Our Favorite Family Christmas Traditions

One of my favorite times of year is Christmas. There is so much joy and beauty to take in, not to mention all the fun things to do together. We have a lot of family traditions during the month of December. Traditions help us bond as a family and give the children something to look forward to year after year.

Here Are a Few of Our Favorite Family Christmas Traditions:

1. Reading Christmas Books

One of our favorite things to do during the Christmas season is to read children’s picture books. We have quite a few favorite Christmas picture books and novels. A couple of them are Christmas Angels & Itsy Bitsy Christmas.

Our favorite thing about Christmas Angels is the illustrations and the pop out nativity scene in the middle of the book. This book definitely helped my boys understand the real meaning of Christmas.

Itsy Bitsy Christmas is perfect for ages 4-7 years old. My 4-year old absolutely fell in love with this book the moment we started reading it. I asked him when we were finished what it was about and his response was, “That I’m important to God, no matter how small or big or funny I am.”

“Yes, son, you are so important to God”, I replied.

Thomas Nelson has lots of great Christmas books for all ages. You can find them here.

2. Looking at Christmas Lights

We all get on our PJ’s, make hot chocolate and popcorn, and hop in the car to go look at Christmas lights on a cold, December night before Christmas. This is such a fun tradition that the kids look forward to each year. On a normal day, we always seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere or get home; this allows us to take our time and enjoy the sights.

3. Baking Cookies

We make the best Butter Cookies each Christmas season. (I’m already craving them!). Enjoy the recipe below and make them with your family.

The Best Butter Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup real butter {must be butter}
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2.5 cups self rising flour
• powdered sugar
• water

Directions

1. Cream together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Then Add self-rising flour.

2. Spread thinly on greased cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

4. Glaze with mixture of powdered sugar and water (can add food coloring for festive-ness)

5. Cut while warm. Let cool and take out of pan.

(Makes 5.5 dozen)

Whatever you decide to do this Christmas season, be sure to make time to do it together as a family and remember the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!

Your Turn

What’s your favorite family Christmas tradition?