Christmas tradition ideas

[Limonatamum]

Hello! I have a 1 year old and really looking forward to starting family Christmas traditions, please tell me all your cute ideas!! I know she won’t know much this year but more about starting things for the future!

Treasure hunt. We have our kids finding clues all up the street for their "big" present.

A Christmas tree decoration in their stocking every year so when they come to decorate their own trees they'll have special decorations (if they want them...).

When my dses were pre-teen/early teen, we used to have a party on Christmas Eve - silly party games and a buffet, nothing challenging - to wear them out, and then when everyone had gone home, and they were ready for bed, we’d read T’was The Night Before Christmas, and the nativity story, to help them calm down before bedtime.

Read ‘The Night Before Christmas’ as a bedtime story on Christmas Eve.
I put a gingerbread man in the DC’s packed lunch on the last day of term before the holidays. Even if it embarrasses my eldest!
Ever since Covid, we’ve gone on a Christmas light safari with the dc bundled up in the back of the car, playing Christmas music as we drive round.
We have a little wooden nativity set and add baby Jesus on Christmas morning just before we open the presents.

We have a wooden nativity set. DS has set it up each year since he was three. His explanations of why he has placed each figure where are beautiful and hilarious in equal measure.

An accidental one is having a different Christmas book to read ad infinitum from November each year. Last year was the Finnish ‘Where Father Christmas lives’. The year before was the Night Before Christmas poem.

We tried introducing specific traditions - singing carols while lighting advent candles/ baking local Christmas specialities. They didn’t really take. But others have organically taken their place, both religious and secular. And a friend’s daughter after she and her mum spent a Covid Christmas with us now insists that their family also leave carrots out for Rudolph.

Making mince pies
beach walk on Christmas Eve
hot chocolate on a bench in the village while we look at the Christmas lights
carols playing while we decorate the tree
watching a Christmas film at the weekends in December
Going to choose the Christmas tree with cheesy festive music playing

New pyjamas, hot chocolate & a Christmas film on Christmas Eve. Breakfast before presents (apart from stockings and ‘Father Christmas’ presents) on Christmas Day to make it last longer.
I love starting new traditions! It’s lovely when your DC get older and talk about them as set in stone and you realise your job is done 🙂

Oh I love all of these!
Thanks so much!

We read ‘The Night Before Christmas’ on Christmas Eve. I bought a really beautiful copy for her first Christmas as I knew this was a tradition I wanted to keep up.

Last year we went to the Christingle service for the first time and I plan to keep that up going forward. We also always have a nice walk through the park and to a local historic building that has a lovely Christmas tree outside on Christmas Eve (DH and I then get a boozy hot chocolate (me) or coffee (him) from the cafe to drink whilst walking back).

We did the carrot/ mince pie/ drink etc for Father Christmas/ the reindeer last year too for the first time. She was only 2 and I thought she’d be oblivious but she was really into it so definitely looking forward to keeping that up.

I’ve done a book advent calendar every year so far - wrap up a different Christmas/ winter themed book for each day in December up to Christmas Eve. I always used to to that for my class when I taught Nursery and Reception (and had most of the books I’d bought myself to facilitate that). Fell a bit flat last year though so not sure if I’ll keep it up - might just have the basket of books out/ available - it was cute the first few times though.

We also have the fabric advent calendar that my MIL made for my husband and his brother when they were small - last year we put various things in the pockets like a chocolate coin, a little pot of bubbles, pencils, hair clips etc. are

Lots of walks to look at the lights during December. We also visit a local farm where you can see Father Christmas and they also have reindeer.

She hasn’t been much into films up to now but just staring to show an interest so I’m looking forward to introducing some Christmas ones.

In our household Santa brings the stocking presents, which appear on the ends of beds overnight, but the family ones are always labelled from who gave them, and placed under the tree. A custom which developed when my daughter was little is to have presents one at a time throughout the day. She preferred to open a new toy or book and play / read it before opening another. So, we get up and open a present, have breakfast and open another, go to church and open another when we get back, coffee and a present, lunch and yet another present. You get the picture. Often the last presents are being opened at bedtime or even next day

We got a lovely ornament with DD's name on for her first Xmas. One of our traditions is now taking her to choose a new ornament to go on our tree each year. I'm keeping a note of what she chooses so when she eventually leaves home we can give her the box of all "her" ornaments from over the years.

