Creating Enduring Family Christmas Traditions
Four Easy Ways to Bring the Family Together on this Special Holiday
Dec 13, 2008
Establishing a family tradition to celebrate Christmas should ideally involve participation from every member of the family, bringing the family together by including all as active participants. Make it a special Christmas to remember this year – and every year – by incorporating one or more of the following simple family Christmas traditions into the family customs.
A Christmas Tree Tradition
Shop together as a family to choose a personal Christmas ornament for each family member – and let each person choose his or her own ornament. Alternately (or in addition), adults and children can share several hours together making Christmas ornaments, as well as putting together rings of decorated red and green construction paper looped together to form chains.
Of course, the whole family should pile into the car to either choose a tree at a lot or chop one down at a farm or in the forest (after acquiring the proper permit). After the tree is home and set up, children and adults work together to place the chosen and/or homemade ornaments on the tree, with each child selecting the places for his or her own ornaments.
When Christmas is over, carefully box up and store all of the ornaments for next year’s Christmas tree. After several years of ornament collecting and creation, this becomes a much-anticipated way to bring the family together. While trimming the tree, the family will share memories of holidays past while enjoying the time spent together now.
A Christmas Eve Tradition
This tradition revolves around another tried ‘n’ true holiday tradition – baking holiday cookies. Choose a recipe for butter or sugar cookies that allows for cutting the cookies out in Christmas shapes. Depending on the age of the children, their participation in the cookie creating process will vary. At the very least, allow each child to choose one to three cookies to decorate according to their wishes.
These special cookies are for Santa to help sustain him on his journey. Before bedtime, help the children arrange the cookies on a plate, along with a glass of milk and a couple carrots for his reindeer. They can also write or dictate a thank-you note to leave for Mr. Claus. Then when Santa gets hungry setting out all those gifts later, he’ll have some holiday cookies decorated with love to sustain him.
A Gift-Opening Christmas Tradition
After the kids have seen what’s Santa’s brought, there’s still the matter of opening Christmas gifts from family members and friends. Instead of having everyone launch into a free-for-all of wrapper tearing, why not create a time in which everyone has the chance to appreciate each gift selected for both themselves and others?
Make this fun by having the kids arrange the gifts in piles for each gift recipient. Then, choose an order of opening, which will likely become a tradition (youngest to oldest works well). In turn, each person selects a gift, reads aloud the giver, and opens it, while everyone else watches. This provides great opportunities for photos, plus the chance for the gift giver to enjoy the recipient’s delight and surprise.
A Giving Thanks Christmas Tradition
Last but not least, turn saying grace before Christmas supper into a participatory activity for everyone seated at the table. Choose one person to start, and then go around the table. Every family member gets an opportunity to speak from the heart, uninterrupted, to share what they’re grateful for, what they hope and pray for, and their wishes for the New Year.
Making Christmas Traditions into Family Traditions
These four simple suggestions take little work, yet they can reap huge benefits in bringing the family together to make this a special holiday. Establishing family holiday traditions can make this Christmas – and every Christmas – a Christmas to remember.
 |
