Starting Christmas Traditions With Kids
Steps to Creating Fun Family Holiday Activities and Memories
Oct 16, 2009
The Christmas season is a busy time. Between school concerts, after school activities, and all the things that need to be done to prepare for Christmas itself, a side effect can be to go through the motions without making lasting connections from one Christmas to the next. Starting family Christmas traditions can help create special memories for children.
Create a Tradition With Food
Try to find a few foods to serve that would only be offered during the holidays and not eaten regularly throughout the year. For example, a food dish from the family’s ethnic background could be included. If these dishes are already part of meals through out the year, an example being perogies, then they can be served with all the trimmings like fried onions, bacon and melted butter to make them special at Christmas.
Create a Tradition Around Baking
Bake items that would only be at Christmas time:
- Gingerbread cookies in shapes of people or animals, decorate with icing and candy. Some gingerbread tastes too strong for kids, so try using milder flavor recipes
- Thumbprint cookies are popular at Christmas, but adding cocoa to make it chocolate or put candy in the middle instead of jam make it a family tradition
- Make caramel popcorn or popcorn balls
Create a Tradition Around Decorating
Each year, as a family:
- Pick out a Christmas decoration for the tree, for example a new star every year.
- Make a Gingerbread house from scratch, or many stores offer kits to put together.
- Make decorations like Stringing pasta and paint in colors to complement the tree.
- Use modeling clay to make a new lasting decoration.
- Learn a new song, silly or sentimental.
Have a party atmosphere when decorating the house and tree. Offer finger foods, special drinks and desserts. Play holiday music and talk about other Christmas memories. Kids love hearing stories about themselves, and about what their parents were like when they were kids. Do this on the same date every year.
Create a Tradition Around an Event or Activity
There are many Christmas events happening to build a tradition around attending each year. There are also fun Christmas activities like finding the perfect Christmas tree. Let kids have a say in what is picked, even if it is not the best tree available. Also a fun family outing is finding and cutting down a Christmas tree. Tree farms often offer hot chocolate, apple cider and sometimes sleigh rides.
Create a Tradition With a Movie
There are many Christmas and holiday movies to choose from. Find one that suits the entire family. With younger kids, a shorter movie or funny movie might be a better choice. A variety of movies can be watched over the season, but pick one movie that will be watched every single year, no matter what.
Starting Christmas traditions with kids can be fun and a great way to create lasting memories. Whether choosing to cook or bake something only at the holidays, buy or make decorations, attend a Christmas event yearly, or watch the same movie every Christmas, these are all steps to creating fun family Christmas holiday activities and memories.
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