We put the tree up and, once DC have gone to bed, turn off all the lights bar the tree lights, and enjoy some mummy-daddy time 😆

Pancakes in the shape of gingerbread men for Xmas day breakfast.

DC help make the Xmas cake in the last weekend of September.

We decorate the tree together, it's small but takes hours because we reminisce about each bauble etc as we go.

DC have had the same little special mug & crockery for years! China plates, not plastic, with ice skating polar bears on, it's lovely and has been used 15+ years.

As a pp, we take ages to open gifts, all day sometimes.

Take the dog for a walk after lunch as a family (he gets out in the morning, too, but just one of us takes him). Get some fresh air, stretch legs, maybe try out a new outdoor toy (scooter, drone, camera, remote controlled car etc).

We have the pancakes for breakfast, soup and bread for lunch (seems very Oliver Twist! But it's nice soup & fancy bread), then we have the main meal at about 6 or 7.

I have a fabric advent calendar and alternate a choc coin, joke, activity to do, and inspiring message about how they did well at a certain sport, how generous they are, how much the dog loves it when they do xyz, how proud we are. It goes down a storm.

I make crackers out of (clean!) Pringles tubes covered in wrapping paper cos you can fit in gloves, or a hat, silly pen (very popular here, DC have quite the collection), Minecraft t-shirt, external phone battery booster (whatever they're called). One gift plus joke and hat. I've been using the same Pringles tubes for 7 years now, just different wrapping paper and Pritt.

We don't do:
Xmas eve box
Elf on the shelf
Book advent calendar (reading is the work if satan, apparently, even though DH and I are viraciis readers with a house full of books!)
Gift advent calendar (be it hair bobbles & bubble wands, or those Lego calendars you can get), otherwise the cost of Xmas goes through the absolute roof!
Don't drive around looking at lights. Although we do have a competition to see who can spot the first Xmas tree of the season - in a house, not shop window.

I'm in Spain, so Xmas lasts until 6th January with Kings' Day, it's not all over on boxing day.

We do the 'Paint a Pot' painting a clay Xmas bauble the second week in December every year. I used to do it with my own DC and last year I took my 2 DGC. As my own DC left home they each took a full set of about 21 Xmas baubles they had made over the years. This is a photo of one my DGS did. They get fired in a kiln and you collect them about 10 days later. You have to highlight the link then click open to see it.
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Keep the stockings small - the joy of tiny but keep stocking fillers keeps them going until the big presents and beyond.

Advent calendar with eg model nativity or a simple one with pictures.

Advent candle?

Christmas Eve walk to look at everyone’s lights locally and magic reindeer food (oats and a pinch of glitter) in the back garden for Rudolph. I have a Christmas Eve plate with the kids names on which has a space for a carrot, mince pie and drink for Santa and even though my two are teens now it is my memory of all the excitement when they were little that I will treasure forever. Night before Christmas story before bed and personalised stockings to hang up.

God I love Christmas and 100% go ott trying to make it magical!

We always have a day out on Christmas Eve just to stop the kids climbing the walls. Just somewhere local and cheap but I really look forward to it.

I don't do a Christmas Eve box but I have a box of Christmas cookie cutters/Christmas writing paper/Christmas hot choc mugs that I bring out on the first December each year. I make a point of not buying new stuff for it because I don't want Christmas to be about buying shit just for the sake of it.

Our advent calendar is 24 Christmas books all wrapped up and we read one a day ending with the night before Christmas.

I've tried to do other things but they don't always stick but these ones work for our family. We also go to a local panto and have a night when I take the kids for a drive to see a everyone's lights and then finish with a McDonald's. There are a couple of streets that go all out with their lights, one has been on the telly, so it's not as shit as it sounds!

These are all amazing ideas! I love the fabric activity/joke advent calendar, definitely doing that!
and magic reindoor food! How cute!

