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I’m a huge proponent of simple & joyful family life. The holiday online content is SO OVERWHELMING THESE DAYS. So I would encourage you to pick a few traditions and just do those consistently. Overtime, some may get replaced with new ones. Or as your kids get older, you may feel like you have more capacity to add something.
But if you do too many things, they all become sort of meaningless and Mom just feels stressed.
I do want to CHEER ON YOU MOMS OF TODDLERS AND LITTLES though – start the meaningful traditions now. Even when it seems like the kids don’t get it and care. One year, they’ll suddenly care and say, “Awe I remember this from last year.”
And then it’s just the sweetest thing ever.
Rather than share “100 fun tradition ideas” or something, I’ve decided to just share the ones my big kids actually love and care about.
When they were all really little, I did this simple toddler advent activities calendar which has tons of ideas for super simple free & cute toddler stuff at home.
We’ve mostly shifted into big kid mode (even though we have a toddler again) and so the activities calendar got dropped in favor of the 8 things listed below.
My kids, as of this writing, are 12 (almost), 10, 8, 6, and 2!
Our older four kids’ favorite Christmas traditions in our home are:
I’ve put them in a list in order of when we added them to our family… so, when the kids were itty bitty, we only did the first 3 things.
1. Christmas Jammies & Lights
We exchange new pajamas (or comfy clothes/ hoodies/ sweats/ robes), wear them to get donuts at a favorite local 24/7 donut shop, and drive around to look at lights.
2. Advent Jesus Storybook Ornaments
We read one story per day from the Jesus Storybook Bible, and hang the ornament is a highlight for sure. I have an old handmade set. Every year, at least one ornament breaks and we either skip that story because we’re behind 😂 or a big kid makes a replacement.
There is a cute ornament set on Amazon that isn’t crazy expensive & perfectly coordinates with the Jesus Storybook Bible readings.
Here is my longer post about this tradition.
3. Christmas Picture Books
I’ve added to our collection over the years and we read one most evenings. I just keep them in a basket near the fireplace.
Last year, I took a picture of each kid with their favorite book. (Our newest little family member is in the process of being adopted, so we have yet to figure out his favorite Christmas book. TBD.)
This was a terrible quality picture snapped in the dark, but these are all the Christmas picture books we’ve collected over the years. I just buy 2-3 books per year and often get others from the library. 2-3 books a year for 10 years adds up!
My 2 favorites that didn’t make the kids’ faves are:
- The Gift of the Magi (this edition)
- Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
We also love this Christmas I Spy Book & this Mother Goose Christmas Carol Book (only available used). Both are enjoyed daily in December every single year!!
4. Christmas Movies
Our grade school aged kids’ favorite Christmas Movies are The Star, Elf, Home Alone, the 2018 Grinch, and unfortunately, The Christmas Chronicles. Ha!
I grew up watching It’s a Wonderful Life with my family & have invited the kids to watch it with me if they want. The older ones are starting to really enjoy it.
I have a feeling The Worst Best Christmas Pageant Ever will be a new favorite as well.
5. Jalabokaflod
We got this idea from this podcast episode. I buy each person a few books, and we sit around reading for a while together, eating treats. Candles lit, table decorated, fire roaring. The Christmas Hygge vibes are strong. The first year we did it, the kids were 4-9 and they read for about 10 minutes. I read picture books to the 4 & 6 year old the whole time. Someone cried. And we ended up doing a puzzle and having everyone in bed by 7:15.
Year 2, kids ages 5-10, people looked forward to opening books (they had fond memories from the previous year), read for about 30 minutes & I think someone got sent to their room.
This year, (year 3), my now 10 year old said, “Mom, do you know what my favorite thing in all of December is?!” (I did not.) “Jalabokaflod!!! I can’t wait to get a new book and have a cozy night reading by the fire.”
My bookish homeschooling mom heart melted.
It’s a keeper!
If you have young kids who are just learning to read, here are all of our favorite beginning reader books (over on my homeschooling site). Any of these would be great gifts!
6. Gingerbread Houses with Friends
As much as my heart melted when my 10 year old made the above comment about reading night being her favorite, I have to admit, I’m pretty sure this one tops most of the kids’ favorite activities lists.
