There is something so magical about Christmas through the eyes of a child. From decorating the Christmas tree to baking cookies for Santa, it’s often the little moments that become the sweetest memories.

We’ve been parents for seven years now, and over the years, we’ve started some really fun Christmas traditions with our family. Some are simple activities we look forward to every year, while others have become special little traditions that make the holiday season feel even more magical.

If you’re looking for fun Christmas traditions to start with your own family, especially with young kids, I’m sharing 20 ideas to inspire you! Whether you’re hoping to create new traditions, make lasting memories, or find a few simple ways to make the holiday season extra special, I hope you find something your family will love as much as ours does. ❤️

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1. Bake Christmas Cookies Together 🍪

Making Christmas cookies is one of our favorite family traditions! It’s a fun, simple activity you can enjoy with even relatively young kids. We love baking sugar cookies, cutting them into fun Christmas shapes, and decorating them with frosting and sprinkles.

We usually do this during the week leading up to Christmas so we can leave a special batch of cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve. It’s such a sweet way to make memories together during the holidays!

Looking for a good cut-out sugar cookie recipe? Try this Best Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe from JoyFoodSunshine. These soft, chewy sugar cookies are designed to hold their shape, making them perfect for cutting out Christmas trees, snowflakes, gingerbread men, and other festive shapes. Add your favorite frosting and sprinkles for a fun Christmas baking activity with the kids!

2. Make a Gingerbread House Together

Making gingerbread houses is one of our favorite Christmas traditions, and we try to do it every year! There are so many fun gingerbread house kits available now, making this an easy holiday activity for the whole family.

One year, when our daughter was still a baby, we even hosted a gingerbread house decorating party for adults! Everyone decorated their own house, we voted on our favorites, and we awarded prizes to the top three. It was such a blast and a fun way to celebrate the holiday season with friends.

Whether you’re decorating gingerbread houses with your kids or hosting a friendly competition with family and friends, this is a tradition that’s easy to customize for any age. You can even find pre-assembled gingerbread houses, so you can skip the construction and get straight to the fun part: decorating!

3. Let the Kids Decorate Christmas Card Envelopes 💌

In a digital world, there’s something so special about receiving an actual Christmas card in the mail instead of another bill! One of our favorite traditions is letting the kids decorate the envelopes before we mail our Christmas cards to family and friends.

We started doing this when our daughter was a toddler and first got interested in coloring, and it’s become such a fun tradition. Over the years, she’s drawn everything from Elsa to little reindeer, Santa, and even mermaids on our Christmas card envelopes!

Family members love receiving their cards with the kids’ artwork, and even the postal workers get a kick out of seeing their adorable illustrations. It’s such a simple Christmas craft, but it brings so much joy to the people who receive it.

Stay tuned for a dedicated post on how we turn our Christmas card envelopes into little works of art!

4. Visit a Christmas Tree Farm to Pick Out Your Tree 🌲

One of our most special Christmas traditions is visiting a Christmas tree farm to pick out and cut down our own Christmas tree. And for us, this tradition is extra meaningful because it’s the very same farm where we got married!

Every year, we love returning to the place where our family story began and bringing our kids along for the fun. They’ve even watched our wedding DVD, so it’s sweet seeing them recognize the place where Mom and Dad got married. There’s something so special about returning year after year and choosing our Christmas tree together as a family.

If you’re looking for a fun Christmas tradition to start with your own family, visiting a local Christmas tree farm is such a wonderful way to make memories together.

Stay tuned for a separate post with tips on how to pick out the perfect Christmas tree! 🎄

5. Make Decorating the Christmas Tree a Family Tradition 🎄

Once we bring home our Christmas tree, the fun isn’t over! We always get a really big tree, so getting it set up and stringing all the lights is practically an all-day production. But once it’s finally ready, we turn decorating the tree into the ultimate family night.

We put on one of our favorite Christmas movies (usually Home Alone!), make hot cocoa, and let the kids help hang their favorite ornaments. They get so excited when they see ornaments they remember from previous years, and it’s fun watching them get more involved in decorating as they grow.

We’ll usually make some easy pizza or another simple dinner so we can spend the evening decorating, enjoying our favorite holiday treats, and soaking up all the Christmas magic together. It’s one of those simple traditions that makes our home feel like Christmas has officially arrived!

6. Put a Little Christmas Tree in the Kids’ Bedrooms 🎀

One of our newer Christmas traditions is putting a little Christmas tree in each of the kids’ bedrooms! Now that we have a bigger house and the kids have their own rooms, I love making their spaces feel extra magical during the holidays.

We decorate their little artificial trees with kid-friendly ornaments inspired by their favorite things, from ballet and unicorns to mermaids and Squishmallows. Each tree has a big pink bow on top, and every year, I sometimes let the kids pick out a new ornament to add to their collection.

