The holiday season is nothing short of hectic. As a parent, you're running around trying to get your family ready for gatherings, cooking for potlucks, buying gifts, keeping up with sales, and so much more. You have a lot on your plate, so anything you can do to decrease your stress is worthwhile.
At the same time, you want to establish traditions your kids will remember for years. Those traditions don't have to be stressful, though, and a tradition doesn't need to be elaborate for your family to pick it up and enjoy it. Above all, you should choose something that sticks.
Try out various things and get your family's thoughts on their favorites. The most important traditions are the ones that bring joy, as they're the ones that will last a lifetime and carry on into future generations. Here are some ideas for establishing a low-effort holiday tradition of your own.
Make Holiday Treats as a Family
If you bake cookies or make other treats throughout the season, why not get your kids involved? Give them an age-appropriate task and they'll feel delighted to know they helped create something yummy they'll get to enjoy later. You can make these sweet treats for your family or to give to others, making them doubly sweet.
Baking also can help your kids to grow as people. The activity teaches math and reading skills that can support your child in academic and practical pursuits. Baking with your children can strengthen your bonds with them and teach effective communication skills that will follow them throughout their life, into school and beyond. Knowing how to make things from scratch is a great skill to have, so teach your kids young.
Open One Gift on Christmas Eve
An excellent and easy tradition that might be worthwhile is encouraging your children to open one present on Christmas Eve. They'll be delighted to open the rest of their presents in the morning, but the Christmas Eve present should be something they can use.
Many families give children Christmas pajamas, which they can wear to bed and on Christmas morning. Alternatively, you could give them a book they can look at before bed. Reading a holiday-themed book is an excellent way for kids to learn something new while getting themselves excited for the big day.
Decorating a Felt Tree
When your kids are young, putting up a regular Christmas tree can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth. Live Christmas trees require so much upkeep that it might be too much effort. With real trees, water, sap and falling needles can leave a mess and damage floors. You can mitigate some of these issues by getting an artificial tree, but you still run into the problem of dangling ornaments with young children and pets at home.
A great alternative to both of these would be adhering a felt tree to one of your blank, open walls. Your kids can decorate it with felt ornaments of all shapes and sizes. This activity allows them to have complete creative freedom, and you'll get to watch them express themselves while participating in this important tradition. Switch back to a live or artificial tree when they're old enough. That way, you won't have to worry about any fragile ornaments breaking in the meantime.
Look at Holiday Lights
Whether you attend a light show or just stroll through your neighborhood, looking at Christmas lights with your family can provide a welcome distraction from the responsibilities at home. Get out of the house and taste fresh air while enjoying some of the best sights of the season with each other. Many people in your area will likely go all-out with their decorations, and seeing everything lit up and festive may make this tradition one worth pursuing.
Get One Ornament a Year
Another tradition to start is slowly adding to your Christmas tree's assortment of ornaments. If you have a large family, a rule of one decoration per year per person is an effective way to keep your tree from flooding with unnecessary ornaments. The only question your kids have to ask is what they'll choose for themselves.
Choosing certain ornaments with cultural meanings can help a family feel closer to their roots. By encouraging your children to pick out one ornament eahc year that means something to them, they can remember the tradition fondly and carry it into the future, maybe with their own family someday.
Volunteer as a Family
See what your community needs and urge your children to volunteer with you. You can find volunteering opportunities at soup kitchens, shelters, animal shelters, and more. By volunteering, you can give back to the local community and teach your kids the importance of helping others. It can also help them remain grateful and show them what having empathy means. People need help even during the holiday season, and whatever your family can do to help will benefit everyone involved.
Read Together
Reading to your children can set them up with the vocabulary and reading skills they need to excel in school and may help them learn how to read faster than they would otherwise. Pick out a story you'll read every year during the holidays.
This reading could be a favorite holiday book or a religious passage. They might even take turns reading it as time goes by. The calm of reading something before the storm of opening presents can remind everyone that togetherness is much more important than gifts.
