My family, and so many families I know, spend Christmas at someone else’s house.
It’s wonderful to share such precious time with your extended family, but sometimes your personal family Christmas can get lost in all the traveling plans. We have been known to celebrate Christmas a few days to a whole week early, and usually over a small dinner. Food is flying, gifts are being tossed about, and it’s over too fast. To make these intimate celebrations even more memorable, consider adding a touch of elegance with thoughtfully curated gift hampers for your loved ones.
This year, I want to change it up!
I want to make Christmas special to our children and start our own family “Christmas Day” traditions… even if it is early.
So, I’ve search all over the internet and come up with a list of fun celebration ideas and organized them into three categories to help this year be a little more organized, and a little more fun:
- Opening Gifts
- Breakfast Ideas
- Making Memories
I hope this list of ideas blesses your Christmas, as it has blessed ours. Enjoy!
And Merry EARLY Christmas!
OPENING GIFTS
One tip I read, which was so smart, said to get up before your children. I know, you probably just rolled your eyes, but seriously! Get up early, make coffee, turn on some music, put your breakfast in the oven and even enjoy a special quiet time if you can. Having your kids wake up to a tree that’s lit and the smell of yummy breakfast is a wonderful memory for them… and makes the morning WAY LESS STRESSFUL!
- Special Name: While wrapping gifts, assign eat child a reindeer name. Address all their gifts in their special name and on the day of Christmas, reveal which reindeer name belongs to which child! My parents did this one year when we were children and it was really fun. But unfortunately, I think it was inspired by the fact that my sisters and I came home from school EVERY SINGLE DAY and counted the gifts to determine who had more. The reindeer names slowed us down… but we still counted 🙂
- Special Paper: Wrap each child’s gifts in a different type of paper, and put a piece of their special wrapping paper at the bottom of their stocking! Kids have to dig for the wrapping paper piece and then get the joy of knowing which gifts belong to them. Fun!
- Giant Bow: Christmas Eve, when you’re done putting gifts under the tree, wrap a GIANT ribbon around the living room. That way when kids get up, there is a nice border that says, DON’T CROSS, and it makes the whole morning look like a giant gift! Again, this was something my parents did when were kids one time. But for some reason, we requested it year after year. It just made it special 🙂
- Paper Streamers: After children are asleep, tape red paper streamers across their door so that when they get up in the morning, they have to run through it. What a fun way to start the day!
- Christmas Jammies: I haven’t done this one yet, and may not, but I just love the idea. I’ve heard a lot of people do this on Christmas Eve and allow their kiddos to wear their special jammies to bed that night. I laugh as i’m writing this because opening gifts at anytime before the day gifts are supposed to be opened is strickly against everything my husband is. Despite my constant begging to open all my gifts at least 2 weeks early.
- Scavenger Hunt: This is more for older kids, put one gift for each child under the tree. Include a clue with that gift which will lead them to another gift! Repeat until all the gifts are found. I love this idea because there is so much you can do here. You could put a special letter or scripture with each gift to encourage your children!
- Treasure hunt: Place a map in your child’s stocking leading them to their gifts, have them collect all their gifts and bring them back to the tree so everyone can open their gifts together. I bet my son would love this one!… If he could read a map, or be self controlled enough to bring all his gifts back.
- Special Cookie: Every year, we make it a tradition to either purchase or create a special and delightful cookie to tuck into our child’s stocking. My husband and I initiated this tradition with our son last year, and it has turned into a joyous annual event. In our inaugural year, we selected a delightful peanut butter and jelly cookie, while this year, we opted for festive giant red and green sugar cookies that scream Christmas cheer! It’s a delightful surprise that our kids eagerly enjoy right before breakfast. If you’re looking to add a unique touch to your holiday traditions, consider exploring options to order holiday cookies online for a hassle-free and tasty addition to your festivities!
- Taking Turns: When I was a kid, my parents made us take turns opening gifts. We watched each person open their presents. This was tortuous to me back then, but as an adult, I love the opportunity to watch someone open my gift and see the joy sweep across their face. It also allows the gift opening to go a little longer, which is nice. This will probably only work with older kids. Seriously, I have a 2 year old and a 1 year old. I don’t make them wait.
BREAKFAST IDEAS
- Fruit candy Canes!
- Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree
- Biscuits and Gravy Casserole
- Make Ahead Christmas Morning Breakfast Casserole
- Reindeer pancakes!
- Red velvet pancakes with cream cheese frosting!
- Having wassail or hot chocolate in the crock pot all day long!
- Lunch idea: my mom has chili every year for Christmas Eve dinner, but Christmas day would be yummy too!
MAKING MEMORIES
- Invite a Friend: The day of Christmas, invite at least one neighbor over for your dinner. How cool for my children to be a part of sharing our special family day with others and ultimately getting to share the gospel?
- 365 Days Game: This is a cool game where you make a booklet with pages for each month of the year, and as you play and pass the book, it is filled in with fun memories throughout the year. Such a fun keepsake for years to come! Here are the instructions!
- Go to the Movies: This might be lame, but up until I got married, one of my family’s favorite Christmas traditions was going to the movies! It was such a fun thing to do as a family, and there was always something for everyone to see!
- Cookie Give Away: Buy a box of cookies from your grocer’s bakery and some napkins. Go to the park and give out cookies to adults and children. Again, I’m assuming this isn’t really Christmas day, and because we celebrate ours early, people will probably be at the park. What a great way to bless people on Christmas and an opportunity to share the gospel with strangers!
- Read Christmas Books: Here is a list of some wonderful books to read Christmas day or Christmas Eve!
- Christmas Around the World: I LOVE THIS IDEA! Especially for the mission-minded family, or the family who desires to be mission- minded, but who just can’t seem to find the time! 🙂 Pick a different country every year, and at some point in your day, do an activity or read a story or cook food that represents that country! You can always end this time with praying for the people of your chosen family.
- Roasting marshmallows: Start a fire outside and DO THIS! Even if you live in a hot climate like me, roast! Your children would look forward to it every single year, heck, so would I!
- Build an INDOOR Snowman: Even if you don’t live near snow, collecting items around the house to build an indoor snowman will keep you laughing for hours!…. Boxes, toilet paper, clothing, Christmas décor, what ever you want! Take a picture with your snowman each year for memories. You can even have a non-participating member be a judge and give out prizes. I’m loving this idea the more I think about it!
Our Christmas morning is changing every year based on our plans, but one thing that doesn’t have to change is the lasting memories we make being together.
Do you have special traditions for your Christmas morning? I’d love to hear them! Please write any traditions for your day in the comments section below.
Thanks for reading and have a Merry Christmas!
Photo credits: here
