30 Christmas Traditions to Celebrate Together

Christmas Traditions are a great way to make Christmas more heartwarming by making little moments bring everyone closer. Little holiday traditions make things fun and memorable. If you are looking for some fun Christmas ideas, I have for you 30 Christmas activities that will make the celebration merrier. From things to do on Christmas Eve to Christmas traditions for every family.

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Christmas Eve Traditions

Open One Gift Early

This is a fun way to kick off Christmas excitement; everyone can pick one present that they can open before bed. Let the big surprise wait till morning. Make it more fun by letting each one guess what can be inside. Set a hot cocoa bar and let everyone chat, sipping a mug of hot cocoa and unwrapping a gift.

Bake and Decorate Cookies for Santa

Build the excitement for the next day by prepping some sweet treats. Set up some cookies, brownies with icing, sprinkles, or candy. For a fun time, being creative with the treats. Click their photos to make it memorable.

Kids can then place these for Santa with a note and a glass of milk.

Christmas Lights Walk or Drive

Grab some popcorn and take a walk or drive through your neighborhood to see the beautiful, festive decor. You can also make it a fun game by counting how many Santas you spot. Take some photos at captivating light displays.

Attend Midnight Mass or Candlelight Service

Start with the true meaning of Christmas. Attend Mass and Candlelight Service together with family. Dress in coordinated winter outfits for a special family photo after church.

Host a Christmas Game Night

Host a game night with family and friends. Arrange some festive snacks and play fun holiday-themed games. You can play a fun holiday playlist in the background to keep the energy lively. It can be fun Christmas Games to play with Large Groups, or you can also host a gift exchange by playing games. Here are 15 Christmas Gift Exchange Games that are Fun

Christmas Morning Traditions

Play a Christmas Morning Playlist

Start your day by setting the mood for the day by playing some holiday music. Make a Christmas morning playlist with a mix of classics like“Jingle Bell Rock” and cozy tunes like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Keep it playing as you unwrap gifts and have breakfast. It’s a simple but fun tradition that will let everyone swing to the melody.

Special Christmas Breakfast

Make Christmas morning breakfast extra special. You can fix a menu of family favorites that can be served every year. It can be cinnamon rolls, pancakes shaped like snowmen. Make it extra special by arranging a breakfast buffet with festive decor, or serving in festive serveware with red-and-green table settings, or making a breakfast charcuterie board.

Photo Before Presents

Capture the moments as everyone wakes up. Record their excitement as they unwrap the gifts. Set a timer and take group photos, making silly faces or poses. After Christmas, make a collage and add each year’s photo as a Christmas tradition.

Family Prayer or Gratitude Circle

Start your morning with prayers. Let everyone express gratitude by saying what they are thankful for before opening a gift. Let it be like a yearly reflection, and let everyone share with family members, thank you for anything big or small. You can also have a Christmas gratitude journal to write down everyone’s thoughts each year.

Stocking Search

Hide the stockings and leave small clues or riddles leading to each stocking’s location. Fill the stockings with a mix of treats, trinkets, and one small surprise gift. It fun way to warm up and build excitement before unwrapping the gifts. And once it becomes a tradition, everyone will be waiting for it every Christmas morning.

Christmas Traditions for Family

Host an Ornament Swap with a Potluck

Host a cozy gathering by inviting friends or family for a potluck, along with a wrapped ornament for exchange. You can draw a number or blind fold to pick an ornament. Enjoy a festive potluck with everyone to begin the holiday season. Find How to host potluck and plan for a fun gathering.

Family Christmas Movie Marathon

This is my favorite for the Christmas season, watching nostalgic Christmas movies. Set up a fun movie snack bar with popcorn, cocoa, and festive treats. Make a list of Christmas movies, and make a cozy setup with blankets, pillows, and matching pajamas. Let everyone vote for their favorite movie.

Go Sledding or Ice Skating

Make a fun Christmas tradition of outdoor adventure by going out for sledding or ice skating. Make it a friendly competition of the longest slide or skating move. Capture candid photos and the day with dinner out or take-out and movie night.

Family Photoshoot in Holiday Outfits

Have a tradition of a yearly Christmas photo, it could be in matching pajamas or a festive holiday outfit. You can fix the location near the Christmas tree, fireplace, or keep it changing. You can also try to keep the same pose every year, like recreating the old memory, and watch the journey through each year’s photo. Make a Christmas album, keep the memories safe.

If you want something more fun than a formal photo, use funny props like Santa hats or elf shoes to keep things light-hearted.

Christmas Carol Night

Make a Christmas tradition of having a get-together with friends and family for an evening of singing classic carols together. Once the Christmas decor is up, make a cozy setup with some fairy lights, candles, and hot beverages. Print out some simple carol lyrics and hand them out in groups for everyone to join in the singing. You can even record everyone’s favorite one and save it as a memory or share it on social media to mark the start of the Christmas celebration.

Christmas Traditions for Kids

Here are some fun Christmas Traditions for kids that will make Christmas more fun and engaging for them

Make a Gingerbread House

This is a fun Christmas activity for kids that can be your Christmas tradition. Set up all the materials required on the table. If you want to simplify, you can use the pre-made kit. Make sure to have enough supplies of icing, candies, and gumdrops for kids to create their masterpiece. Play some Christmas music in the background to make the ambience festive and fun for kids to work.

