How to Start Family Christmas Traditions
Christmas traditions bring families together. If your family doesn't have any family traditions, or you would like to start new Christmas traditions, it is actually fun and easy to do. Here is how.
Christmas traditions are something you do every year that is special to your family. They bring families closer together and build the foundation for happy Yule time memories.
Family Meeting
You may want to have a family meeting to brainstorm ideas for your new Christmas tradition. Make sure to have a pen and pencil handy to write down everyone's thoughts. You may want to combine several ideas. For example, if one family member wants to start taking a sleigh rides every Christmas Eve and another wants to go on Christmas light viewing trips, then maybe you can book a sleigh ride that goes through a Christmas lighted area.
Ideas
Sometimes it is hard to come up with ideas for family Christmas traditions. Here is a list to get your imagination going:
Get everyone together to make Christmas cookies. Make sure to have plenty of icing, sprinkles, and decorations so that the family can get creative with the decorating part.
Learn how to make different Christmas bread every year with your family. The search for the new bread can be just as fun as making it.
Go on Christmas light viewing car rides, complete with a thermos full of hot chocolate.
Go see a movie Christmas afternoon, or make sure that everyone in the family gets a new DVD as a present and have a Christmas movie night.
Take the family mistletoe hunting. Read up about where they like to hangout on the internet or in books from the library.
If you have small children, start making a plaster of Paris mold of their hand every year and use it for a tree ornament. The kids will love to see how much they have grown every year. There are many kits that you can buy to do this with very little mess.
Go to a Christmas play or Mass. Check your local paper or contact your chamber of commerce for ones happening in your community.
Go ice skating together and finish off the day with a cozy dinner.
If you are musical, teach your child a new Christmas song on the instrument of your choice.
Make homemade Christmas ornaments for your new Christmas traditions. Craft magazines will have plenty of ideas that even small children can do.