It is a newer add on that we’ve started as the kids have gotten older.
This is a hold-over from one of my best childhood memories. Every year, our good family friends would host this big gingerbread house making night. By age 14, we were making sky scrapers and modern Frank-Lloyd Wright style homes, I kid you not.
The graham cracker gingerbread house setup is pictured below. Everyone gets cardboard wrapped in foil for their base/ foundation. I buy tons of name-brand Graham Crackers (they hold up better), tons of frosting cans, tons of candy, and cut lots of little index card pieces.
The kids use frosting and folded index cards in corners and come up with the craziest creations.
The aftermath.
7. Sibling and Cousin Secret Santa
Each of my kids’ works (mostly chores) to earn money to spend on gifts. We have an ongoing chores-for-money system but they also sometimes do extra chores around this time of year.
They each take great care picking out a gift for a sibling and a gift for a cousin, both secret santa style. It is SO FUN to watch them get excited about giving.
A few years ago, we felt the gift craziness really amplify with having a big family and the kids all wanting to (sweetly) also make gifts for everyone. When my oldest was 8, all 8 cousins tried to give something all to each other. And all my 4 kids tried to give something each to each other.
The gifts that year were so overwhelming. So many dollar store gifts wrapped with so much tape. LOL
So we moved to a Secret Santa tradition and the kids enjoy this more!! This was all about SIMPLIFYING the quantity of gifts given & directing our energies beyond buying, wrapping, and exchanging as much stuff as possible. That is a win to me!!
8. Sardines on Christmas Night with Entire Extended Family
My kids start asking about this at the beginning of the month. On Christmas night we gather with my husband’s side of the family – he has 3 siblings. There are currently a total of 9 grandkids (almost 10) and 9 adults.
After dark, we turn of all the lights at Grammy & Papa’s house to play Sardines. Everyone partners up on an adult/ kid team. One team is “it.” Everyone except the “it” team goes into the garage to wait with a 2 minute timer. The “it” team hides somewhere in the house. At the 2 minute mark, everyone starts looking for the “it” team.
That’s it!
We don’t do Elf on the Shelf or a giant baking day or attend a bunch of Christmas musicals/ shows/ productions, etc. We do bake a little throughout (my older girls love to bake on their own anyway), and I make a couple traditional family recipes around Christmas Eve & Christmas, but it doesn’t feel excessive.
You can’t do it all!!
Here’s why it didn’t feel too crazy to add things as they got older.
We made some swaps… we swapped out our toddler & preschool advent activity calendar for a couple other bigger one-day traditions like Jalabokaflod & Gingerbread Houses. We choose not to attend a bunch of big productions or anything, in favor of more time at home.
We cut down on gift buying a little… as we had the means, we traded out activities instead of material gifts, which is usually more expensive but less time-consuming. So, for example, my husband and I take both sets of parents out for a nice dinner sometime in January. We gift this for Christmas & that is four fewer gifts to buy. All of them feel like they don’t need anything and the time is more fun. With a big family, it’s hard to get quality time like that with our own parents, so that’s a simple swap if you can swing it & it makes sense with your family personalities.
I try to plan most Christmas shopping in early November so I can order most online over Black Friday. I also end up hitting a few local stores, but we don’t spend a ton of time in stores shopping this time of year.
Also, as I wasn’t nursing & diapering & potty training anyone anymore, I had more energy for some of the extra fun stuff. If you’re in that season with a little one, cut yourself some slack and drop a couple activities. You can always pick them back up next year.
You Don’t Need….
I would encourage you time and again to pick the traditions that work for you and turn off the social media FOMO this time of year.
You don’t need that viral tree or wreath. You don’t need to buy $1000 worth of gifts for each person. You don’t need to hide an elf in some extravagant tiny mess every day (unless that brings you joy, then have at it).
Seek peace. Celebrate Jesus. Create & wonder at the anticipation of the Messiah. And spend time together.
We’re mostly home, cozied up together, opening our door and inviting others in, pursuing simple + connected + meaningful traditions.
Merry Christmas, friends.
(Pictured below is this ridiculous Christmas sweater & taxidermy thing our church does on JOY Sunday of Advent… lol)
