21 Simple Holiday Traditions to Start this Year
21 Simple Holiday Traditions to Start this Year
By: Abby Fulmar
With just 21 days left until Christmas, it is now socially acceptable to go all in with the Christmas festivities. Start these simple traditions to make the holiday season even more special for yourself and those around you.
1. Make Ornaments to Hang on the Tree
DIY ornaments are a perfect way to add personality to a tree, which can sometimes look generic and boring. Homemade ornaments can also give you something to look back on every year and serve as a mini time capsule that shows what you were interested in or how you were feeling at the time.
2. Donate to a Local Food Kitchen or Animal Shelter
Do you have leftover ingredients and canned goods you ended up not using for Christmas dinner? A perfect way to get rid of things you do not need is to donate. The process is very simple—at most food kitchens and animal shelters all you have to do is walk in and drop it off. Start this holiday tradition to help spread Christmas cheer to your community.
3. Make a Customized Family Bingo Game
If you feel like you have not connected with your family due to hectic, everyday life, family bingo is the perfect way to correct it. Have your family give some fun facts about themselves and then have everyone match the facts to names on a bingo sheet. This is a fun way to spend time together while also learning a little bit more about each other.
4. Find Christmas Light Displays
This is one of the simplest ways to get in the Christmas spirit. Grab a cup of hot chocolate and go searching for the most beautiful light displays. Many towns have places listed online, but another great way to find lights is to simply drive through different neighborhoods.
5. Buy a Santa Figurine
Along the same lines as collecting nutcrackers, collecting Santa figurines is a tradition that can be passed down for generations. The most enjoyable part of starting this tradition is the hunt for the perfect Santa to adequately define the year for you. You can display them every year and tell your family stories that you associate with each one.
6. Build Gingerbread Houses
Family get-togethers could always use a little friendly competition. Build gingerbread houses together and have someone judge who has created the best one for a little competitive Christmas spirit.
7. White Elephant
A twist on Secret Santa, in White Elephant, gifts are placed all together. Participants draw numbers and choose a gift randomly. Players have the option to take an opened gift from another person or select an unwrapped gift. With White Elephant, all of the gifts are funny and small to keep things light.
8. Make Crock Pot Hot Chocolate
Hot chocolate is a staple for the holiday season. If you are tired of the packaged, microwaved hot chocolate and want to up your game, try making hot chocolate in a crock pot. There are numerous recipes online that will help you achieve a delicious, rich hot chocolate.
9. Sponsor a Child
Sponsoring a child is an amazing way to spread Christmas cheer to people who might not be as fortunate as you. There are many organizations, some local and some national, that can connect you with a child. All you have to do is read about the child and get them things you believe they would enjoy.
1o. Deliver Baked Goods to Neighbors
There is no better way to show your appreciation for someone than with homemade goodies. Even if you might not talk to your neighbors very often, gifting them cookies every year could help them feel seen and valued.
11. Make Reindeer Food
One of the most iconic Christmas traditions, make “reindeer food” by combining ingredients such as oats, sprinkles, and edible glitter. Sprinkle it outside on Christmas Eve to give Santa’s reindeer a fun treat.
12. Make Mason Jar Snow Globes
While this DIY project might be a bit more technical than others, the result is a one of a kind snow globe that can make the perfect gift or decoration. All you have to do is decorate the jar how you want, fill with water and glitter, and secure the lid. You can then shake it up and create a winter wonderland inside a jar.
13. Read a Holiday Book
Along with Christmas movies and songs, holiday books are a good way to pass the time while relaxing during winter break. Some great holiday romance recommendations are Josie Silver’s One Day In December and Christina Lauren’s In A Holidaze.
14. Play a Board Game
If trivia and gingerbread house building is not enough competition for you, playing board games with family members after a nice meal is the best way to celebrate the holidays.
15. Cook the Christmas Meal as a Family
Christmas is all about spending time with loved ones. To simultaneously help take some stress off of family members and spend more time with them, offer to help cook. It can be something as simple as getting ingredients together or helping chop vegetables.
16. Make a Time Capsule
There are plenty of different ways to go about making a time capsule. A simple way would be to put meaningful items from throughout the year in a box and open it next Christmas along with your gifts.
17. Play International Christmas Trivia
While most countries in the world celebrate Christmas, many have unique traditions that might seem unusual to others. Learn a little bit more about how others are celebrating the holiday with a fun trivia game.
18. DIY Christmas Gifts
Creating gifts for someone from scratch not only saves you money, but also shows the recipient of the gift how much you genuinely care about them. It can range from something as small as a card to something you built or crocheted. No matter what the gift is, you can bet that the person will be grateful for the time you put in to create something specifically for them.
19. Start a Christmas Diary
While this may sound a bit strange, if you are not one to be diligent about journaling everyday, journaling just on Christmas day gives you a chance to recap your year and freely express how you are feeling for your future self to reflect on.
20. Take a Picture in Front of the Christmas Tree
Taking a picture in front of the tree is a great way to look back at how everyone has changed over the years.
21. Christmas Pickle
For this untraditional tradition, an ornament in the shape of a pickle is hidden on a Christmas tree, everyone must look for the pickle and whoever finds it first receives a reward.
Through starting and upholding these traditions, you are not only making the holiday extra fun for you, you are also spreading the joy of the season to everyone around you.
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