Family Holiday Traditions

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I am a firm believer in family traditions. I like to do our traditional events and activities year after year. I think it gives us as a family something to look forward to, it allows us time to reminisce together, and it is comfortable, safe and warm (can you tell I am a person who doesn’t easily embrace change)? This doesn’t mean I won’t do or add new things into the mix; it just means there are things I like and look forward to and everything extra is simply icing on the cake.

The holidays are the best when it comes to creating good family traditions. My kids, as young as they are, already know and look forward to certain things each year and I love them as much as they do! And preparing for the holidays is half the fun. Here are some of our favorite, yearly traditions that help get us into the Christmas spirit.

PREPARING

LIGHTS

We love looking at Christmas lights. There are quite a few places near us we enjoy going to in order to view them. Most years we will walk (or drive) around the decked out neighborhoods. My most fond memories of Christmas growing up was driving around the nearby Chino neighborhoods in our van. We would drink cocoa, hang our feet from the van door (we would only go like 5 mph) and listen to this awful mix tape of Christmas music my dad’s buddy made for us. To this day, those are some of my favorite Christmas songs… it’s a shame my husband has banned them from our home. Poor grandma with those hoof prints on her forehead.

Now, our favorite family tradition is walking the neighborhood known as the Thoroughbred lights in Rancho Cucamonga. But, if we are in the neighborhood, we still find ourselves driving the smaller but more nostalgic area of Chino for their lights (which ironically are the same lights my husband grew up looking at as well).

But each year, no matter where we go, this continues to be a joyful event that everyone looks forward to. For a list of free places to see lights in Southern California click here.

LOGANS CANDY

Logan’s Candy is a really cool and unique experience. This candy shop located in Ontario, Ca does candy cane making demonstrations all December long, free to the public. And for a minimal fee (about $2) you can get and bend your own hot, fresh candy cane. It’s an immersive, festive experience; and this place has all the makings for a great Christmas outing. We have been doing it for years and look forward to it each season. Based on the crowds I think most of Southern California feels the same way about this gem.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

For the past couple of years our elf (who is kind of lame and simply moves around the house for the most part (he’s definitely not a Pinterest elf) has brought our kids a gingerbread house for them to share and decorate. One house always seems to be enough, though maybe in the next few years as the kids get older he might have to start bringing 2. But, it’s a fun activity the kids like to do, and best of all it takes a while to finish and requires minimal supervision (so you can imagine the amount of candy being consumed as well as the end result). All part of the fun right? This activity can be considered a craft activity, or holiday dessert depending on how much leeway is given.

CHRISTMAS COOKIES AND CAROLING

My family all lives relatively near each other. So around Christmas the girls gather together (ages 3+, and there are about 10 of us) to make goodies. Some of us make cookies, others peanut butter balls, candied nuts, but everyone does something different. We listen to music, cook, decorate, and enjoy the company. In the end we swap what we make to each bring a bundle of goodies home with us. My family will then divvy the goodies up and deliver them to neighbors, people who are lonely, or families we would like to show our love to. And we carol. We aren’t very good (at all), and we don’t sing a lot (or even know all the words to the songs), but I think everybody loves it and it is fun. And you know the saying, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is by singing loud for all to hear.” It’s an amazing tradition where we can share love and goodness to others. And though we are giving, I think we get the most out of it.

MISSION INN AND FESTIVAL OF TREES

Voted number 1 light show in the NATION is the Mission Inn in Riverside, Ca. And since it is down the street from where we live (literally, like a 10 minute drive) how could we not go?! I always feel like I am transported when we visit at Christmas. The lights, vendors, music, and people all bundled up (which is most of the time unnecessary in Southern California, but fun to do nonetheless), makes this one of the traditions I look forward to most. But, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little mad they stopped selling the delicious mini donuts; which is one of the top reasons to go in my book. I supposed I will have to settle for the delicious hot chocolate from the Gingerbread House hut. And right next to the Mission Inn at the Riverside Convention Center is The Festival of Trees. This happens Thanksgiving weekend each year, and is such a fun event. Different sponsors buy and decorate trees. Some are so well done and over the top; not only do they decorate trees, but their entire area is elaborately and extravagantly decorated. Others are super creative and add splendid and charming touches that are fun to find. Along with the trees are live performances, a boutique, and even Santa. Check out THESE other places that would make great traditions to check out in the Southern California area each year as well.

