Christmas Traditions

Christmas Traditions

The Christmas season is celebrated in different ways around the world, varying by country and region. The most common Christmas Traditions include the lighting of Christmas trees, the hanging of wreaths, Christmas stockings, candy canes, and the creation of Nativity scenes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ.

Christmas carols may be sung and stories told about such figures as the Baby Jesus, Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Christkrindle or Grandfather Frost.

The sending of Christmas Cards, the exchange of Christmas greetings, observance of fasting and/or special religious observances such as a midnight mass or Vespars on Christmas eve, the burning of a yule log, and the giving and receiving of presents are all popular Christmas traditions. Christmas time is one of the most important periods on the Christian calendar. 

Below are some of the lighter-of-heart and modern Christmas Traditions that families practice.

Christmas Cookie Exchange. The earliest reference that I could find to a "Cookie Exchange" was in the Syracuse Herald, January 20, 1936; obviously not a Christmas Cookie Exchange.  Other articles would suggest that it's historically been a "Ladies Only event".  But it's a a great activity to get the kids, the relatives, friends and even strangers together and walk away with a huge variety of cookies, cakes, candies and other holiday treats and you don't have to spend weeks preparing them.

The Christmas Web.  Christmas has always been a family celebration in our home, but as our children grew older we found that their interest in Christmas morning waned and the sparkle in their eyes was gone.

The day after Thanksgiving, 1992, we introduced The Christmas Web in our home with the placement of Magic Wands into their socks that had for years been hung at the fireplace mantel. Attached to each Magic Wand was a piece of yarn (a 70 yard piece of yarn).

When our two teen-aged children awoke on Christmas morning, they found that the yarn was wound through the house - around window latches, door knobs, chairs and doors.Their piece of Christmas web ended in a closet or cabinet which held their Special Christmas Gift from one of Santa’s elves, an elf who had been looking out for them for the past year and knew of their desire for this special Christmas gift.

Each year, The Christmas Web continued as each of our children got married and as they had children of their own. Each of our grandchildren have an Elf on the Shelf or Elf Magic elf  that hides their Special Christmas Gift each year and leads them to it with their individual Magic Wand.  Kerry Grinkmeyer

The Elf on the Shelf.  Have you ever wondered how Santa knows who is naughty and who is nice? The Elf on the Shelf®: A Christmas Tradition is the very special tool that helps Santa know who to put on the Naughty and Nice list.

This interactive holiday hide-and-seek tradition is perfect for children and families of all ages. Excellent listeners and even better observers, these scout elves are the eyes and ears of Santa Claus. Although they cannot be touched, or else they may lose their magic, the elf will always listen and relay messages back to Santa. Taking in all the day-to-day activities around the house, no good deed goes unnoticed; these scout elves take their job seriously. Each night, after the family goes to bed, the scout elf uses his magical Christmas powers to fly back to the North Pole. Once there, the elf will make his or her daily report to Santa. Before the family awakes each morning, their special scout elf will fly back to their home from the North Pole. On Christmas Eve, the scout elf will listen for Santa’s bell and then fly back to the North Pole until the next season, wishing every girl and each boy a Christmas of peace and a year full of joy.
 

Picking the Christmas Tree Every Christmas my Daddy and I went to pick out the tree.  While we were hunting the tree Mom made sure that all the ornaments were out for our arrival home with the tree.  We each had our special ornament, Daddy's wooden Santa Claus was the first to go on the tree, then Mom's lamb and then my baby carriage.  This was our tree decorating tradition and it continues in our home today even though they are both gone their special ornaments are first on the tree followed by each of our families special ornaments. 

Mom always had a Christmas tree trimming party where everyone made ornaments to take home, Christmas was a big at our house as we have made it for our children and grandchildren. Nita Cranfill

 

Elf Magic The Elf Magic Elves – recognized by a magic snowflake placed on their heart by Santa himself – make the holiday season come alive. This timeless tradition artfully blends playtime, the importance of family values, and reinforces the true meaning of Christmas. From discovering an Elf’s magical arrival in the home, to searching for their hidden Elf after a night full of adventurous.

Elf Ideas  There are many elf's that have been incorporated into the Christmas celebration over the past decade and as the children grow older parents have to become more creative on how to incorporate their children's elves into their holiday celebration.  The Internet is full of many share "elf ideas" that can add to the family fun. 

Christmas Day Scavenger Hunt My wife and I started a tradition about twenty years ago for our two children.  It is a simple scavenger hunt on Christmas day, after the presents are unwrapped, but with a few twists.  It starts with a message in a small box that leads them to a hidden message and so on.  My wife writes the messages in the form of poems that direct the seekers to five or six different locations.  Once a message is found it must be returned to the living room where they are read to the entire family before heading on to locate the next message.  Some messages are hidden inside and some involve trips to the woods or barns-we have boots available.  

The last message leads to a gift, the one we feel they will enjoy the most.  We have now added a son-in-law and daughter-in-law and two granddaughters to this tradition.  You must be five years old to join the hunt and we have a grandson that will start in four years.  My wife and I learned a few years ago that all participants have saved every message they have received over the years and we take that as a sign that they cherish this tradition as much as we do.  Willis Smith
 

Czech Christmas traditions Staying in Czech Republic for ten month I had the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with Czech People in Czech tradition, I visited Czech Christmas merchants, drunk warm Czech wine and beer, eat pig meals and trdelnik – which is is a traditional Czech cake and sweet Pastry, it is made from rolled dough, wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnut mix. luminosa 
 

Other Christmas/Hanukkah Traditions

• Have each member of the family draw a name of another member and make a handmade gift for that person.
• Collect or make one ornament each year that has special meaning to the family.
• Have the children write letters to Santa and place them in their stockings.
• Write letters in reply from Santa commending each child for his or her good behavior that year.
• As a family, make gingerbread houses, candy trains, or ornaments.
• As a family, put up Christmas/Hanukkah decorations, decorate the tree or light the menorah as a family, making it an event with music and good food. Visit neighbors singing the songs of the season, and give a small gift to the people you visit.
• Enjoy time playing dreidels and eating latkes and other traditional festivities of the Hanukkah season.
• Act out the Christmas story.
• Drive around the neighborhood looking at lights and listening to Christmas music.
• For every day in December, burn a candle while participating in a family activity.
• Collect Christmas stories and read them to small children.
• Each year, add a special emblem to stockings signifying an important event from that year.
• Give the Lord the gift of a personal improvement goal for next year. Write it on a piece of paper, place it in the manger, read it next Christmas or Hanukkah, and evaluate progress.
• Have children put on a piece of straw in the manger for every random act of kindness that they do in December. By Christmas it should be soft and comfortable for the baby Jesus.