Favourite Christmas Traditions

Every family loves to follow different Christmas traditions. When you have your own children, you have the opportunity of developing some of your own. Obviously you will select to follow some of the ones you grew up with. But here are some other ideas to get you started!

1. Make up your own Advent Calender with a chocolate in each box for each child and have each door tell a bit more of the Christmas story

2. Coming up to Christmas, read a few verses of the Christmas story each night. Use a great children’s Bible with interactive pictures

3. As a family, select something you can give to for Children overseas. You could put a shoe box together with gifts for a particular aged child or through an organization like International Children’s Care you could buy them ducks or a water supply to help improve their standard of living.

Organizations often send out brochures with all the ‘gift ideas’ and it’s great fun to choose your gift together. The next step would be for the children to then do extra jobs to earn money for the gift they chose.

Here is Julie's story from Papua New Guinea and the Christmas Box she received from a family in Victoria, Australia

Julie's Story

Read these other ideas on how to teach young children the art of giving at Christmas time.

4. Sing Christmas carols together on Christmas Eve. Find out what other countries do to celebrate Christmas too. Scroll below for some ideas...

5. Have a birthday party for Jesus at Christmas and think about what gift you will give Him this year.

6. Always decide to give at least one gift at Christmas or birthdays that is hand made and demanded some of your time and effort

7. Select how you will open your gifts to each other. Will it be a free for all or will each person do it one at a time? Will you have a Kris Kringle type gift giving for larger families?

2. Each select a number between 1 and the number of people a part of the game. You may like to make up little slips of paper with numbers on to draw out of a hat.

3. Starting at person who is number 1, a person chooses a gift from the pile of gifts in the center of the room. Each person may choose to have a gift opened before their turn or the gift they have picked up. If you are person no.1 this may mean you get a gift taken from you a number of times and replaced with another. If you are the person deciding whether to take an already opened gift or the new gift you have selected, you are not allowed to open the gift before deciding.

4. When every one has had their turn, person no. 1 has the chance to select any gift from all that have been opened.

This game can be a lot of fun as you choose a gift and may not end up with it at the end of the game!

Christmas Traditions Around the World

SWEDEN The Swedish Christmas traditions begin on December 13 to also celebrate a Christian martyr, St Lucia whose name means light. The daughters of each household rise early to prepare a meal of special buns and coffee to serve before daybreak. The eldest girl wears a long white dress and a crown of evergreen leaves ringed with tall candles. After eating, the family visits relatives and friends. The neighbourhood is transformed with the fickering glow of candlit crowns on the snowy streets in the early morning darkness.

GREECE Greece has a different tradition. Presents aren’t exchanged until New Years Day which is also St Basil’s Day. He was a favourite saint who was good to the poor. Everyone eats St Basil’s cake which contains coins and it is said if you find a coin you are blessed throughout the year. Another part of the Christmas celebrations involves a priest throwing a cross into the harbour and boys dive in to try and find it. The boy that finds it is carried through the town and showered with gifts.

MEXICO The annual festivities begin on December 16 with a parade that follows the biblical journey of Mary and Joseph. The Christmas tradition involves people parading the streets for 9 nights. Children carry candles and sing carols. The parade visits a different house each night representing the different places where Mary and Joseph tried to find a place to stay. At each house the ‘innkeeper’ refuses entry. Finally the group is allowed in, a piñata is produced and the children get to hit the pinnata for fun and presents.

GERMANY Germany’s Christmas traditions have impacted a number of different countries by introducing the Advent Calendar, gingerbread houses, nutcrackers and the candlelit fir tree which was a symbol of eternal life. For children in Germany the big night is Christmas Eve. This is celebrated with a big dinner of goose, pies and puddings, opening presents and then attending Midnight Mass. This leaves the 25th to be spent thinking about the true meaning of Christmas – God’s gift to mankind: the birth of Jesus Christ.

ZIMBABWE Christmas tradition in Zimbabwe is a major holiday with feasting, presents and partying. Kids receive their presents early Christmas morning and show them off at the Christmas service at church later in the morning. After church, people visit different friends on their way home which usually takes all day! They spend time at each other’s houses singing and eating. Food is prepared weeks in advance and on the menu is chicken with rice, roast ox or goat, cornmeal and special breads. On Boxing Day, employers give gifts to their employees – a legacy of English colonial rule.

What different Christmas traditions do you follow in your household? Share them with us in the organizeourfamily forum (keep an eye out because it's still to come to this website!). It’s always great to have fresh ideas on how to celebrate the most important birthday party ever!

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