Are you looking for fun ways to enjoy the holidays? Here are 25 traditions you can start now to make meaningful Christmas memories!
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The Significance of Christmas Traditions
Holiday traditions help build strong bonds between family members, friends, and the community.
They connect us to our history and give us a sense of belonging.
Most importantly, they create cherished Christmas memories that will last a lifetime!
Here are 25 of our favorite family Christmas traditions!
Christmas Tradition Ideas
1) Countdown to Christmas With an Advent calendar
Our boys have always enjoyed having an advent calendar to count down from December 1-25!
You can purchase a calendar or learn how to make this gift box calendar or an ornament Advent calendar!
2) Decorate your tree on the same date each year
We always decorate our family tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Here’s a post about our Thanksgiving weekend tradition!
3) Purchase a new ornament to remember the year
Each year, we give our boys a Christmas ornament to commemorate something that happened that year!
We gave our youngest son a dinosaur ornament that says 1st dig, so he’ll remember when he went on his first paleontological dig!
Here’s more info on how to start a family keepsake ornament tradition!
4) Listen to Holiday Music
When I was a little girl, I remember Mom pulling out the Christmas albums and playing them on a console record player in our dining room!
I can still picture the album covers with Bing Crosby wearing a Santa hat and Johnny Mathis standing in the snow, holding skis!
Now I play that same music and more on my “ancient” CD player from November 1st until all the Christmas decor comes down in the new year!
5) Watch Holiday movies
Rich and I usually start the holiday season by watching White Christmas.
When the boys are home for the holidays, we love watching our favorite holiday movies and shows together as a family!
Favorites include Elf, Rudolph, A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, The Polar Express, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Year Without a Santa Clause!
6) Make a Christmas puzzle
Every year, we pull out this T’was the Night Before Christmas puzzle and put it together.
Unfortunately, it’s missing a couple of pieces!
7) Take a family photo
If your family is like ours, you should prioritize taking a family photo!
Since we moved, it’s the only time of the year we are all together!
8) Decorate gingerbread houses
Here’s our oldest son with his gingerbread creation!
There’s no need to make gingerbread from scratch when you can buy kits at the store!
9) Bake Christmas cookies
Here’s our middle son putting his artistic touch on sugar cookies!
Christmas cookies are so much fun to make and eat!
10) Drive around to see Christmas lights
Pile the whole family in your vehicle, grab some coffee or hot chocolate, some of those Christmas cookies you baked, and drive around your community looking at the festive Christmas lights!
11) Have a Video Call with out of town Family or friends
If you can’t be with your family or friends during the holidays, prioritize and schedule a video call so you can see and hear each other even though you’re miles apart!
12) Opening Gifts from Youngest to Oldest
This tradition started on my Mom’s side of the family on Christmas Day.
We would always have appetizers and then gather in the living room. After the presents were handed out, we would take turns opening each gift, starting with the youngest and ending with the oldest.
We enjoyed seeing what each person got, so we do the same thing in our family now!
I still enjoy this tradition, even though I’m the second oldest person in our family now!
Religious Traditions
Here are some ideas to celebrate the “real reason for the season” and make lasting Christmas memories!
13) Display a Nativity set
I always loved my parent’s Nativity set, so after Rich and I got married, we started to collect a set of our own.
Setting it out is always the highlight of the season!
14) Attend Church services
Go to church with your whole family on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or both!
Even if you don’t attend church regularly, make it a tradition to go on these special days!
15) Be Charitable
Find a way to help others in your community.
Donate food and clothes to a local shelter, volunteer at a soup kitchen, adopt a family to provide their Christmas gifts, etc.
One of our favorite things to do is to fill shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.
Christmas Eve Traditions
16) Have a family dinner with a favorite food
Food and traditions go together!
Our family always looks forward to having homemade lasagna on Christmas Eve.
17) Serve A Special Drink
Come up with a signature drink to serve like Grinch punch!
18) Wear matching pjs
When our boys were little, they always got to open gifts from us on Christmas Eve.
One of the gifts was always matching pajamas!
Now that they’re older and don’t grow out of their pajamas, we wear our matching Mickey PJs! (Oops, someone forgot to pack his! Hopefully, he’ll remember them this year!)
19) Read Twas the Night Before Christmas
One of our favorite family traditions is to read Twas the night before Christmas to the boys before bed on Christmas Eve.
I read the same book to them that my parents read to me!
We forget to do this some years, but I will set out the book so we don’t forget this year!
20) Watch It’s a Wonderful Life
It’s a Wonderful Life is always on TV on Christmas Eve, and Rich and I always watch it!
Traditions for kids
Our boys are all grown up, but I wanted to include the traditions we focused
on to create happy Christmas memories for them!
21) Leave out cookies and milk
Santa gets hungry and thirsty during his travels, so we always leave cookies and milk for him on this adorable plate and cup!
22) Buy a new Christmas outfit
Every year, I would buy the boys coordinating outfits, usually from The Children’s Place store, to wear for our annual Christmas card picture and to church on Christmas Eve.
23) Make a Christmas Wish List
We always looked forward to getting Christmas catalogs in the mail, and before the boys could write, they would cut out pictures and glue them to a piece of paper.
As they got older, they would write their Christmas wish list.
24) Visit Santa
It was always exciting to go to the mall to visit Santa!
I have a scrapbook full of pictures from these visits and this one is from 2005!
It’s so fun to look back and see how much they grew from year to year!
25) Track Santa
Our youngest son could not wait to track Santa each year on the computer!
I think he still looks at the Norad Santa Tracker every Christmas Eve!
In Conclusion
Christmas is such a magical time of the year!
We look forward to our traditions and making new Christmas memories each year!
Let us know your favorite family tradition or memory!
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Until next time, follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram!
Blessings, Donna and Rich
Pin It For Later
Don’t forget to pin this so you can remember it!
More Christmas Inspiration
Here’s some more Christmas inspiration to help you prepare for the holidays!
- Great Tips to Organize and Store Christmas Decor
- A Nighttime Christmas Home Tour 2022
- Simple and Pretty Kitchen Decor Ideas
- Seven Ways to Decorate for Christmas on a Budget
- Christmas Dining Room Tour
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support. (disclosure policy)
Such a thoughtful and well put together post, Donna!
Having traditions really makes the season feel meaningful and extra special. Thanks so much for sharing at Home Imagined this week!
Thanks Rachel! You are so kind! We enjoy our traditions so much and are looking forward to the holiday season!
These are great ideas, I love holiday traditions that resonate. One of my favorite things was making Christmas cookies with my mom and listening to the Beach Boys Christmas album. We have a Christmas Eve tradition with our family that I will be posting about soon. I do hope you would share this on my Tell It To Me Tuesday link up.
Hi Lyndsey! Thanks for sharing one of your favorite traditions! Isn’t it amazing how hearing a song can bring back so many memories! Music is truly magical! I’ll hop over and check out your party! Thanks again, Donna
So much fun to see this list, Donna! I love that you guys are so close and make time to carry on traditions from one year to the next. It’s such an important time to make memories. Loving and pinning as always sweet friend, CoCo
Thank you friend! Some of our traditions have changed as our boys have gotten older but we still enjoy participating in them! Can’t wait to make new memories this year!
Hey Donna! I love these ideas. They really help us to slow down and embrace the season. The photo of you and your family on the sofa is adorable. Thank you for sharing this post with the Home Imagined Link Party.
Thanks Anna! We love celebrating the season! Christmas is the only time of year all of us are together, so I cherish that picture!
Hi Donna – Your post will be featured in our Home Imagined Link Party tomorrow! Hooray!
That’s wonderful news Anna, thanks so much!