The light-up trees make their bedrooms feel so cozy and festive, and they even double as a pretty little nightlight. It’s such a simple tradition, but the kids absolutely love having their very own Christmas tree to enjoy all season long!

7. Have a Christmas Tree Sleepover 🎬

One weekend in the weeks leading up to Christmas, we let the kids have a special sleepover right in front of our Christmas tree! We grab their sleeping bags, get cozy by the twinkling lights, and spend the evening watching their favorite Christmas movies.

The kids love getting to sleep out in the living room, and it makes an ordinary movie night feel extra special. It’s such a simple Christmas tradition that doesn’t require much planning, but it gives us another fun way to enjoy the magic of the season together.

Sometimes, the best Christmas memories come from the simplest things, like snuggling up together by the tree and watching Christmas movies as a family. ❤️

8. Paint Christmas Mugs Together ☕🎨

Painting Christmas mugs is another fun holiday craft we love doing as a family! You can decorate mugs to keep for your own hot cocoa bar or turn them into thoughtful, handmade Christmas gifts for grandparents.

There are so many cute paint-your-own mug kits available, making this an easy activity to set up at home. Let the kids get creative with their own designs, festive colors, and Christmas doodles. It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon together and create a keepsake you can enjoy for years to come!

Shop the Paint-Your-Own Christmas Mug Kit here 🎄☕

9. Visit Santa at the Mall 🎅

Visiting Santa at our local mall is one of our favorite Christmas traditions! We dress the kids in their holiday best, head to the mall, and let them tell Santa what they’d love for Christmas. We always purchase the Christmas photos because it’s so fun looking back over the years and seeing how much the kids have grown.

After visiting Santa, we usually head out to dinner downtown since we’re already dressed up and out for the evening. It turns a simple Santa visit into a special family night that we all look forward to each Christmas!

10. Count Down to Christmas With a Disney Storybook Advent Calendar 📚🎄

One of our favorite ways to build excitement for Christmas is with our Disney Storybook Advent Calendar! Starting December 1st, we unwrap a new book each day as we count down to Christmas. Each little book features a different Disney-themed holiday story, and they’re short enough to read together in less than five minutes.

I love that this tradition gives us a few minutes of quality time together every day, and the kids get so excited to discover which story we’ll read next. Unlike a little toy that might get lost or forgotten, these are actual books we can keep and enjoy again!

If you’re looking for a fun Christmas advent calendar for kids who love Disney and reading, this is such a sweet tradition to start with your own family. Be sure to check out my full post about our Disney Storybook Advent Calendar for more details! ❤️

11. Write Letters to Santa 🎅🏻✉️

Writing letters to Santa is such a fun Christmas tradition, especially as the kids get older and start learning to read and write! We pull out large sheets of construction paper, glue, glitter, markers, and stickers, and I help the kids create their own special letters telling Santa what they’d love for Christmas.

I love seeing their little personalities shine through in their letters, and it’s a fun way to practice writing while getting even more excited for Christmas morning. This year, I also want to create a special letter from Santa for the kids to receive in return. I think getting a personalized-looking letter from the North Pole would make the whole experience even more magical!

12. Go See Christmas Lights Together ✨

One of our favorite ways to enjoy the holiday season is to bundle up and go see Christmas lights! Sometimes we’ll drive around looking at the lights on houses throughout the neighborhood, and other times we’ll visit a local park that transforms into a magical Christmas light display.

Walking through a park filled with sparkling lights and festive decorations is so much fun, and the kids are always in awe of all the beautiful displays. It’s such a simple tradition that lets everyone soak up the Christmas magic together, and it’s an easy way to make a special evening out of the holiday season!

13. Take Each Child on a One-on-One Christmas Shopping Trip 🎁

If your schedule allows, taking each child on a special one-on-one Christmas shopping trip with Mom or Dad is such a fun tradition to start! We use this time to let the kids pick out Christmas presents for their siblings and other family members, thinking about what each person might like.

It’s a wonderful way to get kids excited about giving and teach them to think about others during the holiday season. They get to choose something special for the people they love and then take charge of wrapping their gifts, too!

For an extra-personal touch, try using plain kraft paper instead of traditional wrapping paper. Your child can decorate it with markers, stickers, drawings, or Christmas stamps, turning the wrapping into another fun craft. It’s such a sweet way to make a gift feel even more special, especially when it’s coming from one sibling to another.

Shop the Kraft Paper for Gift Wrapping

14. Make Christmas Shopping a Date With Your Spouse ❤️🎁

Christmas shopping for the kids can be so much fun when you turn it into a date day with your spouse! Get a babysitter, grab coffee, and head out to Target or your favorite stores to shop for the kids together. You can even make a day of it by stopping for lunch, dinner, or a little wine tasting along the way, like my husband and I have done!

