What pre-Christmas traditions do you and your family have to get yourselves in the mood for Christmas? Tell Cadbury and you could win a £200 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

In honour of Cadbury launching their biggest ever advent calendar, Cadbury would like to know what gets you and your family into the Christmas spirit in the countdown to Christmas.

Here's what they say "This year we’re launching Cadbury’s biggest ever advent calendar and setting out to bring even more joy to the countdown this Christmas. 24 trucks, 24 doors, opening daily in 24 different locations, we’reringing joyful festive surprises to the nation on the countdown to Christmas. While we’re counting down, we’re also keen to hear from Mumsnetters about what you and your families do in the countdown before Christmas"

Find out about the Cadbury advent calendar by watching the video below:

So, what traditions do you and your family have to get that Christmas feeling? Do you spend an evening putting up a Christmas tree? Maybe decorating Christmas cookies is your favourite family activity? Or perhaps you all gather around the TV to watch a particular Christmas movie?

Whatever your pre-Christmas traditions are, Cadbury would love to know.

Everyone who posts a comment will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £200 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

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This will be my daughters second Christmas but we wanted to start the traditions from year one. We put out mince pie and mug of milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer. Then everyone gets a bath and the Christmas fairy brings everyone new pj's. Then we get our Christmas Eve box out and have chocolate and watch a Christmas movie before reading A Night Before Christmas.

This year I have been wrapping presents only when accompanied by mulled wine. This has a twofold effect of a. Making me feel festive and b. Making it a lot less tedious. I shall be adopting it for years to come.

As a family the festivities start on the 1st when the elf on the shelf arrives with the advent calendars (2 each for the kids!) We also decorate the tree that day!

We buy a new decoration for the tree each year and this year I have bought DD a decoration that I will save each year until she has her own house. She chose it and I am writing a note to put in each one I buy so that she has a record of why she has each one and so she knows none of them are my awful taste

We started last weekend with stir up Sunday making our Christmas pudding with everyone stirring and wishing. A week before Christmas we will go to the tree farm and choose our tree which will be decorated by us all before enjoying sloe gin and mince pies.
Christmas eve will be different this year as traditionally it is a pub night where everyone from the local town meets up once a year with old friends. This year we have our new little one! So new traditions will be made :)

In Spain is the 8th December when Christmas begins. We put up the Christmas decorations. Not only the Christmas tree but the nativity too ( a scene depicting the stable in Bethlehem where the Baby Jesus is born ). Dad usually goes to the forest and finds moss for the floor of the nativity and we try to make it as authentic as possible, with a river and some trees, even snow.

Our christmas traditions start off with the day we put the Christmas tree up.We go out the day before to buy a couple of new fresh things or replace any lights that went the year before!We also go and buy the fake snow for the windows which my partner always says "were not doing this next year" then on the day I make mulled cider (obvs just for me) my daughter picks the chocs to hang off the tree, I make a roast dinner and then later on as were decorating tree and the windows and putting the lights up I do roasted chestnuts as my daughter actually likes them. Then in the evening all sit with the lights off and the Christmas tree lights on and watch a Christmas film. After that we write our letter/list for Father Christmas then bath daughter and put her to bed. Perfect!!

We have carols on when decorating the tree and on Christmas Eve we always bake mince pies and chocolate logs (topped with chocolate). Christmas Eve the elves leave my daughter a little box of goodies including hot chocolate, marshmallows and a chocolate Santa or snowman, a DVD and other activities. I'm getting rather excited now.

We love setting up all the decorations a few weeks before Christmas and the adults and kids get an advent calendar each.

Ours are mostly food related. We make the cake together, although not necessarily on stir up Sunday. And we have a song that my sister and I used to sing at school, that we sing with our DCS (usually all together ie my sister and I, and our children). We sing in rounds, and we are not usually singing people. At all.

Later on we also write letters to Santa, and receive replies, in writing that looks oddly like that of my dad. We have a special dinner when we decorate the tree, and we play cheesy Xmas music over and over from then on. And I force every out for some fresh air every day over Xmas, as too much sugar and not enough moving makes us all argue.

DD chooses a new decoration for the tree. We start to buy things to put into the Christmas Eve hamper, including Christmas Pyjamas and treats for everyone who is staying with us over the Christmas period.
On Christmas Eve, all my nieces and nephews come round to watch Christmas films, so we all vote on which ones we want to watch in the first couple of weeks of December.
DD and I also go to a Christmas Carol service with my DSis and DM.
The elf arrives at the beginning of December but ours is very low maintenance as it just moves position at night.

Putting up the tree together, playing xmas music and then afterwards having a party tea and pulling a cheeky cracker!

DD is still a little young to really get the Christmas traditions, but hoping to continue these from my childhood (and what we did last year, too):

• Watch collection of Xmas films (I have to admit we've already started this, normally I wait for December!)
• 1 Dec: put Xmas CDs in the car.
• Pick the Xmas tree and DD choose a new bauble.
• Watch the Snowman and Father Christmas.
• Last thing on Christmas Eve, read The Night Before Christmas.

We do a good deed advent. Each of us tries to do a random kindness every day in December. Even if it is letting your sister into the bathroom first!

we always have a cadburys advent calendar.... and on christmas eve we have a selection box each ... just to get us in the mood :)

We love to put Elf on, drink hot chocolate and open a box of chocolates whilst putting up the tree. I cant wait!

My daughter is young so we are creating new traditions for her and our family. It includes trips on the polar express to see Santa, doing Christmas baking together including mince pies and biscuits plus just spending time together as a family. We can't wait for the big day!

The advent calendar, Christmas baking and Christmas events are school are the early signs of Christmas in our house :)

We spend three weekends gradually putting up the lights around the house starting from the end of November. Then we get the tree and sit round the fire making clove oranges and watching Elf, perfect!

We get cosy with a Christmas film and hot chocolate, then we have a naughty elf who arrived on 1st dec and gets up to mischief until Christmas Eve. Last year he ate all the chocolates off the tree and wrapped the toilet in wrapping paper!

Watching Christmas movies while linking up paper chains
Listening to Christmas movies while writing Christmas cards
A walk around the neighbourhood to look at the lights

We love Christmas, always put our tree up the weekend before Christmas (or a week if too close to the weekend!). During the Sundays leading up to Christmas we visit all the garden centres and see all the lights in the villages. After the girls have gone to bed on Christmas eve we watch A Christmas Carol with a glass of wine.

We also have our own advent calendars which we have put chocolate inside each door/pocket.

On the 1st of December we put the Christmas CD on, light the Christmas spice candles and decorate the Christmas tree together as family. We always do this whilst munching on a mince pie slurping some mulled wine. This is always signals the start of the Christmas festivities for us. That and opening the first window on our advent calendar! Can't wait for next week (1st Dec)....sooooooo excited[santa]

Chocolate advent calendar, homemade gingerbread house and Christmas cake, lots of Christmas movies to get us in the mood.

We all like to decorate the tree together the first weekend in December.

We like to do some festive baking in the lead up.

We always have new PJs and a new DVD to watch on Christmas eve.

Normal traditional family things in the run up to Christmas, excitement putting tree up, reminiscing at each item made by kids at school in years gone by. They each put their my first Christmas bauble on the tree .
Advent calendars ,Cadburys of course, eagerly opened each morning on way to school. Spotting who has tree and lights up first etc all normal stuff how we like it none of this 'elf on the shelf ' stuff and even more incredulously the 'Christmas Eve' hamper is this real ? Know of no-one in real life who does this ?