These are Christmas Eve traditions that your family can enjoy every single year. It gives everyone something to look forward to during the final countdown to the big day. This post is sponsored by MomsMeet.
Simple Christmas Eve Traditions
For many people Christmas Eve is one of the favorite moments of the holiday season. Hopefully everything has been crossed off your list and you can finally relax. It’s time to slow down and spend some time with your friends and family, and take part in some of your favorite Christmas Eve traditions. Don’t have a lot of traditions yet? We have the perfect list of holiday traditions for you.
It’s nice to keep things simple so you are rested before the big day, from hanging Christmas stockings and tracking Santa and leaving him milk and cookies, You’ll make great memories for years to come. There are Christmas traditions here for kids of all ages.
Milk and cookies
Leaving milk and cookies out for Santa is one of the simplest traditions. When it comes to milk, not just any milk will do. We leave a cold glass of Organic Valley Whole Milk for Santa. Organic Valley* has rigorous quality standards, and they never use artificial hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, or GMOs, and they don’t add any artificial ingredients or fillers. It makes it a great choice for Santa as he flies around the globe. Organic Valley cows live on almost 1800 small organic farms where they freely express their natural behaviors—like grazing, foraging, and playing on pasture. Happy cows mean yummy milk! Since Organic Valley exceeds the organic standards means Santa is drinking the best, most delicious milk. Pairing this yummy milk with your favorite cookies is sure to make Santa happy.
Bake cookies
When it comes to the perfect cookie or two to go with Santa’s milk, you can use store bought, but the best way to create family traditions is to make cookies with your family. My favorite from my childhood is moldy mice cookies. Sugar cookies are always lots of fun, and you can’t go wrong with classic chocolate chip.
Your child may have written a letter to Santa with their Christmas wishes, but Santa would really love a thank you note in addition to his milk and cookies! It’s a great way to stay on the nice list.
Watch your favorite Christmas movie
Grab a mug of hot cocoa and a cozy blanket and snuggle up to watch your favorite Christmas movie! We all have our favorites, so maybe watch a classic or try something new.
Some favorite Christmas movies are:
A Christmas Story
Elf
Home Alone
The Polar Express
The Santa Clause
Die Hard (Yes, it is a Christmas movie, prove me wrong)
Play Hide-and-Seek with a Pickle
The tradition is that someone hides a pickle ornament on the tree on Christmas Eve. The first person to find it on Christmas morning opens the first gift. Where the Christmas pickle tradition isn’t clear, but it’s believed that the glass gherkin ornaments have been hung on American Christmas trees since the late 1800s.
My neighbor Penny’s pickle ornament on her tree.
Make Christmas Crafts
Love crafts? Get a start on next years Christmas decorations or maybe make some fun things for friends and family you may be seeing on Christmas Day. I personally love candy cane reindeers because they look cute tied on presents or hanging on the tree.
Or you can just hand your kids paper, glitter, and glue and make any holiday craft they desire!
Look at Christmas Lights
Looking at Christmas lights is a fun holiday tradition. Many neighborhoods put up simple lights, but some go all out with their holiday decor, making it lots of fun!
Hang Christmas stockings
Hanging Christmas stockings is a timeless Christmas eve tradition. Especially if you use a fireplace! I like hanging mine at the same time I decorate my Christmas tree because it adds to the holiday decor for a little bit longer. If you don’t have a fireplace, you can hang stockings on the back of your chairs at your dining table, on a coat rack, or even hooks on walls.
Photo credit, Mariah Moon, The Simple Parent
Open an early Christmas present
A popular family Christmas Eve tradition is to have each family member open an early Christmas present. Since Santa delivers most gifts overnight, you will want to buy something fun for this tradition. Remember to keep it simple so it doesn’t overshadow the excitement of Christmas Day.
A great Christmas Eve present is a “Christmas Eve Box” A Christmas Eve box is a festive box full of things to enjoy on Christmas Eve. It might contain things like Christmas pajamas, Christmas books and stories, holiday treats, hot chocolate with a holiday mug and cozy socks.
I recommend opening your Christmas Eve box as a way to kick off your evening’s activities.
Track Santa
A really fun Christmas Eve tradition (and a great way to motivate the kids to go to sleep is to track Santa! We rely on NORAD to help us track Santa as he delivers gifts around the world. When he’s close to our house, it is time to send the kids to bed!
Read a Christmas Classic
After tracking Santa one last time, send everyone off to bed after reading The Night Before Christmas or another favorite Christmas book.
*Organic Valley Milk is available to purchase at Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Walmart, and Publix. To find a store near you, visit: organicvalley.coop/store-locator.
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