13 Best Family Christmas Traditions To Start This Year
Looking for some fun family Christmas traditions you can start this year? Well, you’ve come to the right spot – I’ve got ya covered with some inexpensive and family-friendly ideas!
Whether you already have some traditions you do together during Christmas or need NEW inspiration, I’ve got the best family Christmas traditions that will bring joy to your home year after year!
*This post contains affiliate & referral links, meaning I may earn a small commission should you choose to purchase through post links. This is of course at no extra cost to you and helps keep the blog up and running!
Best Family Christmas Traditions To Start This Year
It’s official, the Christmas season has started! 🙌
Christmas has always had a special place in my heart. It’s so important to not lose sight of why we even celebrate Christmas in the first place – Jesus’ birth!
But If I’m honest, since I became a mom, Christmas has become more important than ever to me. Don’t we as moms want to make it a magical time of the year for our little ones? I mean, I LOVE watching my daughter find joy in every little Christmas moment.
It’s important to create beautiful family memories for all of us – especially our kids! And since you’re here, I am sure you do too 😉
Want to know how to create meaningful and unique memories with your family this Christmas season?
Here’s a list of 13 fun family Christmas traditions that you can start THIS holiday season. That way, you’ll get to have fun while spending quality time together with your loved ones! You’re welcome 😉
1. Read The Story Of Jesus’ Birth On Christmas Eve
Christmas is celebrated in remembrance of the birth of Jesus, so what better Christmas activity than reading the story of Jesus’ birth to your kids on Christmas Eve!
We read this in our Bible, as well, and in a kids book or Bible so she can see pictures!
Not only will this be a unique memory your children will cherish for the rest of their lives, but it’ll also teach them about the true spirit of Christmas beyond gifts and cookies. 😉
If you need some ideas, I personally love this Nativity Story for young kids or read from any illustrated storybook Bible.
2. Make Homemade Christmas Cookies
Baking holiday cookies was one of my favorite traditions growing up, and something we continue with our daughter now!
My mom, myself, my daughter, and sister in law will get together and have a girls’ night! We make sugar cookies from scratch, color the icing, and decorate them in the shapes of trees, snowmen, Santa hats, and more.
These Christmas cookie cutters are so fun and can even be used to make holiday themed pancakes or other treats. 😉
You can do this together with your immediate family, or make it a big family tradition!
From candy canes and Christmas pinwheel cookies to polar bear sugar cookies, there are plenty of fun cookie recipe ideas out there.
3. Make an Epic Gingerbread House
Fill your house with the warm and comforting smell of Gingerbread by cooking these Christmas favorites with your family and friends.
You can make it a fun little competition and divide into teams, or make an epic one with your spouse and kids. You can easily turn a winter afternoon into a joyful and unforgettable moment.
Here’s a great tutorial to follow for making a gingerbread house!
4. Take Family Christmas Photos
Time flies, and your kids are probably growing up quicker than you want them to ( yep, I know the feeling).
That’s why taking holiday pictures for your family photo album or crafting fun Christmas cards to send your friends, and extended family could be a fantastic family tradition to honor this year!
From snaps of your family baking adventures to tree decoration shots, make sure you take both fun and candid photos to reminisce over in the years to come.
They don’t have to be professionally done – grab a friend with a nice camera and have them take a few snapshots! Bam, you’re all set. 🙂
5. Watch a Christmas Movie
In my home, we love the family movie-night Christmas tradition as much as baking cookies or decorating the Christmas tree.
My daughter loves Frozen (of course), but some other ideas of movies to watch as a family are:
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Frosty The Snowman
- Elf
- The Ultimate Gift
You can get the classic Christmas movie bundle here on Amazon:
You can even vote on a new movie every year! Christmas Eve or the weekend before Christmas would be a great time to do this tradition. Maybe even every weekend in December!
YOU MAY LIKE: 19 [AMAZING] Christian TV Shows For Kids To Watch
6. Get or Make a Family Christmas Ornament Each Year
Something my family and I find really amazing to do every year for Christmas is get a personalized family Christmas ornament! You can also make one together as a family. 🙂
This fun tradition is a great way to spend time together, crafting with your kids while teaching them some new skills in a fun and entertaining way.
You can either personalize your Christmas ornaments online, like with this snowflake family photo frame, or make them with your children.
