What are your family Holiday traditions? – 5 ideas to create or add to your tradition

The Year Without a Santa Claus
Photo credit: tumblr.com

We had a discussion the other day at work about Holiday traditions. The question was raised, “What do you do for Thanksgiving?” The answers varied from the traditional turkey dinner to no turkey, but included ham and other meats. When it came to the Christmas Holiday, the answers varied widely.

When I asked my kids about their favorite tradition, they both said, “Our Christmas dinner.”

“Why do you like the Christmas dinner?” I asked.

“I like the gift game, where people draw a number to see what order they can choose a gift. It’s funny to see their face when they get a crazy gift or when they get a good gift and somebody can take it.”

While I enjoy the Christmas dinner just as much as the kids, I also love watching Christmas shows on TV. I don’t go a year without watching, The Year without a Santa Claus. I sympathize with Jingle and Jangle (number one elves), when they take Vixen to South town. The poor reindeer is mistaken for a stray dog and hauled off to the dog pound.

As you see, Holiday traditions can be whatever you create them to be. If you don’t have a tradition yet, why not start one now. Below are a few ideas to get you started.

       1.      Read Holiday stories with the kids, then create a craft related to one of the stories.

      2.      Bake cookies and give them to someone who is homebound; share with neighbors.

      3.      Create your very own 12 days of Christmas tradition – do something fun each day for 12   days. Watch a movie together, play a game, go caroling, etc.

     4.      Save coins for 30 days, then donate the money to a cause that one of the kids selects.

     5.      Have a tree decorating day and turn it into a party; make paper chains out of construction   paper, eat popcorn and string some for the tree.

Establishing a Holiday tradition is all about creating closeness with your family. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just start with a blank canvas and make it your own.

Here's a clip from the movie, The Year Without a Santa Claus - with Snow Miser & Heat Miser.

 

What are you Holiday traditions? If you were to create a new family tradition what would it be?