Every year I look forward to a few family favorite Christmas traditions. We like to find things fairly close by that fit our budget so these are ideas that could work for anyone! Here are a few of the things we do each December!
Christmas Lights Tour. Ask around to find some great light displays near you. Some house displays even have their own Facebook sites, so you can always look there to find displays nearby. We have so many houses nearby with huge light displays, some set to music on a radio station. Even if you think your kids are getting too old for this, it can still be super fun! We get some hot cocoa (or make our own) and head out for a drive. For fun, we make a list of common items you might see and try to count them as we go. (Candy canes, reindeer, nativity scenes and Santa generally get a lot of points). You could easily make a Bingo game with that but our kids can get over-the-top competitive so we like to just count them;)
Community Events or Parades. Our town usually has a small Christmas parade but this year it was cancelled due to rain. So we found some fun Christmas events in other nearby towns. One had horse-drawn trolley rides to look at the lights as well as Santa and reindeer. Such a fun night out. We also went to a pancakes with Santa event at a local restaurant. Many local libraries also have free events like gingerbread house making and Christmas crafts.
Live Nativity. We love to find a live nativity nearby at Christmas. These events are typically free and are generally hosted by churches or schools. In the West Michigan area, there are lots of options!
What are some simple family traditions you look forward to at Christmastime?
Joan Kubes
December 18, 2018 at 12:52 pmI think it’s so great to do something like this that the kids will remember forever
Laura
December 12, 2018 at 5:00 pmWe bring the kids to make gingerbread houses at the library every year. It’s a nice, free event. And we don’t have to worry about the clean up! 🙂