By Christy (mom to Lucas, toddlers)
Looking to start a new holiday tradition? Here are some special holiday traditions shared by our toddler class at our December social.
“Structure, repetition and rituals are vital to toddlers and preschoolers. Traditions solidify the family unit and ground the child.” – Irene Wagner, Toddler Class Parent Educator
Tree traditions
- Get hot chocolate after choosing your Christmas tree every year.
- Make a day out of meeting extended family members at a tree farm to cut down a Christmas tree
Fun for Kids
- Create a homemade advent calendar. Instead of candy for each day, write down an activity for your family. It can be as simple as reading a special holiday book to going to a Christmas event.
- Elf on the Shelf, with little progress reports and treats given by the Elf.
Out and About
- Go to a holiday musical as a family
- Plan a night to explore the Woodland Park Zoo Wildlights as a celebration of Hanukkah
- Take a drive to look at the Christmas lights (especially Candy Cane Lane in Ravenna)
Sharing Gifts and Celebrating
- Host a Winter Solstice party
- Choose a night to sit down as a couple, open a bottle of wine, and donate to your favorite charities (in lieu of gifts to each other)
- Instead of using a gift tag for Christmas gifts, hide the recipient’s initials somewhere in the wrapping paper
- Celebrate a birthday as a family before Christmas as a chance for everyone to get together and eat yummy food
- Open gifts on Christmas Eve after attending holiday services.
Christmas Day
- Make Christmas morning a tradition to wake up in your own home and stay in your pajamas
- Wear matching Christmas pajamas on Christmas morning and take annual pictures
- Go see a movie on Christmas day
- Go for a drive on Christmas day
- Grandparents rotate each year for Christmas morning, then the whole extended family gets together for Christmas day dinner