Before the holiday season gets too crazy, let’s talk Christmas Eve tradition ideas. Couples may come from entirely different worlds when it comes to their Christmas Eve traditions. So it can be tricky to start your own traditions that make the holidays special and meaningful for your own family. Here are some ideas to help!
Fun Christmas Eve Tradition Ideas For Kids
1. Movie
Every single holiday my mom gave us a new movie. This is the only time we got new movies, so we always looked forward to it! With digital movies available now for streaming, we buy one from Amazon and pop some popcorn.
2. Live Nativity
Each year, we act out the nativity, including a narrator who reads from the Book of Luke. The kids love this! We have a collection of costumes and masks by now: robes, a star, angel, baby Jesus, etc. Doing this reminds us all why we are celebrating.
3. Christmas Eve Food Traditions
Every Christmas Eve, we have an appetizer evening. This is one of my favorite traditions from my husband’s side. Everyone takes it very seriously–we spend time all year looking for the best recipe. There are prizes for presentation and taste. We all vote, and the appetizers are the meal for the night.
4. Christmas mugs
Each Christmas, I buy each member of the family a new holiday mug. We spend all winter drinking hot drinks, so the kids love using a new mug. If you buy them on sale right after Christmas and save them for next year, it won’t break the bank. The kids have the option to save each of their mugs and take them when they leave home.
5. Christmas Eve Traditions: PJs
Each Christmas Eve, the kids get to open one present. But it’s always new pajamas! There’s nothing like going to bed in new cozy PJs on Christmas Eve. Try matching PJs for the family, or coordinating designs.
6. Reindeer Food
My kids make a concoction of dry oats, sprinkles, and anything else they feel like putting together. They call it reindeer food, and it entertains them for awhile! Sprinkle it on the front lawn to feed Santa’s reindeer while Santa is busy in the house.
Christmas Eve Traditions For The Family
7. Cookies And Carrots {Of Course!}
Need I say more? Kids love to leave Santa treats and healthy snacks for the reindeer!
8. Christmas Eve Storybooks
Each Christmas Eve, I give the kids a new Christmas storybook. We read them that night, plus it’s fun to collect a new one each year.
9. Resolutions
Each year on New Years Eve, we write down our resolutions {things we want to do better at} for the year. Before we pack away the Christmas decorations, we place those resolutions in our stockings. The next Christmas Eve, before Santa fills the stockings, we read our resolutions and report on how we did. Sometimes we don’t do very well, but it’s always a great discussion!
10. Christmas Gifts For Baby Jesus
We have a little basket that we fill with Christmas gifts for Baby Jesus. For example, the kids said last year that they would treat each other kindly.
Additional Christmas Eve Tradition Ideas
11. Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story or even Elf every year.
12. If you don’t have a fireplace, hang a “magic key” for Santa to get in. Cute!
13. Take the kids on a drive to look at Christmas lights.
14. Hang lights or a garland to guide the kids to the room where Santa leaves their loot. This is a cute idea!
15. Midnight caroling is a fun idea for a family get-together on Christmas Eve!
16. Some families go skiing on Christmas Eve day every year.
17. Enjoy Christmas Eve dinner {or lunch} at your favorite restaurant.
18. Spray the bottom of some old boots with fake snow, then leave “Santa tracks” from the chimney to the tree. Genius!
19. Have a cozy Christmas Eve with hot cocoa and Christmas stories.
20. Throw a sibling slumber party! All the kids sleep in one room together with the Christmas tree all lit up.
21. Religious families may enjoy Christmas Eve Mass or other religious services.
22. Before Christmas Eve, work with the kids to choose a few of their old toys to donate to other families in need. Go as a family to deliver them to a homeless shelter or other toy drive. It’s good for the kids to see where their toys are going!
Not all of these Christmas Eve tradition ideas are meaningful to everyone, but the time spent together as a family is priceless. What are some of your favorite Christmas Eve traditions? It might help to look at my holiday bucket list for even more ideas!
What some wonderful ideas! Simple, meaningful, and fun!
When we set out our nativity set, we leave the Christ child beside the manger, not in it. On Christmas Eve, before any celebrations or gift openings we put everyone’s name on a piece of paper in a hat and have the elder chose a name from the hat. The name chosen then has the privilege of placing the Christ child in our nativity set while we all sing Silent Night
i just figure I’d say what one of our traditions are we play a find the present game where we get a clue that send us to the next clue and so on till we find the present
Those sound like you don’t by family. We have any where from 9-16 up to 18 people for Christmas eve. We eat turkey as usual. Ever one runs off and doesn’t hang, because then they go home and do their Christmas Eve. Which kid of disappointments. I have tried to play games, and some play and some don’t so if they aren’t going to play I won’t make them and so I stopped playing games. Some times I do a theme, like one year a $1 gift. One year we had to wear Santa hats for a game. maybe I should bring those hats back and we will make pillows out of them. I also do little gifts, and last year no one hostess gift, although I always bring one to their house. So I don’t know throw some traditions out and start new one when my kido 22 has his own kids I guess, if the wife wants to spend on event with us.
I bought a bunch of silly things, coffee shop gift card for 5 dollars, candy, small box of chocolates, socks, etc. and wrapped them up. I divided up monopoly money unevenly in envelopes. And we had an auction. Never had so much laughter and fun with 13 people. My sister bought an off brand canned meat for $5,000.00!🤣
Decorating ugly Christmas socks is fun and not too expensive. I am sorry no one seems to appreciate everything you do. I am not well most of the time and my family has had to start taking over. They really appreciate everything when they get to do it. Hugs
this is a downer
Santa always left my kids movies in their stockings. They were allowed to get into their stockings without my husband and I being up. So while they enjoyed their new movies, we could sleep in…Gotta love Santa
Wow, this is really good! Thanks for these great ideas! I’m going to try out a lot of them 🙂
Maybe you should try: Decorating rooms with Christmas stuff as a family (Bedrooms, Kitchen, Livingroom, ect.)
Making card (Treats, Gifts, ect.) for seniors, family, or friends
Thanks again, Merry Christmas!
Great ideas. I guess I don’t always have to do PJ’s and can just do a robe or slippers some years. I do a love letter for each grown kid. Something written that reminds them of what they did that year & how proud of them we are. It takes awhile to write, so I pace myself. ?
the resolutions is a fabulous idea!