Christmas is supposed to be the time of year when we all slow down, spend time with loved ones, and focus on giving. But for many of us, it can feel like the most rushed season, full of stress, and ultimately ending in disappointment if it doesn’t live up to our expectations. If you’re like me, you want to create a memorable holiday full of family Christmas traditions that don’t break the bank and don’t require a ton of extra effort on your part.
I’ve spent lots of time thinking about what I value during the Christmas season, and here is my list of must-haves. If you’ve found your way here, I’m guessing you might see some similarities to your own values too!
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Grab A Free Printable Family Christmas Traditions Planner!
Before walking through the steps, I would encourage you to download the free planner and print it off so you can jot down your own thoughts as you read through mine!
Just drop your email below and you’ll get a link to the free download instantly!
How to Plan Your Own Family Christmas Traditions
Find Your Christmas Season Values
Identifying what you value during the holiday season is the crucial first step to planning out your family Christmas traditions. Do you want lots of experiences and to have a busy schedule everyday? Or, are you looking for a more laid-back, connected Christmas season where you stay in more and slow down from the busyness of life?
Maybe you want both!
Either way, it’s important to take a second to reflect on what’s most important to you and your family this season.
Maybe it’s been a really stressful year already and you just want to relax and find joy in this season.
Or, perhaps, you are going stir-crazy and want to get out and do all the fun festive things this year.
Take a few quiet minutes to jot down your expectations for this holiday season. Consult with your partner, too, and consider one another’s needs as you make a list of expectations.
For reference, here are the 5 words I would write down to describe my own ideal Christmas season:
- Cozy
- Connected
- Healthy
- Magical
- Calm
Keep these words in mind as you start planning family Christmas traditions!
Make a list of all family Christmas traditions you have in mind.
This is a brain dump of all the family traditions you can think of, whether or not you are actually interested in doing them or not.
As you are reflecting on Christmas traditions you may have had as a child, traditions you have seen on social media, traditions you have heard a friend talk about, an old tradition, a new tradition, or whatever it may be… write it down!
You can always eliminate and add to this list, but getting all the ideas down on paper will help you focus on all the possibilities.
Who do you like to spend time with at Christmas?
Do you always have a friend gathering around the holidays where you exchange gifts or bake treats together?
Do you have lots of extended family members who you need to carve out time for? Will you have to travel to see them?
These are questions to consider before you start adding all the Christmas-y things to your planner!
Any gathering that you absolutely know will be planned this time of year should be considered before you begin adding optional activities. You don’t want to be so overwhelmed with all the extra things you have planned and then remember you forgot to account for traveling and extra gatherings with people you love.
When I become overwhelmed, I usually end up backing out on gatherings. And, friends and family really should be the priority during the holiday season!
So, jot down anything you suspect will be planned around this time, even if it’s not being discussed yet.
What decorations do you want/need? Do you have them already? If not, where do you need to go? And, what themes/colors will you use?
Honest confession: I get super overwhelmed with decorating my home.
I want to have the cutesy, Insta-worthy home for the holidays, but I don’t have that special knack to pick things out when I’m in a store. I just get very discouraged and leave empty-handed.
Sound familiar?
One of the best things I’ve found to help with this overwhelm is to write down items, trends, or styles that I commonly am drawn to in images.
Say I’ve seen a beautiful, cozy living room photo, all decorated for Christmas, as I’m scrolling through my feed. Often times, the influencer will link everything they used in that photo on their storefront, which makes it super easy to get the exact look.
But, sometimes you discover that it’s way out of your price range to get all the items needed to re-create a style you love.
Make a note of what you need in order to get the look you’re seeking, then shop around for dupes (or items that look very similar, and find the stores with the best price.
Sometimes, you can find very similar decor at your local Walmart or Hobby Lobby for a fraction of the price.
In order to reduce the overwhelm with decorating though, it’s important to make note of items you need, where you can get them, prices, and any particular style or theme you are trying to stick to.