BASS PRO SHOP

This tradition started when my oldest was celebrating her first Christmas. We heard Bass Pro Shop/Cabellas did free Santa pictures and thought, “well, why the heck not?” It was such a fun, easy, well run event that we have returned year after year after year getting our Santa pictures done there ever since. Because you are assigned a time, the wait is minimal. Yes, you still wait and if you fail to get an assigned time, it can be a loooong wait. But, they are prepared for you by turning the store into a winter wonderland. With games, crafts, and fish. Real live fish! My kids love seeing the “Fish Santa” and I love that I have the sweet photo memories of each passing year. I also hate the sweet photo memories because, like I said, I hate change and hate having the photo evidence of it happening in my kids as much as I love it. Now I just feel confused.

CHRISTMAS LIGHT SCAVENGER HUNT (my brother’s family calls this the MiniVan Express- a play on the Polar Express).

Our family has joined up with other families to make this into a game. We are given a list and one hour to check off as many as we can in the time period. We then have to meet back up at the host’s house (usually with a pot-luck item) at a certain time to end the night together. For every minute you are late, a point is deducted. Not to brag or anything, but we won last year.

Find the list here. This might even be a fun list to keep in your car and check off as you find them throughout the holiday season.

My brother’s family does this tradition a little differently. They surprise the kid’s with a ticket and date under their pillow (usually the night before) and meet up in their jammies to go on the MiniVan Express! With bells jingling, they hop in the car and drive around looking at lights. They take photos of their favorites, and listen to Christmas music and drink cocoa. Technically, you can do this anyway that works well for your family… that’s the joy of creating traditions.

PARTYING

Both my husband and I come from larger families. I am one of 4 kids, he is the youngest of 6. The majority of our siblings live near us, and almost all of them have 4 kids as well. So that means family gatherings are large, crazy and noisy. We are used to it, and it is fun for us. But, with lots of people means you have to keep everyone entertained or it could become chaos. One of our favorite things to do with our families are games!!! So, we have a couple of games that are our go to’s when we are with a large group. Some specific to Christmas, and others generic. So, next time you are getting together with family or a group and need a large group game, here you go….

HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS

My sweet mother-in-law executed this one at a large Thanksgiving group a couple of years ago and it was such a hit, it has become a new tradition. The reason this one works as well as it does is because old and young can play, and I challenge you not to smile while you are rolling towards balloons. The key to success on this one though is a flat, hard surface inside. If you attempt it outside balloons will fly away, and it would be hard to keep it all together. You then need 4 furniture dollies connecting to rope, laundry baskets and balloons. Lots and lots of balloons. Split people up into teams and GO! Once the balloons are all collected, count how many balloons each teams got, and you have your winner! It is a huge hit each time we play it and something we LOVE to do!

THE NAME GAME

This is a mix of charades, Taboo and Guesstures. This game has 3 rounds. Everyone playing comes up with 1-2 names of a person. The name can be someone real, fictional, cartoon, etc. The only rule is at least 75% or more of the people playing have to know the person. Put all the names into a hat. You then separate into 2 teams. ROUND 1: You can say anything but the name to get your team to guess it. You try to get as many names as you can from the hat in 1 minute. The hat then goes to the next group who does the same. You go back and forth until all the names are guessed. Take score. Put ALL names back into the hat to be used for round 2. Same names. ROUND 2: 1 word… that’s it. You guess the same names but only one word to describe it. If more than 1 word is used the whole team loses that round. Go through until all names are guessed and take score. (each name is worth 2 points in round 2). ALL names back in the hat. Same names again. ROUND 3: No words at all! Only actions. Any words disqualify the whole round. 1 minute for each team until all the names have been guessed. (each name worth 3 points in round 3). Example: Abraham Lincoln: Round 1: he was a president who wore a top hat and said 4 score and 7 years ago. Round 2: President. Round 3: act out top hat giving a speech (no words).

