family traditions for the holidays

Sherri - posted on 10/14/2011

We bake cookies Christmas Eve, we do Reindeer food and sprinkle it on the front lawn.

We take the kids to the dollar store to buy for everyone in the family.

The day we do the tree we bake cookies, blare the Christmas music and decorate the tree as a family.

We do Christmas card photos with different Santa hats every year.

STEPHENIE - posted on 10/14/2011

I also do the cookie, milk and carrot thing to. I also every year buy my girls a special ornament of what they're into that year. I also buy them slippers and pjs. I hide each item and they go find them on xmas eve. Than they put on there pjs and hang there ornament. I figure this way they will know what they were into each year and be able to tell a story about it to there kids. Sometimes we also make the ornament to save some money.

Sarah - posted on 11/30/2010

Marshall is only one year old and this will be his second christmas so the traditions are starting this year. we have our special santa plate and cup and will be giving him tim tams and "moo moo" milk as well as leaving out a bucket of water for his reindeer. Every year we choose a gift to place under the Kmart Chirstmas tree for needy families and we also donate a few coins (any coins i fish out from the bottom of my hand bag) to put into the mayor's christmas appeal wishing well when we pass one (usually around once a week) I want to instill into my son that in order to receive presents at Christmas you have to give to those less fortunate first.

Kirsi - posted on 12/04/2009

I take my kids to the Walmart and we pick up some things they can make their own ornaments with each year. Nothing fancy but my kids love it and it is great to see those home made ornaments year after year. We bake the cookies for Santa (but of course!). We watch Google Maps for Santa around the world. We sprinkle reindeer food. We have Christmas dance-athon in our living room jamming for the Christmas songs one night (no TV allowed!).

Decorating is done with everyone involved, kids can be more creative than you know if you give them a chance! Go wild and have fun!

Christine - posted on 12/04/2009

This one was one that they looked forward to and told all their friends about all year long.

When Christmas shopping I would always buy 5 gifts that were similar. Then wrap them up. Then on Christmas eve...the kids would sit in a circle on the floor...each with one of the gifts in hand. Daddy or I would read "T'was the night before Christmas" the fun part starts here...each time we say the word "and" in the story...they wouldl pass the gifts to the left...or right...depending on what they voted on before we started. Then when the story is all over...the gift that they have in their hands when we say..."the end" is the one they get to open that night.

They loved this....and now that they are older....they are doing it with their children.

Jaclyn - posted on 12/04/2009

My family spreads Reindeer food in our front yard on Christmas Eve. All you have to do is mix some glitter and Oats together. The oats is what we tell our kids they eat and the glitter is so they see it glisten from the sky!!! They seem to really enjoy this as they get to leave Santa cookies and milk, and they also leave a snack for the reindeer :)
Happy Holidays!!!

Jennifer - posted on 12/04/2009

Growing up I was never given traditions and now that I am a mother it has become important to me to hand something to my son that I never had.

** I get up really early Christmas morning before my son does and I make home-made caramel rolls for breakfast. Something he only gets this one time of year to make it special.

** he gets 2 presents under the tree and gets to open one Christmas Eve and the other Christmas Morning.

** We read the story of Jesus' birth and this year my son talked about making Jesus a Birthday cake!! I thought that was so cool...

** Every year I purchase a new game that we can play together (a board game) and we play it at night together :) and we just spend the Day of Christmas together (sledding usually if possible) and early evening we drive around and look at the lights and hang out... I was never able to have a normal Christmas as I was shuffled around alot and it became SO important that my son experience the ability to wake in his jammies and just be a family together.

** We also bake christmas goodies and make up tins for all our friends and family :) My son LOVES to help with this!

Melanie - posted on 12/04/2009

My husband and daughter make Jam Tarts on xmas eve. And then we sprinkle a little flour near the fireplace and put footprints in it. Leave out a glass of milk too. We also have a sign that says Santa please stop here. We write a note to our kids from Santa thanking them for the jam tart and milk. I think xmas is special so i try and make it as special for our children as poss xx

BethAnn - posted on 12/04/2009

Every year my mom makes a gingerbread house with my girls about a month before. We always do lots of baking, they decorate the shortbread cookies. Every year I buy the girls a special ornanment so when they get there own home they can take them with them. And Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without the Christmas Eve church service. It is so special and inspirational. After all that is what Christmas is all about. When we come home we leave out cookies and milk and head to bed!! We always make a photo calender for all the grandparents for a gift. The love it.