Of course, you can order just about everything online these days, but there’s something special about browsing stores together, sharing gift ideas, and picking out presents you know your kids will love. It’s a fun way to get excited about Christmas while also carving out some much-needed one-on-one time with your partner during the busy holiday season.

15. Attend a Special Christmas Event in Your Community 🎄✨

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is attending a special holiday event in our community! For our family, that means visiting the Coeur d’Alene Resort for its magical Santa cruises. We’ve been doing this since before we had kids, and it’s become such a special tradition to share with them.

We usually go out for an early dinner before hopping aboard the cruise, which takes us to the North Pole, where Santa is waiting! One of the kids’ favorite parts is hearing Santa read the names of the children on board who are on his nice list. Seeing their excitement when they hear their own names is so much fun!

Your community might have its own special Christmas experiences, too, whether it’s a Christmas ballet, a holiday play, a festive train ride, or a special Christmas movie event. Look for something unique to your area and make a family night out of it. These little outings can become traditions your kids look forward to every year!

16. Have Fun With Elf on the Shelf 🎅

Elf on the Shelf is another Christmas tradition our kids absolutely love! Our elf, Ellie, visits during the holiday season, and the kids get so excited waking up each morning to see where she’s moved overnight.

My husband and I have fun getting creative with Ellie’s new hiding spots, but we try to keep things relatively simple. You don’t need elaborate setups or complicated ideas every night to make this tradition magical. Sometimes, simply moving your elf to a new spot is enough to get the kids giggling and excited!

If you’re looking for inspiration, stay tuned for my upcoming post with easy, creative Elf on the Shelf ideas that won’t leave you scrambling for an elaborate setup every night. 🎄

17. Host a Special Christmas Eve Dinner 🍽️🎄

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is hosting a big family dinner on Christmas Eve! We invite the grandparents, cousins, and extended family over for a festive evening together. My husband usually makes a special dinner, often featuring prime rib, and we make the night feel a little more formal and celebratory.

It’s such a fun way to bring everyone together before Christmas Day, enjoy a delicious meal, and spend time with the people we love most. Having the whole family gathered around the table has become a special part of our holiday celebrations and a wonderful way to kick off Christmas Eve!

18. Wear Matching Christmas Pajamas 🎄❤️

One of the sweetest Christmas traditions is wearing matching Christmas pajamas! There’s something so fun about getting everyone dressed in festive pajamas and taking a few family photos before the excitement of Christmas morning begins.

Whether you choose classic red plaid, matching Christmas characters, or something silly and fun, it’s a simple way to make the holiday feel extra special. Plus, it’s fun looking back at photos from previous years and seeing how much the kids have grown!

It’s an easy tradition to start with your family, and you can make it as simple or coordinated as you want.

19. Enjoy a Slow Christmas Morning at Home 🎁

One thing we’ve learned as our family has grown is how much we value a quiet Christmas morning at home. With three kids, trying to pack up everyone and visit multiple households on Christmas Day can quickly become exhausting for both parents and little ones.

Instead, we like to wake up in our own home, enjoy the excitement of Christmas morning, and let the kids take their time opening presents and playing with their new toys. We usually invite the grandparents over for brunch so everyone who wants to see the kids can stop by and celebrate with us.

This has become such a wonderful way to enjoy Christmas without feeling rushed. We’ve learned that it’s okay to create traditions that work for your own family, even if that means doing things a little differently than you used to. Sometimes, the best gift you can give your family is a little extra time together at home.

20. Remember What Christmas Is Really About ❤️

Of all the Christmas traditions you can start with your family, my favorite reminder is to slow down and simply enjoy being together. Whether you’re baking cookies, looking at Christmas lights, hosting a big family dinner, or spending a quiet morning at home, it’s the time we spend loving and caring for one another that makes these moments so special.

For our family, Christmas is also a time to remember the promise and gift of Jesus. Amid all the presents, activities, and excitement, I want my kids to grow up understanding that the heart of Christmas is about love, generosity, faith, and the incredible gift of Jesus.

You don’t have to do every Christmas activity or create picture-perfect memories to make the season magical. Choose the traditions that mean the most to your family, make room for rest, and enjoy the little moments along the way. Those are often the memories your kids will treasure most.

From our family to yours, I hope you have a beautiful Christmas filled with love, laughter, and meaningful moments together. ❤️🎄

I hope these 20 Christmas traditions have inspired you to try something new with your family this holiday season! Remember, you don’t have to do everything or create perfect holiday memories. Start with a few traditions that feel right for your family, enjoy the little moments, and make the season your own. ❤️🎄

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