You’ll find plenty of easy DIY Christmas ornaments ideas here!
7. Streamlining your Gifting
It’s no secret, Christmas has been widely commercialized and has become one of the most lucrative periods of the year for consumer goods businesses.
While contributing to the economy is fantastic, I feel like the true spirit of Christmas might often be forgotten, buried under a pile of toys and other Christmas gifts.
To remind our daughter of what Christmas really is, a celebration of Christ, we like to focus Christmas gift-giving on three main categories; a gift she needs, a gift she’ll read, and a gift she wants.
No more piles of toys that won’t be used – at least from us. 😉
This is also a great way to spend some alone time with my husband, carefully picking a few gifts for our child together.
8. Decorating The Christmas Tree
Nothing makes our family more excited than dressing up our Christmas tree with gorgeous Christmas decorations (apart from eating our Christmas cookies, of course)!
There’s just something about the trees and the lights that make it truly feel like Christmas!
From Christmas ornaments to hanging candy canes, baubles, lights, and tinsel, decorating the Christmas tree with my family is always a fun and magical moment.
You get to embrace the holiday spirit with your family, and know your kids will remember these happy times for the rest of their lives!
Check out our family feature in Associated Press on decorating our home early for the holidays this year. 🙂
9. See the Christmas Lights
Put your kids in their favorite Christmas fleece pajamas, pack some hot chocolate in travel mugs, prepare yummy snacks such as popcorn or Christmas cookies, and put everyone into the car.
Tonight you’re driving to see the Christmas lights in your area!
Seeing the magical light displays from the comfort of your own car while eating snacks listening to Christmas songs will make for an exciting and unforgettable evening!
You can even set up lights in your own backyard, and make your own show!!
10. Reverse Advent Calendar
Creating a reverse advent calendar filled with activities is a fantastic idea to make giving part of your family tradition.
After all, what better way than using a reverse advent calendar to teach your kids Christmas is not all about receiving but it’s about giving too!
The way it works is, every day, in the lead up to Christmas, you pick up an item from your pantry with your kids (preferably items your local charities desperately need, such as toothpaste, soap, etc.), and you put it in a box.
At the end of the month (or just before Christmas), you give the box to your local charity of choice.
This will not only teach your children about giving, but it’ll also help someone in need during the festive season, which can be a challenging time for those who don’t have much.
11. Themed Family Game Night
This is a tradition you can do as a whole family or just with your kids! Some of the best holiday-themed games to play as a family include:
Nothing beats a good old game night to bring everyone together during the festive season. 😉
12. Cut Down Your Own Christmas Tree
Some of my favorite memories from childhood are going and cutting down our own Christmas tree. This would be a great tradition to start with your kids!
You can also make this a tradition to do with just your spouse too! That way you get to spend a little bit of quality time together while doing something for the rest of the family.
For a one-on-one fun date with your spouse, find the nearest Christmas Tree farm and cut down the tree together before decorating it with your kids!
13. Read an Advent devotional leading up to Christmas
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, find a great advent devotional or reading to do as a family leading up to Christmas!
It’s so important to make sure you are preparing your hearts and minds for the real reason we celebrate Christmas.
We can help our families have a Christ-centered advent by reading through scriptures that point to Jesus birth.
I’ve even got a great free reading list for advent as well as tons of other great devotional options!
Grab your list here!
If you want some other great activities to add to your advent calendars, check out this list of fun and FREE advent activities for your kids. 🙂
I hope this post gave you some great ideas and made you want to start new family Christmas traditions this festive season!
Do you have Christmas family traditions? If so, don’t hesitate to share them in the comment section below – I’d love to read them!
Some great ideas focusing on giving and sharing time with one another – loved it!
Thank you so much! Spending time together and giving back is so important and definitely something I want my daughter to know as she grows. 🙂
Great tips! Is that little redhead yours? so great (I’m a redhead w/ no redheads…waiting for grandchildren!) We watch It’s a wonderful life on thanksgiving and cut down our own tree. I like that reverse Advent calendar idea.
She is!! I am a natural blonde and my husband has thick dark hair. So we were surprised at first haha! But red hair runs in both our families so it made sense. 🙂 Oh, I loved cutting down the tree when I was little! Such great memories!! Thank you for your comment!