Christmas Traditions To Make The Season Magical
It’s a precious thing to behold Christmas through a child’s perspective. This year I’m soaking up these Christmas moments with my Littles while they last. I know that the excitement, the innocence, the wonder, are depleting by the year. The way they light up when we plug in the tree for the first time, the way they react when they find their favorite ornament, how they serenade Brad as he puts up lights outdoors, and the anticipation of counting down the days, are all things that will be a little less on the “magic scale” come next Christmas. Which is why we’re savoring it all the more this December.
So What Are Some Ways We Hold on to the Magic of the Season?
~ Walking downtown Indianapolis to take in the Circle of Lights, the reindeer, and the nativity
~ Dancing to Christmas music on Pandora
~ Watching some of our absolute favorite Christmas flicks together
~ Opening a door of their an advent house every morning of December
~ Decorating sugar cookies with grandma(s) ~ Allowing them to decorate their own kids’ tree
~ Sleeping under the tree on Christmas Eve
~ Caroling to neighbors and to the nursing home
~ Reading some of our favorite Christmas stories: The Polar Express, The Tale of Three Trees, The First Christmas Tree, and others
~ Making Reindeer Food together
We’ve also been having fun with the North Pole Magic Mail, and the North Pole Communicator that Hallmark sent us this month. And the boys would love to decorate a Gingerbread House this year, so maybe we’ll add it to our yearly traditions if it’s not a complete disaster. Hopefully a lot of these traditions will continue for years to come, and perhaps one day they’ll carry on a few of these magical traditions with their own kids. Their spirit is contagious, and I hope we can spread some of that child-like wonder to family and friends this season. It’s all about enjoying the moments, celebrating the meaning, and soaking up their excitement this season.
So How Do YOU Make the Most of This Magical Season? What Traditions Do You Enjoy with Your Kids? What’s Your Favorite Way to Take It All In?
This post is part of a series that I’m partnering with Hallmark for during this month of December. I’m honored and grateful to be part of their “Life is a Special Occasion” campaign this December.
Pandora is illegal here. 🙁 As are handguns, mace, pocket knives in public, Rottweilers and Pit Bulls. But anyway, great suggestions.
We decorated the Gingerbread House yesterday! That’s one of the things that we “have to do” during advent. We also light candles, one for each Sunday of advent, so there’s one light for a week, then two lights the following week, etc. The kids have advent calendars: One is on TV (this may be a Nordic phenomenon, but half-hour kiddie-TV shows counting down to Christmas are big in our house), one is Lego Friends (small items each day, building up to a Winter scene) and one from their grandma has all sorts of little surprises, from candy to ornaments to socks and the like.
I have some music I “must” listen to and some cookies I “must” eat. I try to read more than usual for the kids, and we have some Christmas themed films. Here, with kids, it is also really a big deal to have a “St. Lucia” day on December 13th – all about dressing in white, walking with candles, caroling and eating yellow sweet buns (this is a stricktly Scandinavian tradition, I think).
But all in all, it is buying and decorating gifts, writing and sending cards, donating used clothes, books and toys, lighting candles, making and decorating cookies including the Gingerbread House, cleaning and decorating the house, attending Christmas parties if there are any (such as the lighting of the tree), and sledding if there is snow. Playing music, reading books, watching films, eating tangerines.
Sleeping under the tree? That would look so cute. But hard work for Santa getting around everyone to leave the presents 😉
Love these ideas! We use a lot of them at our house (2 boys under 5).
For the Gingerbread Houses- i buy a large package of Gingerbread Men (3 12″ men in a pack) and everyone gets to decorate their own without the struggles of standing walls:)
My children are grown now and we have 7 grandchildren. Starting with the advent calendar on Dec 1st, I did an activity every day with my kids leading up to Dec 25. We did crafts, attended school concerts, made cookies and gingerbread houses, strung popcorn, went sledding, decorated the tree, chose a toy for needy children, read stories ( and always the night before Christmas on the 24th). I put it on a calendar on the fridge and there was always something to look forward to.