10 Holiday Traditions To Start With Your Children This Year!
I LOVE the holidays, and I’m always looking for fun traditions to enjoy with my family. Holiday traditions add that extra element of something to look forward to each year, and I’m really excited to share some of my favourite ones with you.
Making Cookies
When I was a kid, my mom or grandmother would designate one night as cookie baking night, and we always looked forward to helping them cut out and decorate the cookies. One of my favourite recipes to make are my Great Gradma Ada’s Gingerbread men!
The Elf On The Shelf
You either hate it or love it. I was on the fence about introducing the elf, but it’s been a fun tradition that my son looks forward to every year. Also, a lot of his classmates have elves, and I really didn’t want Mason to feel left out. Our elf’s name is Griswold, and while he doesn’t get as rowdy as some of the elves out there, he definitely enhances the holidays. Check out my blog post on 50 Kind & Creative Elf On The Shelf Ideas!
Making Homemade Ice Cream
I love making homemade ice cream around the holidays! A few years ago, I was gifted the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, and it’s so much fun to use! My favourite kind to make around the holidays is peppermint vanilla, but there are a ton of fun holiday themed ice cream recipes online to try.
The Christmas Eve Box
I made a Christmas Eve box for our son years ago, and we still use it! Every year on Christmas Eve, Mason gets a box containing his Christmas PJs, a new book, a Christmas stuffie, snacks, glow sticks, hot chocolate mix, etc. He also gets to open one gift on Christmas eve, and this is something he looks forward to every year.
Special Wrapping Paper
When I was a kid, my mom got a huge role of purple unicorn wrapping paper to wrap my gifts in. There was so much left over, that every year, she began wrapping 1 gift in this special paper. I’m 31 years old now and the paper is still going, although the gifts she is able to wrap in it are getting smaller and smaller. It’s always been fun to scan the presents under the tree for the purple unicorn paper, and it became a really special tradition for us.
A Christmas Eve Pizza Party
Christmas Eve is a super busy day for most of us. You’re busy wrapping last minute gifts, you have family coming and going all day, the kids are wild- you don’t want to cook. We always try to make our Christmas Eve dinner something fun and easy, like pizza or taco dip. Let the kids settle in with a holiday movie marathon and some pizza while you work your Christmas magic behind the scenes.
Making Garland
I used to love stringing popcorn to make garland when I was a kid, and this year I decided to start that tradition with Mason! This year we are also making orange slice garland, which I’m really excited about! Pinterest also has a ton of homemade holiday decor ideas.
A 12 Days Of Christmas Countdown
We do the normal chocolate advent calendar every year, but last year everyone in our local Dollarama group started going crazy over these DIY Wooden Advent Calendars. I couldn’t find enough of the wooden boxes to do a 24 day one, so I made a 12 Days Of Christmas calendar instead. We use our Elf On The Shelf to leave fun little surprises to him in the boxes, and it’s becoming a fun little tradition.
Giving Back
If you love to volunteer over the holidays, this is the perfect time to teach your children the importance of giving back! If you’re donating toys to children in need, take your children shopping with you and let them know the importance of giving back to those in need.
Going To The Movies
We LOVE going to the movies, especially around the holidays (depending on pandemic guidelines of course)! Our movie theatre is in our local mall, and it’s always fun seeing all of the decorations and people out doing their holidays shopping. Sometimes the theatre even plays holiday classics (we saw Beetlejuice this way last Halloween), so keep an eye on your local listings!
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY TRADITION TO DO WITH YOUR KIDS?
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