Christmas is the season to be merry and to be giving! Christmas cheer and Christmas magic are everywhere especially for children. It is a special time of year when the family home seems extra cozy and families have their own special Christmas traditions for kids. These traditions are something that we do together and that is what makes them so special and memorable. Here are a few of the Christmas Traditions we honor in our home.
I’m a brand ambassador for The Elf on the Shelf®, but all opinions are my own. Please see bottom of post for additional disclosure.
Christmas Traditions For Kids
When I think back to the things I remember most about Christmas from my childhood, they are the same Christmas Traditions that I enjoy doing with my own children today.
1. Decorating For Christmas
Decorating for Christmas was a family enterprise at my house. It was fun craft time with my mother. We were creative and we tried new things every year but what I loved was doing it together and feeling like essential to the process. The first time I remember making decorations was buying styrofoam balls to cover with sequins using pins. That was a lot of work but it was also a lot of fun. I loved it! Another year, we dipped things we collected on a hike, like pinecones and sweetgum tree balls, into shiny paints to make natural ornaments. We also loved making popcorn and cranberry garland. All of these crafts took planning and time and we enjoyed each other’s company in a special way that I will always remember. I often get nostalgic as I unpack my Christmas boxes! My kids, my husband, and I still love making ornaments and decorating the house each year and I am pretty sure we always will. Each year my kids take a turn putting the Christmas hat on top of the tree!
2. Holiday Giving
We like to do some family service projects to help spread the holiday cheer. My kids always do a toy room cleanup and fill a box with toys to bring to Good Will. We also usually participate in a Toys For Tots through my children’s school. A newer tradition that we have adopted through my son’s Boy Scout Troop is where we serve dinner to a group of homeless and give them care packages. We want the kids to learn that Christmas isn’t just about getting, it is also about giving and how much that can fill your own heart too. My son takes extra pride in these activities as he knows they increase the North Pole magic.
3. Writing Letters To Santa
Each year, my kids write letters to Santa and it is always a big deal as we all wait to see if the letters disappeared up the chimney while we were sleeping. This year, we are adding a new element to that Christmas tradition for kids. The Scout Elf Express Delivers Letters to Santa Kit is a very clever kit that shrinks my children’s letters to Santa into smaller letters our Elf on The Shelf, Stewart, can carry to Santa easily. You just bake them in the oven with Mrs. Claus’ magic press and they shrink down to a super cute size. Then after Santa reads our letters, Stewart will hang the ornament sized letters on the tree so we can save their letters for years to come! I just love having this new keepsake of their letters that we can cherish each year when we pull them out again. The little video clip below shows how it works:
The book is so cute and fun for introducing this new Christmas tradition. You can get your own Scout Elf Express Delivers Letters to Santa kit at elfontheshelf.com
4. Baking For Christmas
You can bet we bake cookies for Santa every year which is one of our favorite Christmas activities! But we also love baking the whole season leading up to Christmas whether it is biscotti for gifts or seasonal muffins for special holiday breakfasts. We love making something together and then getting to enjoy the fruit of labor together.
5. Christmas Shows
We love to see Christmas Shows together whether it is the Nutcracker, a holiday movie, or the children’s orchestra and band performance. Sometimes, we even get to enjoy a school holiday performance of songs and that is always a wonderful treat.
What are the Christmas traditions for kids that you cherish in your household?
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Elf on the shelf made me cringe while reading it to my 3 year old. This elf is going to spy on you and assume you are naughty. You can’t talk to the else? The book mentions prayer, a big assumption and seems to reflect counterproductive lessons for parent’s to give kids.
We don’t think of it as spying. The elf isn’t hidden and his mission is known. He observes their behavior and my kids love finding his new location each day. They think of our Elf On The Shelf as a friend and they do talk to him. We enjoy this tradition and my kids look forward to our elf’s arrival each year:)