{"id":854,"date":"2023-12-01T18:23:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T18:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/?p=854"},"modified":"2023-12-06T10:17:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T10:17:33","slug":"easy-family-christmas-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/easy-family-christmas-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Family Christmas Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Creating simple Christmas traditions the whole family will love<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Traditions are such an important part of the Christmas season. We tend to have a huge sense of nostalgia surrounding this time of year, and our family Christmas traditions are a big part of that. There are lots of things I do with my family every year in the run-up to Christmas, and over the years some of them have really stuck and become our must-do traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditions shouldn\u2019t be too much work though.<\/strong> As much as I love Christmas, I\u2019m not a fan of the annual stress that it can bring, which is why I\u2019m always looking for ways to have a more relaxing Christmas<\/strong><\/a>. Traditions are no different \u2013 they\u2019re no fun if they cause more stress than joy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple Christmas Traditions for Families<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The easiest way to keep Christmas traditions fun for your family is to keep them simple, don\u2019t have too many, and be happy to let traditions come and go as your family grows. Don\u2019t hang on to them for years after your children have outgrown them, and don\u2019t be afraid to replace old ones with new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve listed some of our favourite Christmas traditions below, and have separated them into the activities we do throughout December and during Advent, and those we do on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easy Family Traditions for December and Advent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of the simple family Christmas traditions for December that we\u2019ve picked up over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advent Calendars<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve had a variety of advent calendars over the years, including chocolate ones, traditional paper ones, and the refillable kind with wooden drawers or fabric pouches that you fill with sweets or gifts. They’re such a simple, lovely tradition. You really don\u2019t need to overthink it: the kids will be equally pleased with a shop-bought chocolate one as they would with one you\u2019ve spent hours filling.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Advent<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Christmas Book-a-Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve accumulated loads of Christmas-themed children\u2019s books over the years, many of them from secondhand shops, and they live packed away all year with the Christmas decorations. I tend to keep them in a box and bring out one every evening during December to read as a family. I know some people do this and wrap them individually to turn them into a book advent calendar, but I find the box works fine.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Pile<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Elf on The Shelf<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I resisted the elf for years because it sounded like such a lot of hard work. But when my eldest came home from school one day and asked sadly why other children had an elf that came to their house and what\u2019s wrong with our house that no elves want to come to it\u2026well I caved. But my mantra is not to get involved in any elf activities that are too laborious to set out, or that will take too long to clear up. There are dozens of easy elf activities that take almost no time and props, and so the elf is here to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Two<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Make a Christmas Ornament<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We do this every year without fail but we\u2019ve made lots of different types of ornaments over the years. I like to put the kids\u2019 names and the year it was made on them, which makes it so much fun getting them out of the boxes every year.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Go Shopping and Choose an Ornament<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The other easy thing we do is I always take the kids shopping at the local garden centre in November or early December before we get the Christmas tree up, and let them each choose a new decoration for the tree. There is always much deliberation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let the Kids Put the Angel On Top of the Tree<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve always place the angel atop the tree last, and we\u2019ve always lifted the kids up and let them put her on. This isn\u2019t easy as they get older but we\u2019ll keep doing it as long as they want to! (I might regret that when I\u2019m trying to lift a 12 year old).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Burn an Advent Candle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I love the long thin taper advent candles<\/a> that are marked with all 24 days of December, that you\u2019re supposed to burn every night until Christmas. I typically miss days and have to catch up later, but my Christmas mantelpiece isn\u2019t complete without one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chocolate Fondue Night<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve done a North Pole Breakfast in the past and it took me hours of preparation. The kids enjoyed it but I\u2019m not sure they LOVED it enough for me to want to spend hours doing it another time. So instead, a really easy but Christmas tradition for a December weekend is to have a chocolate fondue night. Cut up a load of different fruit plus marshmallows, crackers, popcorn, and anything that can be speared on a fork and dipped into melted chocolate, and bingo! You\u2019ve got a really fun activity that kids genuinely LOVE and all for very little prep. They’ll definitely ask to do it again next year.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Marshmallow<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Start a Christmas Collection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I have a little Christmas tradition all of my own where I buy a certain decoration each year to add my little collection. For me it\u2019s these wool felted mice in various Christmas outfits. I love growing my little collection each year.