1. Making Something New as a Family
Everyone loves old-fashioned traditions but maybe the habit of doing something new can become a tradition. Just pick out a new holiday recipe that the whole family can pitch in with and try it out. Or you could find a craft to create to collect as a keepsake to remember as the special thing that everyone did together that year.
2. Special Table Cloth
I know a very special lady that has a table cloth designated for the use of holidays alone. She lays it out on her beautiful dining room table with a couple of sharpie markers lying around on top. This gives her family the opportunity to leave a message on the table cloth along with dating the year. It allows her to keep up with who all has sat at her table on a special day and just what they were feeling too.
3. Reading a Christmas Book
Plenty of families already partake in this one, but if yours doesn't, it's time well spent. Christmas Eve is filled with excitement and a perfect balance for the night is to sit around listening to the elder of your family read a story. It could be "The Night Before Christmas" or better yet, the story of what Christmas is all about, coming straight from Luke Chapter Two.
4. 12 Days of Secret Santa Giving
Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to find gifts for the ones we love, the ones who we have already bought everything for. Rather than buying those loved ones that fifth gift for this season, put that money towards giving to those who may need it. You could easily put together small, inexpensive gifts or a homebaked good and give it to a stranger or a neighbor. Add some fun by making it a secret. Be a blessing to others, it may take you by surprise to realize that you may be even more blessed by it than the person receiving.
5. The Journey to Bethlehem Meal
This is a great way to celebrate the birth of Jesus and it helps us to picture and place ourselves in the setting of what times were really like during the days of His birth. This meal features foods that Mary and Joseph may have shared on their journey to The City of David. There was no electricity back then so dinner is to be served by candlelight alone. Mary and Joseph were on the go and did not have the luxury of having their meal upon a table with chairs to sit in, so the food is to be served on the floor, just like a picnic. Mary and Joseph probably did not pack silverware so be sure to serve foods that can be eaten with your hands. This website provides all of the details you need for providing this meal: http://www.focusonthefamily.ca/parenting/school-ag....
6. Write a Christmas Love Letter
As we all know, the Christmas season is a time filled with love and appreciation for the ones that you go about life with. We never really sit down and tell them what they mean to us. Write a letter of sentiment to the one you care for including your favorite memories with them for that year and just how you have grown to love them even more. You can do this for the same special person each year or even decide to provide one to someone new each year.
7. A Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of things that might be seen in Christmas light displays and split family members up into teams for your scavenger hunt. Allow the participants to take pictures of or with the lights that were specified and have a designated meeting spot to meet back up at. Whoever reaches the spot first with all of their list checked off and their pictures for proof, wins! This is just a new way to spice up the classic tradition of going out to look at Christmas lights.
8. A Big Christmas Eve Breakfast
My grandparents started this tradition for my family. This just starts off the festivities for the celebration of Christmas. It allows even a little more quality family time with food items besides gravy and dressing. Try whipping up the homemade breakfast foods that you don't have time to make on a regular basis.
9. A Jesse Tree
Jesse is an ascendant of Jesus and this tree that is named after him is used to help us remember the preceding events and people that existed before Jesus. This old tradition is used to help tell some of the Bible stories leading up to the birth of Jesus. There are symbols that are used for each story that is told. These symbols can be drawn and decorated on paper to become ornaments for the tree. One of these is placed on the tree each night to go along with the coinciding scriptures that are to be read. This tradition can remind us of how precious our heritage is. If some of the individuals represented on the Jesse tree were not obedient to the Lord, our savior would not have been born. The Jesse Tree lasts for twenty-five days, all of the symbols and stories with scriptures to be provided are found here: http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/jessetrees.sht....
10. A Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus
We bake birthday cakes for everyone! We should bake and decorate a beautiful birthday cake for someone who is just as alive as we are. Sing the song, "Happy Birthday, Jesus" while the candles are lit and just tell him thank you for coming down to earth for us. This tradition will help the children to understand just how happy we should be about the birth of Jesus. The kids will enjoy baking a birthday cake for Baby Jesus and having it to eat afterwar, too.
