Traditions for families with older children?

[sweetheart]

I'm starting to feel like we are slightly loosing the magic of Christmas and feel like we are in need of some new family traditions to keep the magic alive.

Kids are 12 and 17 so no more going to visit santa, leaving a pie out, sneaking stockings onto beds etc

We do still all go to pick our xmas tree together and usually have a day decorating the house (which last year made everyone very grumpy!)

Does anyone have any Christmas traditions we could steal please?

Oh, I feel your pain. I have a 12 and 14-year old. We do buying the tree together, ice skating, a trip to the German market, a trip to Brighton with extended family for food and a look around the shops, and we usually invite friends over for a few drinks during the final few days before Christmas (their friends and my friends).

Christmas piñata - can be bought already filled, bought to fill yourself or made entirely yourself. Take turns to bash it blindfolded until the contents falls out.

Secret Santa (the cracker version) - buy a fill your own cracker kit. Draw names and secretly buy a cracker gift, make a hat and write a joke for that person. Then secretly put them on the table by each place setting for Christmas dinner.

Have a bonfire/BBQ on Christmas Eve and make festive s'mores - use gingerbread instead of digestives. Then go to midnight mass.

Instead of putting chocolate coins in the stockings, hide them really carefully around the house and garden so they have to hunt for them. If you want to make it fair, then buy a different different brand of chocolate coin for each competitor, so they have different foil wrappings and keep one coins back to show them what each looks like. Hide the same number of each competitors coins and you could make it a race!

We've always had a jigsaw for Christmas, and when the children were little it was usually just for the adults. Last year I decided to involve the children and bought a 3d Hogwarts puzzle. I didn't even get a look in!

Mine are a bit younger, but we go to a show (not panto, there are some good alternatives) or see a Christmas film at the cinema together. We nip into town for a look at the lights and wander round the Christmas Markets with the obligatory gluwein - normally our local city, but I might get the train over to York this year.

We also make our own mince pies and lebkuchen, and decorate (badly) the cake we've made in October half-term.

Always go and see a film. We've been lucky with all the hobbit films and recently the star wars ones coming out at Christmas.
Even though they haven't wanted to see father Christmas since they were 7, we still go and see the live reindeer at the garden centre and buy a tree decoration.
They still decorate the tree
Still put the same pillowcases out and snacks for father Christmas even though they are 17 & 14.
Not much has changed!

Mine are 10 and 12 and nothing much has changed here either... Santa snack still goes out, we still refer to gifts as being from Santa, we have a drive around the neighbourhood looking at lights, go to as many Christmas markets as we can, we all choose our tree together and decorate together... I plan to keep this up until they're 85

Once mine got into their teenage years we started to have a really nice relaxed breakfast on Christmas Day, so good coffee, Bucks Fizz (weak!), pastries and posh jam etc. It's lovely to start the day slowly, rather than with over-excited little ones (stocking still go on bed though, and they're 22 and 19 now!)

They also now decorate and lay the table for Christmas lunch as I prefer being left alone to cook, although they do offer to help.

We play board/card games in the evening (Cards Against Humanity is always a winner although ones PC-ness requires suspension to do this!) and this year we're going to be playing poker, which we're all novices at.

This year is the first year they're both at Uni so I'm planning to make more of a fuss then usual. Happily our town has, for the first year, set up a good ice rink so we'll be going ice skating. Also planning to watch a film on Xmas Eve (unless they decide to go clubbing) which will probably either be Bad Santa or Die Hard.

We walk after lunch, and always have done.

Never made Midnight Mass, although we always talk about going...

We're not big drinkers so it's never been about being especially boozy, although cocktails featuring candy cane vodka and peppermint schnapps have appeared on my 'to do' list

Well I remembered a similar discussion. I found it but I'm a bit shocked to discover it was from 2016. Wow. Thought it was thus year

Anyway nice ideas here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/Christmas/2699126-Teens-and-preteens-at-christmas

We are introducing new tradititions this year as dd's are now 12 and 14, we are going to have a posh breakfast Christmas Day, we will still do Christmas Eve box but have changed it to a 'movie night box' ( DVD, popcorn, sweets, new pj's and a bath bomb ). I'm hoping Christmas Day will be more relaxed and present opening can be spread out during the day instead of the mad present opening session at 7am ( over by 8am ).

Thanks all, We do usually go ice skating and watch xmas films. We actually aren't at our own home Xmas day or boxing day this year so not much time together just us. I think I will make xmas eve our family day and possible do a secret santa that we can have on xmas eve - the kids (even though they are bigger) still always ask if they can open a gift on xmas eve.