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Woollen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Visit Santa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This one is a must for us, and we\u2019ve tried lots of different Santa destinations over the years. (We\u2019ve made it through the terrified-babies-screaming-at-Santa stage now so it\u2019s all good.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donate Toys (via your Elf!)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We could all do with getting rid of some excess stuff before Santa brings along some more! I make this one of our Elf on the Shelf activities. One day in December our elf will bring bags or boxes for the kids to put some toys in that they no longer play with and we take them to the charity drop-off. It\u2019s a pre-Christmas clear out and a good deed all in one \u2013 win!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family Traditions for Christmas Eve<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We also have some traditions that we always do on Christmas Eve \u2013 these are some of the favourites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An EASY Christmas Eve Box<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A Christmas Eve box doesn\u2019t have to take a lot of time or effort. Ours always includes some Christmas pyjamas, sweets, sticker\/puzzle books and a Christmas craft kit or similar. Basically things to keep the kids busy while you get on with all the other things you need to do on Christmas Eve!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set Up a Nativity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We like to set up a nativity scene on Christmas Eve. Ours is a simple cardboard affair that came with a book many years ago, but there are some beautiful wooden ones available. You could even challenge the kids to create, or act out, their own nativity scene.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Nativity<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Have a Christmas Eve Floor Picnic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Take the pressure off Christmas Eve cooking and let the kids have a floor picnic in front of their favourite movie. Our is usually very simple and consists of pizza, sausage rolls and other party food. They think it\u2019s a major treat and it leaves me free to do last minute Christmas tasks – or open up a bottle of Christmas champagne and relax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read The Night Before Christmas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate (and possible simplest) of all Christmas traditions is to have a pre-bedtime reading of The Night Before Christmas. We all look forward to this and it appeals to all generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leave a Snack Out for Santa Claus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My U.S. friends tell me that in America, Santa has milk and cookies when he comes down the chimney. Here in the UK he snacks on mince pies and something alcoholic! It\u2019s often sherry or brandy, but in our house he\u2019s partial to a Christmas Eve amaretto. Lucky old Santa.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Christmas<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Sprinkle Some Reindeer Dust<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The last thing we do before the children go to bed is to sprinkle reindeer dust on the front lawn. If you\u2019re doing this, remember not to put any glitter in your mix as that\u2019s bad for wildlife. We usually use a mixture of oats and birdseed as I hear that\u2019s what reindeer love best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope this post has given you some ideas for Christmas traditions that are easy to embrace for your family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What’s Christmas without some traditions? Here are some easy ideas for family Christmas traditions, for all of December and for Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,16],"tags":[46,47,20,49],"class_list":["post-854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","category-seasons","tag-christmas","tag-family","tag-seasons","tag-traditions"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":19,"label":"Christmas"},{"value":16,"label":"Seasons"}],"post_tag":[{"value":46,"label":"christmas"},{"value":47,"label":"family"},{"value":20,"label":"seasons"},{"value":49,"label":"traditions"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/easy-family-christmas-traditions-1024x597.jpg",1024,597,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Almost The Weekend","author_link":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/author\/admin\/"},"comment_info":75,"category_info":[{"term_id":19,"name":"Christmas","slug":"christmas","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":19,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Need ideas for Christmas, advent and how to appreciate the best of the season with no stress? We've got those. Come in, relax...it's almost the weekend.","parent":16,"count":7,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":19,"category_count":7,"category_description":"Need ideas for Christmas, advent and how to appreciate the best of the season with no stress? We've got those. Come in, relax...it's almost the weekend.","cat_name":"Christmas","category_nicename":"christmas","category_parent":16},{"term_id":16,"name":"Seasons","slug":"seasons","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":16,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Appreciate the season, and get a bit more weekend feeling into your everyday. Come in, relax...it's almost the weekend.","parent":0,"count":33,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":16,"category_count":33,"category_description":"Appreciate the season, and get a bit more weekend feeling into your everyday. Come in, relax...it's almost the weekend.","cat_name":"Seasons","category_nicename":"seasons","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":46,"name":"christmas","slug":"christmas","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":7,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":47,"name":"family","slug":"family","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":47,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":20,"name":"seasons","slug":"seasons","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":20,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":49,"name":"traditions","slug":"traditions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":49,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2620,"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions\/2620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/almosttheweekend.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}