How to Create Holiday Traditions for Children
Five Ideas to Make Christmastime Memorable for Kids Year After Year
Nov 22, 2008
Often revolving around food and activities, traditions make the holidays more memorable by creating gleeful anticipation, strengthening family bonds and, over time, generating a memorable link to the past. Passing down holiday traditions generation after generation is a wonderful way to bring meaning and joy to the Christmas season.
Most Americans already participate in holiday traditions like trimming a Christmas tree and Santa Claus, but adopting more personal traditions is especially meaningful. Here you'll find five ideas to get you started in creating your own unique holiday traditions for your kids.
Purchase a Christmas Tree for Your Kids Room
For those of you who get a bit nervous letting the tykes handle your antique Christmas bulbs, instituting the tradition of a kids' tree is just what the doctor ordered. Kids will love to decorate their very own Christmas tree (It is preferable to use a small artificial tree) year after year with special ornaments that they have made or been given. Once the kids fall asleep on Christmas Eve, place a special gift from Santa underneath their tree so it's the first present they see on Christmas morn.
Give Your Kids a Christmas Ornament Each Year to Commemorate the Holiday
Presenting your kids with a special Christmas ornament every year is a tangible way to connect kids with heartwarming memories of Christmastime from their childhood into adulthood. Choose an ornament that symbolizes a milestone. If your son was on the soccer team, choose a soccer ball ornament. If your daughter was in a ballet recital this year, choose a ballerina ornament. Mark ornaments with a date and name (if you have more than one child) so that you can easily recognize who they belong to. Once your child is all grown up and ready to purchase a Christmas tree for him/her own home, present him/her with a box filled with all the ornaments she received throughout the years.
Prepare Festive Holiday Treats
It wouldn't be Christmas without Christmas cookies. Kids will love baking treats that are family favorites. Cut out cookies and chocolate dipped treats, like pretzels or Reindeer Droppings, are both fun and easy for kids to make. Making the same Christmas treats each year will stir up a sense of nostalgia and remind them of treasured memories.
Make Homemade Presents
Holidays are about giving. Not only will your kids have a delightful time creating unique gifts for loved ones, but making homemade presents will help instill a spirit of charity in children. The recipients of these homemade treasures will especially enjoy gifts made from the heart and look forward to receiving a handmade present every year. Holiday-themed drawings, playdough ornaments and tissue-paper Christmas wreaths are just a few of the many homemade presents kids can make to get this Christmas tradition started.
Welcome Santa on Christmas Eve
Preparing for Santa with a host of activities on Christmas Eve is a holiday tradition must. Attending religious services, preparing or going out to a special dinner, and leaving cookies and milk out for Santa before the kids go to bed are always festive ways to celebrate Christmas Eve. It's also fun to leave a carrot for Santa's reindeer, sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn and put on your own family Christmas pageant.
Whatever Christmas traditions your family decides to adopt as their own, you are certain to have a fun and festive holiday season, grow closer as a family and build priceless memories for years to come.
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