Tradition is a big part of the holiday season. Families lean into tradition each December, and perhaps no people participate in holiday customs with more enthusiasm than children. Whether it’s decorating the family Christmas tree or baking cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, children look forward to various holiday season traditions once the calendar turns from November to December.
Parents of young children can make this unique time of year even more special by engaging in various kid-friendly traditions that are sure to produce lots of fun and even more lasting memories.
· Advent calendars: The precise origins of Advent calendars are unknown, but historians believe the tradition was started by German Lutherans in the nineteenth century. More than a century later, roughly 50 million Advent calendars are sold across the globe each year, according to Marketplace.org. Advent is a nearly monthlong period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25. Each day during Advent, children open a flap, window or door and find a small gift, poem, candy, or another item that adds to the excitement of the season.
· Matching pajamas: Though the tradition of wearing matching holiday pajamas may not have the same lengthy history as Advent calendars, it’s nonetheless a very fun custom for families. Parents can decide how frequently their families dress up in matching pajamas at bedtime during the holiday season, but doing so on Christmas Eve is a popular way to make a fun day even more special. Another idea is to host weekly holiday movie nights during the season, which presents a perfect opportunity to don matching PJs.
· Holiday lights tour: Holiday lighting displays have come a long way in recent decades. Whereas it might once have been popular to string a few strands of lights around the exterior of a house, many holiday celebrants now beckon their inner Clark Griswold and turn their properties into areas with enough illumination to land a small plane. Holiday inflatables for the yard add to the awe of such displays. Kids tend to be especially fond of these types of displays, so parents can make a point to pick a night each holiday season to go on a tour of their neighborhoods and towns to see this year’s offerings.
· Christmas dance party: Sweets are another staple of the holiday season, and what better way for kids to burn off some of that extra sugar than to dance it away to a holiday music playlist curated by Mom and Dad? Cue up some holiday classics but let kids dance to a few of their own favorites as well.