Maybe for when your baby is a but older -

So

TnBC read as bedtime story on Christmas eve

Special plate to put cookies/drink out for santa

We go and collect Holly a few days before and decorate the house

The Christmas eve elves come and leave a present on Christmas eve - always pyjamas and sometimes a Christmas film or a game to play on Xmas eve

But them a really nice stocking now and then reuse it every year

My advice is keep us simple. Christmas is magical , but I think we can overdo it now in the quest for it all to be so magical.

The things we did and apart from Santa visits still do are ;

• visit to city centre mid November to pick out a new decoration each for the tree. We also get hot chocs etc
• obvious putting up tree weekend fun
• bake Christmas cake and make a wish
• trip to toy shop to get ideas
• santa visit
• make choc brownies and wrap up for friends on last day of school
• Panto/show
• visit to farmers market / Christmas market

that’s it really. It’s always been enough for us

Posted too soon

Maybe for when your baby is a bit older:

Swim on Christmas Eve - makes them sleep better!

DD (12) loves the Nativity" films. Every year since she was about 4 she'll watch "Natvity" 4 weeks before Christmas, "Nativity 2" three weeks before Christmas etc I think there are 4 of them in total.

DS(15) and DD (12) always watch "Deck the Halls" together too.

I use to get DBro (booming baritone voice) to ring the DC up a week or 2 before Christmas and pretend to be Santa Claus. He was in my phone as "Santa" complete with a suitably Hallmarky photo pinched off the internet. This went on for years, he added sound effects of bells, reindeer etc every year

Nachos for tea on Christmas Eve! Because they are my favourite and I do the bulk of the cooking.

We're always done local Am Dram panto in February. Considerably cheaper than professional productions, lots of fun and breaks up the dreariest part of the year.

We have far too many to list as most things stuck except the Santa visit which only continued until they refused to go😂. I adore Christmastime and am fully aware I’m somewhat ott.

Started ours with an outing to the city where we visited Santa, went to a bookshop to buy the nicest edition of The Night Before Christmas, saw the twinkly lights and posed for photos. Mince pie, a little tipple and carrots left for Santa and the reindeer. Stockings hung by the fireplace downstairs like in the book. New sleep suit wrapped under the tree to open before bath (from us not elves) and tnbc book read. All documented for the photo album.

This expanded to a bookshop visit early December to choose a book for the festive collection. Always sandwiches and cake out afterwards. Sometimes Santa visits were more elaborate and on a different day. Evening shopping a week before to choose small gifts for siblings/relatives, soak up the atmosphere, see the lights, pose for photos. New nightwear Christmas Eve to unwrap after supper and magically appearing - a fizzer or festive duck on the bath and a tiny foiled chocolate on pillows.

A few of our others that have stood the test of time:
All at home having a turn stirring the pudding for luck and making a wish.
Foraging and crafting decorations to gradually trim the house.
Me going downstairs to check he’s been and ringing a bell to confirm he has.
Mrs Claus sending something for breakfast.
Carpet breakfast picnic around the tree whilst opening our stockings.
The last present - sometimes bashed from falling off the sleigh or found in the garden, chewed by reindeer, maybe left in bedrooms. Always a bit different, still a tradition apparently.
An outing in the week after before new year - Panto, ballet, ice skating that sort of thing.
Looking through some albums of Christmas’s past before adding this years photos on a dreary afternoon.

A present from the Christmas tree fairy after
tea on Christmas day. Something small but durable like a wooden game or fluffy toy.
It makes the magic last a bit longer.

Maybe a christmas themed outfits and a professional photoshoot? My sister does it with her kids and the pictures are great!
At this age, however, you can just dress them up and take a photo yourself, then put a christmas background on it. 1yo might be too young to cooperate with the photographer

You do know that the glitter is poisonous to wildlife? They'll eat it because they are so hungry with it being winter.
OP I'd do days out, Christmas panto, magical wood walk, fair visit etc. We do Christmas Eve boxes because we could guarantee being in and that never changing. My GC make chocolate logs, now they are getting older they are doing their own sugarcraft decorations. There's themed soft play parties. While it is nice to have traditions, they change with age.