Some Of Our Favourite Christmas Eve Traditions
Every family celebrates Christmas in their own way. Christmas Eve is no exception with families incorporating a wide variety of traditions from the sacred to the sentimental. Here are a few of our favorite Christmas Eve Traditions. Maybe they’ll inspire you to start a new tradition this year with the ones you love!
Track Santa
Every year online ‘Santa trackers‘ are becoming more and more popular. Log on, see where he is and follow him live as he makes his way around the globe.
Playing Elf
Light up another family’s Christmas Eve by playing elf. We’ve done this in the past by secretly paying someone else’s bill. We leave the restaurant and watch from the car. It’s lovely seeing the joy and surprise on the face of the unsuspecting diners when they learn it’s on the house. You can also light up the night for someone who has to work on Christmas Eve, such as a pharmacist or a petrol station employee.
Hot Chocolate Bar
You could make hot cocoa mix from scratch or use packets. I think what I love most about this is you can use so many things that you might already have. There’s really no right or wrong way. When you have a nice cup of hot cocoa all of the mix-ins and add ons are like a bonus, so whatever you have, will work. Here are some great suggestions as to what you can use:
- Hot Cocoa (mix, packets)
- Marshmallows
- Chocolate chips
- Candy canes – whole for stirring, crushed for srpinkles
- Caramel
- Toffee Bits
- Cookies
- Pretzel Sticks
- Cinnamon
- Finely chopped nuts
- Whipped Cream
- Sprinkles
- Bailey’s Irish Cream
- Pretty straws or spoons
- Mugs
Reindeer dust
Raid the craft box and the cereal cupboard and you can turn some ordinary items into something really magical.
Combine oats with glitter and you’ve got the perfect reindeer dust.
Tell the kids to sprinkle the magic mixture outside to help guide the reindeer to your home. It’s a nice snack that helps them to fly. And a lovely one to add to your Christmas Eve Traditions.
Jingle bells
If you’ve got a bell lying around the house, jingle it gently outside when the children have gone to bed.
Chances are they’ll be awake and will hear it, and in the morning will be convinced they heard Father Christmas arriving at your home.
The Night Before Christmas
What better book to read on Christmas Eve than The Night Before Christmas?
Read it as a bedtime story, snuggled up as a family, and it will become the perfect Christmas tradition you want to keep every year.
Haven’t got a copy? It’s not too late to buy one.
Magic key
Facing difficult questions about how Santa will be able to get into your house when you don’t have a chimney? “Will he come through the radiator?”
No of course he won’t – not if you leave this magic key outside for him.
If you can’t find a key, cut one out of card and have the kids decorate it with ‘magic’ glitter.
New Pyjamas
The nice thing about new pyjamas is that you can often tempt overexcited children into them earlier than usual. You can wrap them separately or place them in the Christmas Eve box. You also get the added bonus of little ones looking neat and tidy on the Christmas morning photos!