Mindi - posted on 12/03/2009

Each year my kids get an ornament that reflects something they did or loved that year (ex: a dance ornament for my daughter or an ornament from our Disney trip). We write the year on the bottom of each one. My kids love looking at their ornaments each year and remembering why they got each one. They now have so many ornaments that we bought a small tree for them. Now they get to put up their own tree and decorate it with their own ornaments. They love it!

We also have an advent calendar (a felt tree with ornaments for each day of advent). Each day my kids put an ornament on the advent tree, and they get to eat a treat. On Halloween, my kids put 24 pieces of candy in an advent bag. Then each day of advent, they eat one piece of candy out of the bag.

Lois - posted on 12/03/2009

Quoting Nicole:

family traditions for the holidays

I want to start some traditions for my son and future kids for the holidays. I went to the dollar store today and got a special plate and cup to use to leave out milk and cookies for Santa. I was planning on making cookies with the kids Christmas Eve and leaving them on the special plate. What are some of your traditions you do with your kids?

 

I have three traditions that I started when my daughter was born 5 years ago. 

The first is to go out and select 1 very special xmas decoration and a xmas cd each year together as a family.   We decorate the tree on 1 December and listen to our first xmas cd. 

The second is to buy a xmas story each year.  While they dont get read thousands of times like her other books, we will have quite a nice stash by the time she has children. 

Thirdly and this is my FAVOURITE.  Each year on xmas day I take a photo of the family together and also any special things that might have happened on the day.  The following year I make or buy a picture frame xmas decoration to put it in.  Its so lovely when you decorate the tree each year to be able to look back at xmas's past.  They also become a family heirloom that can be handed down from generation to generation.

Kim - posted on 12/03/2009

A friend of mine gave me this idea and we started it tongiht with my 9 month old. You get a white tree skirt (I had to make on I couldn't find one) and each year you have your child paint their handprints on it! She has a 14 and 10 year old so their skirt is covered in red and green hand prints with the year and name on each one. Ours is a huge skirt with two little red maybe-hand-shaped smudges. It's adorable!!! I love it already and I know it will be one of our most treasured possessions.

Mackenzie - posted on 12/03/2009

we always have family/friends over for a big christmas eve dinner, then after we watch the nativity story and some of us tell christmas stories that we have found on the internet or wherever. than comes the good part =) my mom has made a home made pinata every year since we were born, she always does something christmassy like santa, or an ornament, or rudolph. she fills it with candy and always puts a small present inside for each kid that's there. just hang it on a broomstick and have 2 adults hold it. we made a good bat for it with a half a broomstick wrapped in a tea towel and taped up good so the towel stayed on. sooo much fun for the kids! and the adults too, it's always fun to watch the kiddies whack the life out of it =)
another one we started a few years ago is a white elephant gift exchange. everyone brings an inexpensive present (sometimes funny ones) and you pile them in the middle of the room. then you all draw a number out of a bowl. whoever has number one gets to pick a gift and unwrap it. then number 2 can either take what number one has, or pick a new one. keep going like that until all the gifts are unwrapped. we have a rule when we play it that each gift can only be taken twice, otherwise it can go on forever! anyway, there's my ideas for you =)

Sharon - posted on 12/03/2009

We track santa on norad.

Renee - posted on 12/03/2009

Making/decorating sugar cookies the week before xmas and having friends over to share them with hot cocoa. Watching CNN on Xmas Eve to see the Santa report - they always report where he is in the world I think it's called the Santa Tracker and it's very cute the kids always get pretty excited especially when they say he's on his way towards the western U.S. (we are in AZ). We watch all the classic holiday shows like Rudolph, Frosty and Charlie Brown not to mention the Grinch,etc. Take care!