Every family has their own set of Christmas traditions. Some families go to a Christmas Eve service. Others open a present every day for the seven days before Christmas. Some families do Santa and some don’t.
When you have young children like we do, it’s exciting to create new Christmas traditions. Everything is new and fresh for them. Nothing is set in stone yet. This makes it the ideal time to set up traditions that put Jesus first! The neat thing about these traditions is that they’re simple enough that, even if you already have some set traditions, you can add them in without too much hassle.
Five Christmas Traditions You Should Start NOW!
1. Basket of Books: Every year, we pull out all the Christmas books along with the tree and the nativity scene. They tend to float around the house and go from end tables to bookshelves until Christmas is past. This year, we’re going to put them in a basket under the Christmas tree. That way, they’re always easy to find and read. If you don’t have Christmas books, you can check some out for the month of December from your local library or buy some used books from Amazon. There are lots of great books for children that tell the Christmas story.
2. Memorize a Part of the Christmas Story: Start today. Pull out the Bible and read Luke 2: 1-7. Read it every day until your children can say it with you. Your little ones as young as three or four should be able to memorize this if you’re consistent. After they’ve memorized those seven verses, add a little more and a little more until they can say it all by heart. The Christmas story is such a precious story and one that is a blessing to all who hear. (This is not my child, it was just an adorable video I found on YouTube!
3. Go Christmas Caroling: Nothing spreads joy more than going caroling! If you’ve never been, go this year. Go tonight! It’s SO wonderful! Gather together some friends, bundle up if you need, and go door to door in your neighborhood singing songs of Jesus’ birth. Be sure to end with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”! I have been caroling many times and it seems there is always someone in tears, someone singing along, someone who brings us fresh-baked goodies, and someone who says they’ve never been caroled to before. It’s a beautiful experience.
4. Prepare a Christmas Play: This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but working to prepare a nativity play for your children to “perform” on Christmas keeps them thinking about the Christmas story. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just a couple of bathrobes, a towel for Mary’s head, and a baby. Then, while you read the Christmas story, your children can act it out. Practice a few times and then perform for the family!
5. Sing Christmas Carols: We only get to have Christmas once a year. Are you going to waste it singing Rudolf and Jolly Old St. Nicholas or are you going to embrace the Reason for the season with songs like Joy to the World, Angels We have Heard on High, or Away in the Manger? One of my favorite things to do is turn on Pandora and go to the “Christian Contemporary Holidays Radio”. LOTS of great music there! Our family loves music and we have started singing Christmas carols together at our family gathering. My husband plays the violin, my dad plays the guitar, and we all sing together. It’s really beautiful. But for it to be significant for our kids, we have to be singing the songs throughout the season. This is a good list of Christmas carols if you need somewhere to get started.
This season, stop wondering how you can put Jesus first. Just do it! Take charge of the holiday! It’s too important to let one more year slip by without Jesus where He belongs…in the center of the holiday and the center of your heart.
These are all great ideas! I especially like keeping a Christmas book basket under the tree and doing a nativity play at home! My kids are going to love every single one of these :)! And my hubs plays the violin too! Except, we call it a fiddle around here 😉