Everything feels very rushed this year - we have so much to fit in before xmas that is not xmas related. maybe that is what is making me loose the magic - no time for relaxed days out at markets etc.

We're hoping to have a big family. Just dd and dh this Christmas but will be going with folks and my siblings for gift giving.

We get together with a group of friends on Christmas Eve evening. When the children were all small we used all go to our local church crib service and then back to our friends for drinks and snacks. As the children have all grown up (most are now at university) we have dropped the crib service, the drinks and snacks have turned into cocktails and canapés and we go to midnight mass.

Our DC are are older now (late teens down to 12) but we have never changed our traditions and nobody's complained! We still put out a mince pie and sneak in the stockings, etc. The only thing we dropped is going to see Santa - which would be a bit daft, I realise

Have a look at your local cinemas for old Christmas films. We're going to see Home Alone on Xmas Eve .

Family quiz. Each year we take it in turns to write one, on PowerPoint with pictures/sound clips etc, some Christmassy rounds and some rounds about that year's movies/news etc. We link the computer up to the telly to do it and the winner gets a silly prize (normally sweets like a giant gummy bear or something).

My dc are all still young but I was thinking through which of our traditions we am always do and there are quite a few.
Watching Christmas films - we've already watched miracle on 34th street and it's a wonderful life this morning
Going to the light switch on - that's today for us as well
Donating a toy to the local charity collection for disadvantaged children
Reverse advent calendar (donating to food bank)
Shoebox appeal
Christmas cd/playlist in the car
Hot chocolate with marshmallows and squirty cream
Decorate a gingerbread house
Bake
Ice skating (we actually haven't done this yet waiting until youngest is a bit older)
Reading Christmas books (there are more than just the night before Christmas. I get a lot from yeh library for myself in the run up to Christmas)
Buying a new decoration each
Sending Christmas cards
Go to carol service
Catch up with friends
Skype overseas friends/relatives
Xmas eve box
Drive to see all the lights
I plan to still be doing all of the above as long as I live.

As we got older it was about helping out make Christmas happen - so playing an equal part in decorating the house, helping with Christmas baking like making mince pies and sausage rolls, helping prep Christmas dinner and being in charge of laying and decorating the table then clearing away and washing up. Not presented as "you're a teenager now so you'll do chores" but "we have Christmas as a family and everyone helps out and plays a part in creating this nice experience". We'd always go for a walk on Christmas day even after we didn't have a dog anymore. We'd have Bucks Fizz for breakfast and weak fruity cocktails during the day even as quite young teenagers. Felt very grown up.

When we were teens, we still went with DPs to buy the tree, and left out our socks (or tights if girls - get more into tights than ankle socks !) and exchanged present with everyone so lots of shopping, wrapping and surprises going on.

Even now (all adults and some DGCs in the family), any DC who sleeps in DPs house on 24th must put out their socks, and DF fills them with fruit, sweets and a book.

We also still have the Christmas Candle, which is lit by the youngest present (whether babe in arms "helped" by their own DPs, or the "baby" of the house who is now 33!).

Why not ask the whole family what they would like to do? What parts of Christmas are special for them, are there any things that you don't do that they would like to? And also talking to them about what they can all do to help get it organized etc. Would they like to do things like have an afternoon when their friends can come over and have pizza while you have wine and nibbles with friends/neighbours etc? Or a particular day going for a long family walk but clear boundaries that you don't expect them to spend all day everyday doing family stuff and they can have time on their own/with friends as well - but that you do expect them to do SOME family stuff together, and with a good spirit!

I like to go to carol concerts or concerts involving orchestral music - but I go at lunchtimes as DH and DD are not into that. But we have also done a "near Christmas" family movie trip the past couple of years as well.

If DD had her way, we'd probably spend Christmas night playing card games (and her probably suggesting playing for money, and fleecing us!). But we would be happy to play board games etc one evening.

And we are intending going for a long hike into the local mountains on 1 of the days, as we really enjoy that and don't generally have the time to do it. (DD is 12, and definitely wants to do some stuff together but have time to mooch around herself as well).

And we'll have family visits to do too, so that all takes up time once Christmas itself is over.

I met DH when his children were 5 and 2. In order to bond with them and start some new traditions as a (then new gf, now stepmom of many years) I suggested eating ice cream outside in a weird place as close to Christmas as possible. They are much older now (early teens) but still start planning what's known as Ice cream day in our house, at the end of August.😁