9 Favorite Christmas Eve Traditions for Families with Small Kids

9 Favorite Christmas Eve Traditions for Families with Small Kids

Every Christmas Eve is a huge, fun-packed event at the Lewis family household. It’s almost humorous trying to fit in each of our traditions! I don’t know where half of these started, but it’s the way we roll!

No one likes to depart from tradition. Now that I’ve got my own family, we do some of these traditions and add a few of our own.

9 Favorite Christmas Eve Traditions for Families with Small Kids

1. Make sugar cookies for Santa- Not just any cookies, no no no, we make Dad’s sugar cookies. He has spent many moons perfecting these beauties. After they cool, we usually use store bought icing in tubes to decorate.

It’s easier for the little ones to decorate with the small tubes, and it’s less of a mess for mom! We also buy sprinkles of every variety to cover the delicious cookies. Of course everyone picks their favorite cookie to leave for Santa.

And, since I was a little sick of the aforementioned movie, now my little family watches the Original Christmas Classics. I especially love the Claymation!

3. Open Christmas Pajamas- This tradition started at my Grandma Bev’s house. We would always go there on Christmas Eve and open our matching cousin P.J.’s. My family will love this picture! Cassie is in the back in the middle, and I don’t know why I’m not in it, but it just makes sharing it so much more fun!

9 Favorite Christmas Eve Traditions for Families with Small Kids

4. Order Pizza and Leave the Delivery Guy/Girl a BIG Tip- Our family loved Pizza Hut. We would usually order while we were making cookies, so we could eat it while we watched our movie. It was always fun watching my dad hand the tip over. It made us feel good inside and we felt like we were spreading the Christmas spirit.

5. Listen to The Polar Express on tape– I’m an 80’s kid alright?! We didn’t have CD’s back then! Our favorite part of this book was the bell that came with it. When the story was over we would listen closely to make sure we could hear it ring, which PROVED that we still believed in Santa!

6. Read the Story of Jesus’ Birth in the Bible- This always had to be done by candlelight. Dad would read it, with difficulty since it was so dark, and we would listen closely.

7. Have a Sibling Sleepover in the Boom Boom Room– What!? You’re family doesn’t have a neon green-painted room called the BOOM BOOM ROOM in the basement? Strange… Anyway, we would get all of our pillows and blankets together, and we were threatened to stay in the basement until morning. If anyone snuck upstairs they would be in trouble.

I was quite a stinker and I snuck out one year to find a HUGE Ninja Turtle, unwrapped, waiting for my brother, Zac. I was in big trouble when I ran out to tell him what Santa brought him.

8. Leave Reindeer Food on the Snow- We mix oats and sparkles in a bowl and spread them out on the lawn so Santa’s reindeer can find us.

9. Build a Snowman or a Snow Fort- This is fun for the adults too. If it snows, we build a huge fort or snowman on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

WOW! I think that’s it. It’s a lot to get done in one day, but it sure get’s the kids tired so it’s a lot easier for Santa to come! What are some of your family traditions on Christmas Eve? I love hearing about what other families do!

9 Favorite Christmas Eve Traditions for Families with Small Kids