25 Favorite Christmas Family Traditions
After walking through the free planner, you should be able to narrow down what it is most important to you this holiday season, as well as which traditions you want to add or leave behind.
If you’re still looking for more inspiration, here are my top 25 favorite Christmas family traditions our family does each year!
1. Pick out a Christmas tree
We love to go to a Christmas tree farm and make a day out of choosing our tree! There are other fun activities to do there, and it’s the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit.
2. Decorate the house and pick out this year’s wrapping paper
Once we have our tree, we can break out all the ornaments and decor for the house! I also love to get our Christmas wrapping paper picked out early because it often sells quickly, so the longer you wait, the less options you will have.
3. Do a wreath making class
We have a fun Christmas tree farm close by that offers wreath making classes every December. This is so fun for a mom’s night out, or a family group activity. Plus, you end up with a fresh, custom wreath for the holiday season!
4. Incorporate an Advent study during school
On December 1st, we add an advent study to our school routine. Our favorite study right now is All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss with the Unearthing Wonder companion guide by The Peaceful Press. This study is nature-based and so sweet for the holiday season. We love it!
5. Purchase new Christmas outfits for the kids
I always purchase a nice Christmas outfit for the kids, to be worn on Christmas Sunday, during the Christmas play, and on Christmas Eve church service. Whether it’s thrifted or brand new, getting a new outfit to wear during the holidays is always a fun surprise!
6. Participate in our church Christmas play
Most churches will have the children perform a Christmas program. My kids love participating in this every year and look forward to which part they will get to play in the reenactment of the nativity scene!
7. Visit the zoo to see the lights
A must-have for our family every year! We love strolling through a zoo to see the Christmas displays, drink hot chocolate, roast marshmallows, see Santa, and enjoy some animal sightings as well. This always puts me in the holiday spirit, and we try to plan it for early in the Christmas season. Our favorite zoos to visit for the lights are the Indianapolis Zoo and the St. Louis Zoo!
8. Have a “Christmas cookies” baking day
This is always one of those must-do activities for us as well! I love to bake all the goodies, so I enjoy doing this with my kids every year. We bake treats for family members, to take to parties, and for ourselves to enjoy! You can be as elaborate or as simple as you want. Make your own cookie dough, or buy them at the store and just decorate at home. It’s really more about the time you get to spend together and the act of sharing with others that matters the most!
9. Fill up shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child
Operation Christmas Child is a wonderful organization by Samaritan’s Purse that delivers shoeboxes full of toys and necessities to children around the world. It is also a mission to share the love of Jesus with others, which is why we love participating every year. Find out more about Operation Christmas Child and how you can get involved in this great cause!
10. Watch Christmas movies throughout December
Our favorite Christmas movies include: The Santa Clause (1, 2, & 3), The Polar Express, and Home Alone. We watch these every year, along with others!
11. Set up a hot cocoa and popcorn bar for movie nights
Grab some hot cocoa mix (or make your own!), whipped cream, marshmallows, peppermint sticks, chocolate syrup, and your favorite Christmas mugs! Set up a little station where your kids can create their own hot chocolate concoction. For even more fun, set up a popcorn bar, too! My kids love to have popcorn and their favorite candy to choose from before settling in for a movie night, just like they’re at the movie theater!
12. Decorate gingerbread houses
We just keep it simple here and buy the pre-boxed gingerbread house kits. But, you could make a whole day of it by making your own, too! Such a fun activity to let the kids’ creativity run wild. You could even have a “judging” contest at the end to see which house takes the grand prize.
13. Bake a birthday cake for baby Jesus and sing happy birthday
This sweet tradition is a special one from my childhood. My grandmother would always have a moment at our family Christmas for us to sing happy birthday to baby Jesus. There was always cake, too! It’s a fond memory that I have shared with my own kiddos as well, and really puts the focus of the day back where it belongs: on the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.
14. Make homemade Christmas candles
This is a new tradition I started this year, as I am trying to navigate away from burning toxic candles in our house. During the holidays, I love the ambiance a candle can provide, so I am excited to make our own non-toxic candles at home! And, if all goes well, I plan to make a few extras for gifts as well.
