When you have kids, Christmas brings on a whole new excitement. At our house, we try to make it as fun and special as possible, all while focusing on Jesus. Without Jesus’ birth, there would be no Christmas. It is an excellent opportunity/excuse for us to share about the beauty of Christ and his love for us. Here are a few traditions that we have made during the Christmas holidays. 
Presents.
I know that everyone has their own way of deciding how much they will buy, how many they will buy, etc. I know buying 3 presents for each child (just like Jesus received) is really popular. At our house, we don’t have an exact formula to presents. (I am sure this all will change as we have more children and our budget changes!). Starting in November, I start looking for the deals and for things my children would like. My daughter (3) doesn’t really say she wants anything particular for Christmas. I keep asking her but she never really responds (except for a broom- haha!). If we go to the store, however, she will point out a million things she wants! This year, Gilt Group had a deal where if you became a new member, you receive $20 off, including shipping so I bought her and Bradford something that totaled $1 each after shipping! Also, a friend gave me a few ballerina outfits that her daughter had outgrown, so that will also be under the tree! Madeline’s 2 other gifts are the BOB books to help her start reading and a play dough set (she is really into play dough at preschool!). All this to say, we try to find things that she needs/would like that we find for a good deal. Eventually, I would like to buy more meaningful gifts instead of just fun. I think that will start when the kids get around 4/5. by the way… moms, if you join Amazon mom, you can ship anything for free!!
We started last year teaching Madeline a long passage of scripture during the Christmas holiday. Last year she learned Isaiah 9:6. This year, we are learning Psalm 139. She is about 10 verses in, but we are in a little rut. We will be taking a little break until she wants to start learning it again! You would be surprised out easily children can memorize long passages of scripture. We just make up motions for each verse and say it over and over and over….
This our little verse tree. I got this idea from a friend last year. I bought the little ornaments @ Target last year after Christmas and the tree half off @ Hobby Lobby. Each ornament has a verse hooked to it- numbered 1-25.
I highlighted the “date” and then put the verse. Each verse is about Jesus (his coming, who he is, etc). It is such a discipline for kids to sit and listen to verses. This tradition is fun because it incorporates things kids love to do (search the tree for the correct number, taking it off the tree, talking about the colors of the ornament…) along with reading the passage from the Bible. We actually started our tree right after Thanksgiving since we will be traveling a lot over Christmas and I know we will skip the tree some nights!
and we can’t forget the big guy. We do santa at our house, but we don’t make it a really big deal. We don’t focus on him too much, but we do do stockings and get excited when we see him at the mall, etc.
One more tradition that I want to start (when we start spending Christmas day at our house!!!) is making a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas. I think it is a great visual for kids to see (in their “language”) what we are celebrating on Christmas.
what are your favorite holiday traditions?
love this. thanks!