Christmas tree farm is a nice tradition. Many farms also have food and beverages, some have gift shops and some have activitites such as train rides or 'reindeer' for the children to pet. Also, if you have the room, consider getting a live tree instead of a cut one. These trees are grown in root control bags and you can re-plant them after the holidays. That can also be a nice tradition. When you decorate the Christmas tree, consider camping out under it that night...sleeping bags, and/or pallets. It can be romantic for the adults, and is a lot of fun for the children. One of our local county parks puts on a spectacular light show each year, and we always go. See if something like that is available in yoru area (your toddler will love it!) or just ride around and look at the decorations people have put up on their own homes. Pick a new ornament for your child each year, and when she grows up and moves out she will have her own collection already. On Christmas, we usually have doughnuts and cocoa for breakfast and then later have a more fulfilling brunch. Handmade ornaments are a lot of fun to make for both your own tree and to give to others. You can either give them AS gifts or attach them to the packages as a decoration. Let your child(ren) do the decorating, and do not worry if the tree is not "perfect". A tree top void of decorations is a good way to measure growth-as they get older, the decorations get higher and higher. Do not forget the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place. Make a birthday cake for Jesus, and sing Happy Birthday to him. Let Christmas music be a part of your holidays. I think most areas have a station that plays Christmas music exclusively starting around Thanksgiving through Christmas day. Sing, dance and be Merry! Start a collection of Christmas stories and/or movies that you can make a tradition in your family. There are classics, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman and A Charlie Brown Christmas, then there are newer favorites such as Jingle All the Way. Make it a tradition to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade each year (Santa is at the end, it is just called the Thanksgiving Day parade because that is the day it is held on). Celebrate and start traditions throughout the holidays, not just on Christmas day itself. New Year's, for instance, is the only day my children are allowed to stay up as late as they want (and it is often a contest to see who can make it to midnight). I hope these ideas help!

Answer 3

We have a Christmas countdown calender with a little mouse, every night our daughter moves the mouse 1 step closer to christmas.... It' a nice little tradition.

On Christmas Eve we all get together and give the children presents early, each child gets dressed up and family members give out there gifts, it's a pretty popular tradition though...

A lot of cities and towns have Christmas parades, it's a nice tradition to attend that every year

We used to have a bonfire on New Years eve and we would start the fire by wrapping the christmas tree up in black cat firecrackers instead of lights, you would just have to bee there to see it, but it kinda ended christmas and kickstarted the new year, it was a lot of fun!

Answer 4

Really close friends that you just don't get to see during the holidays because of familial obligations? Make a date with them the Friday or Saturday before Christmas each year. Have a sleep over (take turns each year) and have an early Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with them. Decorate cookies or make handmade decorations with them (even more fun if there are kids involved!).
A specific day in December get together with neighbours, friends, extended family (who you won't see on Christmas day) and have a cookie baking/decorating party or gingerbread house building/decorating party with them. All the families take turns hosting it.

Have fun, and Merry Christmas!

Answer 5

As you've mentioned, there are always the old common ones of driving around to look at lights, caroling, baking, etc.

I've thought many times about making each day after christmas and before new year's a "special" day for someone in the family, i.e. everyone works together in the house to give one person a TOTAL day off. Maybe day after christmas would be "mom" as she probably cooked christmas dinner the day before so "dad" and all the kids do all her chores, duties, etc. and she can just enjoy the day doing as she wishes. The following day could be for "dad", and then "kid 1", followed by "kid 2" etc. I've looked to start this but my kids are still a little young to really get it going yet.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Having a fun party with all your friends where everyone brings food and a present..
Drawing pictures with your kids each year to show how much they have grown and developed.
Have a Cookie Swap.. everyone brings tons of cookies and each person goes home with dozens of different cookies.

Answer 8

You could go to a local animal rescue and volunteer near Christmas. Donate some pet toys and food. The dogs and cats would love some human contact and a good snuggle.

Answer 9

Gathering friends you both mutually like and having a White Elephant christmas party with them. That is the one thing that we do here. But this year we added two more friends to invite their friends and it has become a fun and funny night of partying and enjoying in that is the Christmas Spirit.

Answer 10

I think you should just look at what you and your family/friends like to do and go from there....I live in a warm climate area so x-mas morning we are at the beach just doing whatever. The night before when we give presents we don'y just give them out we ask questions like "if the person was a song/car/celebrity who would they be?", sounds corny but it can be loads of fun...at least for us