15. Make homemade vanilla extract
The kids and I started this tradition a few years ago and we are still fully stocked with homemade vanilla extract. It’s so easy to make yourself, saves you money, and can be given as gifts to others!
16. Read a new Christmas book each day of December
There are so many wonderful children’s Christmas books that it’s hard to narrow it down to 25! This tradition is great for younger children. You can wrap each book individually and open a new one every day of December leading up to Christmas. I just rent books from the library for this, so no need to spend a fortune buying new!
17. Purchase matching Christmas pajamas for the kids
I’ve been doing this tradition since my first was a baby. And, now that they’re all a little older, they love making sure they all wear their matching pj’s on the same nights! I gift these to the kids usually right after Halloween, so they can enjoy them for a couple months leading up to Christmas. And, of course, we continue wearing throughout the year, too!
18. Make cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole for a special breakfast on Christmas morning
This is a fairly new tradition, but one that I’m loving! Growing up, we always had a big, home cooked breakfast on Christmas morning after we would open presents. It was a special time for our family, and I always associate a big yummy breakfast with Christmas morning. I do cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole, because they both can be made ahead of time, which makes for an easier Christmas morning.
19. Chili & grilled cheese sandwiches on Christmas Eve night
This tradition came from my husband’s family, and I think it’s so neat to be able to incorporate traditions from both of our childhoods! We love having chili and grilled cheese sandwiches on Christmas Eve after going to church. It’s super easy to make in the crockpot and then toast up some sandwiches right before eating. Plus, who doesn’t love a warm meal on an often cold, December night?!
20. Write letters to Santa
We always spend Christmas Eve writing our letters to Santa. I help each kid write their own individualized letter to Santa. They all have their own little personalized mailbox on the fireplace that they put their letter in. Then, in the morning, there is a letter waiting for each of them in their mailbox from Santa!
21. Attend Christmas Eve service at church
Christmas Eve church service is always a special one, and leaves you in the right mindset as you welcome Christmas morning. Christmas day is the most precious day of the year, the birth of the Savior!
22. Let the kids set up a nativity scene as we read the story of Jesus’ birth in the Bible
Little kids LOVE setting up nativity scenes and hearing about the nativity story as they do it. This is a great way to remember the reason for the season, and to give the kids a hands-on experience with the story of Jesus’ birth.
23. Take family photos for Christmas cards and send them out
Often times, I take our family photo myself for Christmas cards. But, some people love to have a professional family photo shoot in the Fall to have nice photos for Christmas cards. Either way, it’s a great way to see your growing family year after year, and also to show others that you are thinking of them this holiday season!
24. Drive through Christmas lights in the surrounding parks
There are so many amazing light displays to see during the Christmas season. So, chances are, there is one close by for you to check out! This is a great activity for a week night when you need to get out of the house. It’s often free, by donation, or relatively inexpensive, so definitely look into what’s available near you!
25. Play Christmas music on our Alexa device as we cook dinner together throughout December
If you have an Alexa device, you can stream Amazon music as you are preparing dinner or cleaning up around the house. Putting on Christmas music often draws everyone to the heart of the home, and gets everyone a little more excited about helping out with the chores!
Don’t Stress! Keep It Simple!
This holiday season as you start to think of family Christmas traditions to incorporate, remember to keep it simple. We don’t want to spend the holidays stressed out about everything being perfect. It’s also easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, and feeling like we’re not doing enough.
As a child, I remember Christmas time being about the whole family. No one was working. We ate lots of meals together. We watched marathons of A Christmas Story on tv.
It was the simplest of things that made it so memorable and something I look back fondly on. Sometimes, the simple things are what become our favorite Christmas traditions. When we try to do too much, we get overwhelmed, our children get overwhelmed, and everyone ends up frustrated and disappointed.
So, remember to do what comes naturally, keep it simple, and keep your eyes on the true reason for the season!
Merry Christmas!
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