Christmas is one of the most widely celebrated traditions worldwide, and during the festive period, families and individuals often have their own traditions to adhere to. Whether it’s decorating the Christmas tree together at the beginning of December, creating your own advent calendars or playing certain games with your family on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day, Christmas traditions are one of the best ways to make the yearly occasion even more fun and exciting, especially for those who have children. Family traditions at Christmas make for memorable festivities that you will be able to hold dear for the rest of the year! We’ve listed some of the best family tradition ideas that you could make into a regular thing every festive period.
Playing Games
One of the most popular family traditions during the Christmas period is playing games. Traditionally, board games make for excellent family time over the festive period, as most people will understand how to play classics such as Monopoly, Scrabble, or even children’s favourites such as Snakes and Ladders or Operation. However, you don’t need to stick to board games for some festive fun this year. Casino and Bingo games can be great alternatives for an adult get-together, with plenty of festive deals and offers available this Christmas.
Advent Calendars
Advent calendars are a long-standing Christmas tradition, but have you ever considered making your own? Instead of purchasing the generic advent calendars that you can find in almost every grocery shop and supermarket during the last few weeks in December, making your own can be huge fun and adds a personal touch to calendars that you are going to give as gifts. Calendars that mark the countdown to Christmas are easier to make than you may realise, and this is a really fun activity for parents to do with their little ones to get in the festive spirit. Make your advent calendar by filling twenty-four small envelopes with sweets or trinkets and tack them to a tree-shaped corkboard or similar surface.
Visit a Tree Farm
Instead of purchasing your Christmas tree from the supermarket this year or dragging your old tree out of the loft, visiting a tree farm to find a real Christmas tree for your family can be a great festive tradition to keep up every year. A real tree is quintessentially festive; the smell of a real Christmas tree is bound to fill your home with festive cheer more than scented Christmas candles ever could! If there is a local Christmas tree farm or garden centre in your area, visiting to find a tree can also make for a fun and festive day out with your family and many will offer festive activities for little ones to enjoy such as sleigh rides.
Ice Skating
In the run-up to Christmas, many towns offer ice skating as a fun activity to take part in, often part of a Christmas market or other festive event. Arranging a day out to visit your city and go ice skating can be a fun and enjoyable activity for all the family, with many ice skating rinks offering facilities for skaters of all ages and abilities to enjoy themselves and have fun. Along with this, it’s also the perfect excuse to go Christmas shopping and end the day with a festive family meal.
Make Your Own Ornaments
Decorating your Christmas tree can be stressful, or it can be a fun and relaxing time for the family to spend together. Decorating your Christmas tree together, especially if you have young children, can be a truly magical experience and will get you all in the mood for welcoming Santa. Personalised Christmas tree ornaments and baubles can be an excellent activity to do with the whole family, with many ‘decorate your own’ Christmas ornament kits available to buy from regular supermarkets or craft stores. Ornaments can be decorated with photos, drawings, or even recorded voice clips!
Baking
Lastly, Christmas is a season where most people enjoy indulging in good food and treating themselves for a while. The Christmas season is a great excuse to do some baking, with so many tasty ideas available including cookies, mince pies, Christmas cake, and more. Baking together as a family can be a hugely fun experience, and kids will love making festive cookies and biscuits using Christmas tree cookie cutters or drawing their favourite festive characters with writing icing pens. Gingerbread men are a traditional festive favourite, and not only are they tasty to eat, they’re also hugely fun to decorate as you can all customise your gingerbread man exactly how you like them, or make a gingerbread man version of your family!
Which traditions do your family always take part in over the festive period? Let us know in the comments.