Countdown to Christmas!

Another Christmas favorite! Everyone in the family writes their favorite memories from the year and what they are grateful for.  Include some of the little one's Christmas artwork, and put it in a "Christmas Time Capsule" aka a wrapped present that you open together next Christmas. 

One morning in December, transform breakfast into a Christmas wonderland of your choosing with Christmas shaped French toast or pancakes, hot cocoa with marshmallow “snowballs,” and themed headbands, silly glasses, and plates/napkins at the table when the kids wake up. 

Pile everyone into the car in their PJs with thermoses of cocoa, print “tickets,” and drive around looking at lights. Play Christmas carols or read the book aloud.

Write things you’re grateful for on paper “snowballs” and toss them around like a gentle indoor snowball fight. Afterward, read them aloud by the tree.

Set up silly “challenges” like wrapping a gift with oven mitts, building a toy tower, or sneaking like a ninja to deliver a gift without being seen.  Additionally, set up a "North Pole Obstacle Course"  Set up an indoor course where kids have to hop like elves, slide down a “chimney” (a tunnel or blanket fort), and deliver gifts across the room.

 Establish a fun "theme" like dress as your favorite Christmas movie character or Christmas pajama day when everyone participates. 

Wrap 25 holiday books and open one each night leading up to Christmas. Include cozy favorites, silly reads, and stories about giving.  

Designate one afternoon for making homemade cards, gifts, and crafts. Set up a few stations and let creativity run wild.  

Pick holiday-themed prompts like “Rudolph,” “wrapping presents,” or “singing carols” and act them out. Great for all ages!

Each year, everyone has to put at least one "experience" based gift on their Christmas list - a trip to the zoo, museum, science center, Sky Zone, a cooking class, etc. to focus on quality time over gifts

Every year on Christmas Eve you spend time making Reindeer Food as a family (dry oatmeal and sprinkles work well) and then you sprinkle it outside on Christmas Eve so the reindeer know where to stop.

Never lose a family recipe with this generational tradition.  Keep a family recipe book with your favorite holiday dishes and each year add a new page to it so all of your favorite - and nostalgic - meals can be memorialized. 

Use cardboard boxes or old cereal boxes to create a hand-painted town with elves, candy shops, and Santa’s workshop.

Everyone brings sleeping bags and camps out by the Christmas tree — twinkling lights and soft carols included.

Besides the normal "eating the cookies and drinking the milk", leave Santa's footprints behind as well for an additional surprise on Christmas morning. 

Set up silly "challenges" like wrapping a gift with oven mitts, building a toy tower with a blindfold on, or sneaking around silently to deliver gifts without being seen.

Set up an indoor course where kids have to hop over pillows, slide down a "chimney" (a tunnel or blanket fort), duck under obstacles and deliver gifts across the room.  

Establish a fun "theme" like dress like your favorite Christmas movie character or Christmas pajama day.

Host a “hot chocolate bar” with toppings like candy canes, mini marshmallows, whipped cream, sprinkles, and cinnamon — then rate everyone’s cocoa creations!