Creating Joyful Family Holiday Traditions and Meaningful Celebrations
The holiday season is a time of joy, family togetherness, and creating lasting memories. Planning meaningful family traditions is one of the best ways to ensure that joy is at the heart of your celebrations. Whether you’re looking to start new traditions or refresh beloved ones, these ideas will help you create joyful holiday moments that everyone in the family will cherish. I have included our family traditions and those shared by my social media friends.
Holiday light scavenger hunts
Thank you to my daughter for our newest annual event – the holiday light scavenger hunt! Our family loves to look at holiday lights. The scavenger hunt (either paper or digital) brings a lot of joy to our evenings together.
Gingerbread House decorating party
Each year, we host a gingerbread house decorating party with pre-made houses and tea party treats. There are oodles of decorations, from candy to frosting. Treats include homemade and store-bought holiday-themed snacks. My grandkids especially appreciate this time together.
Ladies Gathering
A friend gathers the ladies in her family together every Christmas Eve. When they started the tradition, everyone lived in the same city and they took turns hosting. Now that they are spread out, they have our brunch on Zoom
Special Family Outing
Every year a friend’s family goes to dinner in Houston, then goes see the Christmas show at Second Baptist Woodway campus. On the trip, they hit up Starbucks and Sprinkles Cupcakes in Highland Village, open the sunroof, and turn up the Christmas music while they drive through River Oaks looking at the Christmas lights and beautifully decorated homes.
Family Movie Binging
Every family has their favorite holiday movies to watch throughout the season. Families gather to watch a favorite Christmas movie like Elf, Home Alone, The Polar Express, or A Christmas Carol. Families watch Hallmark holiday movies throughout the season.
Christmas Eve Traditions
- On Christmas Eve everyone gets one gift, which is family matching pajamas. The family fixes gumbo and crawfish etouffee for dinner and watches movies together.
- Families gather together to read the Bible and share the story of the birth of Jesus.
- Our family attends the Christmas Eve service. We gather early for a big feast of everything Italian, ending with cream puffs made each year by Gigi.
Chanukah Traditions
- Families light the menorah and sing the Hebrew prayers each evening of Chanukah.
- Preparing a dinner of fried foods, including latkes. Fried in oil, latkes symbolize the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days. These are typically served with applesauce or sour cream.
- Our family had the tradition of one gift each night of Chanukah, brought to us by the Chanukah Fairy.
I would love to hear your family traditions create the magic of the season and bring joy and connection to your home.