Mail Letters to Santa

This is a cute and innocent way to celebrate the festive season. Let kids write a letter to Santa, and they can pour their feelings, wishes, and gifts they want from Santa. It’s a good way for parents to find the Christmas presents they can buy. You can encourage them to include a thank-you note to Santa to teach gratitude. Make it more fun for kids by providing them with festive stationery and stickers to decorate their letters. Give them a North Pole address to make it feel more real. Take a cute photo with each holding their letter.

Read Christmas Stories Every Night

Make December bedtime about Christmas stories. Make a cozy setup of blankets, fairylights, and cuddles for a story time. You can make your own story, each with a message of kindness, sharing, the true meaning of Christmas, or read from the storybooks. Here are some suggestions for you to pick from based on the age of the kids. You can make this Christmas tradition a 12 Days of Christmas, or the night before, or the whole month of December.

Here are a few good books:

12 Mini Board Books for Babies & Toddlers 

Classics Christmas Collection for grownups

24 Cozy Christmas Bedtime Stories

Make Christmas Decor

Make kids part of the festive season preparation by letting them make some Christmas decor. Gather a supply of craft items like colored paper, glitter, ribbon, and glue. They can make garlands or ornaments for decor. As they grow, you can introduce them to new art. For example, they can start with paper snowflakes or handprint decor and move to salt dough ornaments and resin art ornaments as they grow. A fun way to add personalized decor to your home and teach kids new crafts each year.

Christmas Countdown

Plan a series of simple and exciting activities and mark each day leading up to Christmas with a fun daily ritual. It can be a wall chart, chalkboard, or printable tracker. Add a mini surprise to each day, it can be a game or activity with small rewards like stickers, treats, or a trinket. End the countdown on Christmas Eve with a small family celebration or movie night.

Christmas Traditions to Start with Baby

Personalized Ornament

Capture your baby’s journey through fun Christmas ornaments. You can make tiny hands or feet in clay, salt dough, or non-toxic paint each year. You can also write the year and the baby’s name on Christmas ornaments as a keepsake. My favourite way is to add the baby’s photo each year to a frame ornament and keep it as a memory. Later, you can use it to make a memory lane decor for Christmas, showing progress each year. If it’s the first or second year of the baby, you can also make a milestone corner with these ornaments.

Baby’s First Ornament Collection

Start a tradition of collecting a special, unique Christmas ornament each year. You can make your baby choose one from a collection or pick something that reflects the baby or their growth.

Choose something that symbolizes a meaning, like their favorite activity, toy, character, or word. Write the year behind and store it to give to your child when they grow up.

Baby’s Christmas Memory Box

Make a keepsake box each year of Christmas memories for the baby. It can be their cute Christmas outfit, Santa hat, or a photo with Santa. Include a handwritten note describing the day, a message for the baby, memory of the year. You can also include any special momentos of the year, like a Christmas card from grandparents, their name tags. Decorate the box and label it with your baby’s name and year.

First Christmas Photoshoot

Celebrate the first Christmas with the baby with a festive photoshoot. It can be with cozy props like a Santa hat, a tiny Christmas tree, or a Christmas globe. Plan a mix of candid moments and posed photos.

Matching Family Pajamas

Pick a fun Christmas pattern and make the whole family dress, including the baby in matching cozy Christmas pajamas. If the baby is too young for it, get a matching romper. Everyone can wear it as a family tradition on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. You can go with anything from festive colors to prints or patterns like plaid, snowflakes, or even personalized ones with names. Click a casual pick each year.

Christmas Traditions for Couples

Decorate Christmas Tree

This is a fun way to get together for Christmas prep. Make Christmas tree decoration a romantic evening with some music, drinks, building something together, and sharing stories. Light some candles for a cozy vibe and take selfies with the decorated tree.

Couple’s Advent Calendar

Make a personalized Advent calendar with each filled with love notes, date ideas, cozy activities, or a small gift. You can take turns on alternate days to plan a surprise for the other. Use a small envelope, marked for each day. If you are short on time, you can also get a couple’s Advent calendar of romantic challenges to spend quality time.

Plan a Winter Getaway

This one is perfect if you are away from family. Just escape the holiday hustle and spend a cozy time with your partner at a cabin or resort. Spend time relaxing, ice skating, and sightseeing. Make it a yearly tradition to go to the same place for nostalgia or a new destination each year. Make sure to plan well in advance.

Christmas Date

Every year, plan a romantic evening just for the two of you. It can be dinner by candlelight or a visit to a holiday market, local café just to spend quality time together.

Cozy After Christmas

As families grow, Christmas becomes more about hosting and preparations. So make a tradition to spend time together after Christmas. Just wind down the holiday rush by spending a quiet day together in pajamas with leftover treats and warm drinks. Reflect on your favorite moments from the season and talk about hopes for the new year. This tradition is all about relaxing, reconnecting, and enjoying the calm.

I hope this list helped you find some meaningful Christmas traditions to start with your loved ones. It ok to have more than one, after all, it’s Christmas.

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