HEAD OF THE SLED

Also known as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Tape up small pictures of reindeer on the wall with a bit of vasoline where the nose is. Across the room have red puff ball and plate of vasoline. With no hands dip nose in vasoline and get a puff ball to stick to your nose. With no hands walk and stick the puff ball from your nose to the picture on the wall. First person with 2 balls transferred wins. Think pin the tail on the donkey…. with your nose.

MAKING SANTA CLAUS

The kids LOVE this one! You’ll need shaving cream and cotton-balls. Put a good layer of shaving cream on a person’s face and their partner throws as many cotton-balls on their face as they can to create a “beard.” The partners who get the most stuck to their face, wins!

MATCHING GAME

Great game, requires one person who is willing to do a lot of work to put this one together. You can chose anything to match. The most recent one someone did was famous couples. But, we’ve done a lot of different themes and it really is whatever you want to do. One year when my husband and I were expecting our first child we may have snuck in and changed one of the matches to be our name and the date we were expecting. But, whoever puts this game together could come up with fun/funny prizes to symbolize the match.

LEFT CENTER RIGHT

This is a new game we just discovered this year. It is a dice game and we asked all adults to bring 3 one dollar bills with them to play with. You basically follow the instructions until 1 person wins the pot. We’ve also done it with quarters. Get the dice here. Instructions come with game and is pretty self explanatory.

TASTE-TESTS

This we’ve done a couple of times with a couple of different things. Again, someone has to put this together and it takes a bit of work but it’s a fun activity. We’ve done an unseen taste test of Root Beer, apples, even smells as weird as it sounds. With the Root Beer, we tried multiple flavors and chose the best without knowing which one we were drinking. And this year we had an M&M taste test. Who knew there were so many flavors? Were you aware of Jalapeno flavored M&Ms? No, me either. This was a taste and match.

CHRISTMAS EVE

WHITE ELEPHANT

I look forward to this every year. It isn’t a fake white elephant, like spend a ton of money on something and call it a white elephant. Literally, these are the worst gifts ever. Some people spend minimal amounts for horrendous items you might happen upon. But most are things we just have or are given or found and are just the worst. And the best is when a bad gift simply gets re-gifted year after year.

FAMILY TALENT SHOW

Family can’t come to every recital, concert, etc. So, we try to make time for the kids to show off what they’ve been working on all year. This is a tradition the kids looks forward to a lot more than the adults. 😉

DRAW ON PAPER

This one is in preparation for Christmas morning. This is also the one I grew up doing and am so happy it has lived on with my kids. We get a large blank paper, sometimes multiple pieces. The kids then decorate them however they want. Everyone gets a section and works on it. We hang it up in the hallway (wherever works for you) to cover Christmas. You’ll see more about this later.

FAMILY THEME

As an adult my parents started doing themed Christmas Eves. We would dress up, make food from the culture. Learn about how the country celebrates Christmas and maybe even include games and activities from the place we are themed. It has been funny and educational.

CHRISTMAS DAY

PAPER RUN THROUGH

Remember above when I mentioned the paper the kids decorate? Well, here is the rest of the information about this. After the kids have left Santa his milk and cookies, we tape this paper up in the hallway blocking the presents from the bedrooms. In the morning no one can peek or sneak. Then when everyone is ready you run through the paper making for “the great reveal”. It’s so fun and ensures no one can see presents before anyone else; and I always knew Santa was real since no one could get in the room with the tree once that paper was up.

$5 FAVORITES

A lot of people ask how we do gifts for everyone with such a large family. Well, we stopped buying for kids in general. There were too many of them and even with a limit we realized it was unnecessary. So they have started doing a white elephant gift exchange too. But for the adults we do a $5 favorite. We buy a $5 gift of something we love… the adult women for the other adult women (So, I bought 4, one for my mom and 3 sisters) and the adult men bought for the other adult men. It’s fun, and you get such creative and entertaining gifts. The boys have shared food and drink items, I have gotten great cosmetics and items I love that I probably would never have tried otherwise. *Mine could almost always be a big polar pop and chapstick because quite honestly, those are the only things I ever buy.

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But, regardless of whether or not you grew up with traditions or you are trailblazing new ones with your own families, I am a firm believer they are important. Traditions nurture the family connection and celebrate generations. But, the most important reason I believe having traditions is important are simply for the fact, they create lasting memories of home and love for my children.