Christmas has always been my favourite time of year but after having kids there is something SO much more special about it because your whole focus becomes about creating the magic for them. In doing so, we have created a few family traditions that have grown over the years since first having our boys and thought we would share them all with you!
I would love to hear your own Christmas traditions so please share them in the comments!
Elf on the Shelf
We started Elf on the Shelf a few years and the kids are absolutely obsessed. They wake up each morning SO excited to go and find out what mischief “Buddy” has gotten up to overnight and they always end up in hysterics.
He arrives from the North Pole on December 1st and it’s a very sad day for everyone when he heads back on Christmas Eve but he always leaves a goodbye note for the kids to remember him by.
Below we have includes a great calendar of ideas that have inspired us over the past few years and will hopefully inspire you!
Some tips we use:
-Kids aren’t allowed to touch him, otherwise he will lose his magic. However, if someone touches him by mistake we say that he needs a day to recover and build his magic back up.
They have also named him Buddy to make it more personal.
Decorating the Tree
Oh nothing screams “IT’S CHRISTMAS” more than a Christmas tree in the house and this is one of my favourite parts, mainly because I love styling which has become so much harder with tiny little hands wanting to put baubles all over the place. We usually aim for December 1st although I am totally all for having it up in November to make the spirit last that little bit longer.
We play Christmas carols as we do it together as a family and the boys get to put up the star. We each have a wooden tree bauble with our names on it that we each get to put up as well.
I am also all for Christmas stockings and love our personalised ones for the kids. Because we have focused on giving less presents this year, the stocking is great for little affordable things that the kids will love and feel like they are getting lots but that doesn’t break the bank.
Our tree is from Myer in Australia.
Matching Christmas PJs & Christmas Sweaters
There’s no denying I love a bit of matchy matchy and dressing up in family Christmas PJ’s are my favourite. We normally purchase ours from Cotton on Kids but you have to get in quick before they sell out!
I also love the whole ugly Christmas sweater theme although ours are all pretty cute. We all have a different one and usually wear them to Christmas lights, shows etc to get in to the theme.
Christmas Eve Box
We started this many years ago for Finn and it is a great tradition that we have continued on through the years. A Christmas Eve box can really be whatever you want it to be. For us, it is something to celebrate Christmas Eve with the kids as a family.
Christmas Day is often hectic with extended family so this is our night just to share with each other in the spirit. It consists of Christmas books, new Christmas pyjamas for everyone, hot chocolate and marshmallows to drink with our Christmas Eve movie. We often add in popcorn as well or a special chocolate treat.
Christmas Eve boxes are from Chain Valley Gifts in Australia.
Christmas Movies!
Gosh is there anything better than snuggling up on the couch with a hot chocolate & watching Christmas movies???
We started a tradition last year that we watch a Christmas themed movie every night during the month of December but soon realised that it can be quite difficult with navigating school still so this year we might do it every 2nd to 3rd night. I have shared all our favourites from last year below for you to add to your list!
Some of our favourite Christmas movies:
- The Grinch
- The Christmas Chronicles 1 & 2
- Home Alone ( all of them!)
- The Santa Claus
- Bad Santa (for adults)
- Love Actually (for adults)
- Elf
- Klaus
- The Polar Express
- Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas ( of course!)
- the Holiday (adults)
- Arthur’s Christmas
Christmas Baking
Well it’s no secret I love to bake and Christmas baking is so MUCH fun. There are so any cute ideas out there and I love being able to involve the kids with the decorating. We always do gingerbread men because they are delicious and they make great gifts. My favourite recipe is on the blog here.
On Christmas Eve we like to bake cookies to leave out for Santa along with the carrots for his reindeer.
This year we also made these adorable Christmas tree brownies found here.
All recipes are found on the blog and there’s heaps of great Christmas dessert ideas as well!
Santa Photos
I mean, who doesn’t love standing in a giant queue with small children waiting for a photo with Santa? ha!
However, these are photos I love to look back on and if you time it right then you shouldn’t have to wait long to see the jolly big man. It’s also such a great way to see how much your children have changed each year.
Letters to Santa
This is something that is great for both the kids and us as parents because the kids love being able to write down their Christmas gift wishlist for Santa and we get to see what it is they really want!
You can pick all of these things up from Kmart really cheap. Finn also writes a letter to Santa to chat to him once a week and Santa often replies when he can 😉
Christmas Lights/Shows/Carols
When we lived in Melbourne there were so many Christmas activities that made it so exciting in the lead up. Unfortunately since being in Christchurch and dealing with Covid there hasn’t been a lot in terms of Christmas parades etc but we also try and do the carols and drive around and see the Christmas lights.
We have our fingers and toes crossed that the Santa Parade and Christmas in the Park can return soon!
We hope these ideas have helped you in the lead up to Christmas and we wish you a very happy festive season!
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