Simple Christmas Traditions To Bring Joy This Year
Do you have some low-stress, simple Christmas traditions that you like to do each year? There are always SO MANY OPTIONS when it comes to deciding how to celebrate the holiday season each year. I polled our friends within the SIE community for their favorite simple Christmas traditions to bring joy to your home this year.
Remember, do not feel the pressure to overdo it this holiday season! Find out what are the non-negotiable traditions that you want to do and anything else is just a bonus. Let’s see what simple Christmas traditions y’all shared!
Faith-Based Christmas Traditions
Several of these take very little effort, so they’re pretty easy to add in to your holiday routines if you plan ahead! I do recommend doing some sort of daily activity to point your heart toward Jesus this Christmas season. Let’s look at our faith-based Christmas traditions:
1. Daily Advent Christmas Tradition
The meaning of the word, “advent”, means arrival. It’s during this time period of four weeks before Christmas that Christians look forward to celebrating when Jesus arrived here on Earth. We also look forward to Jesus’ second arrival when He will return again. Here are some ways to celebrate advent this year:
Advent Reading Plan:
There are many totally FREE advent reading plans on many Bible apps. I found a ton just by a quick search on The Bible App. My personal favorite advent devotionals that I’ve used for years are the She Reads Truth Advent Devotionals! They are beautiful, have craft and recipe ideas, and truly focus on scripture to point us to Jesus this season. There is a new theme every year and the daily reading is bite-sized enough to not be a burden during a busy holiday season. They also have devotionals for men, too.
Do An Advent Christmas Calendar:
There are many variations to these, from faith-based calendars with scripture for each day to simple ones that hold chocolate behind each day (of course, these are always a hit with kids ). I am such a fan of a daily routine for Advent, so other than a reading plan, this is a great way to do that as well.
Advent Wreath
If you grew up in a church like I did, you’d be familiar with the Advent Wreath tradition. There is a candle for each Sunday of Advent. Each candle represents something different and I just read this tradition was started by a Lutheran minister in Germany!
The circle represents God’s neverending love for us and the promise we have of eternal life with Him. The candles represent Jesus and how He came as a light in the world to shine in the darkness. You can do a quick Google or Pinterest search to find a scripture reading and prayer for each week.
I found a few wreath options if you wanted to incorporate this into your Advent routine this year. Click the image or heading to shop! I think this is something I’d love to start when my kiddos are a bit older. Also, you can get the candles here!
Option 1:
If you’ve got an eye for design or want to dress this up a bit, pick out your own greenery to surround this one with!
This one stood out with the rest berries, which add a festive flare!
Super simple winter vibes with this one.
This was a different take on an advent wreath, but I thought it was really beautiful!
Ann Voskamp designed a variation of this wreath that is simply beautiful! It’s definitely an investment, but she designed it to be used for Easter and Advent. This is nice enough to be something that you can pass down in your family from generation to generation. Check it out here!
2. Attend A Candlelight Service
There’s something magical about light, isn’t there? It’s why we love all the Christmas lights and holiday decor this time of year! Light brings magic to the Christmas season. Most churches have some sort of candlelight Christmas service or Christmas Eve service at the end of December. The combination of light from the candles and singing Christmas songs is a beautiful way to remind yourself of why Christians celebrate Christmas at all.
We live in an area where the Moravian Church has a rich history. It’s rather amazing if you research it. They had someone praying for 100 years straight! They have a tradition called a “Moravian Lovefeast” where Christmas songs are sung while also sharing in a fresh bun and coffee (right up my alley!) during the service as a sign of fellowship. You would have to google to see if there are any Moravian churches near you, but this is a beautiful service to attend if you can find one!
3. Make Time For Singing and Worship at Your Christmas Event This Year
We started incorporating a short time of singing Christmas songs that point to Jesus with our immediate household and extended family a few years ago. It’s easy to get caught up in the sugar high and gifts, but this is a beautiful way to pause and honor Jesus in the midst of your friend or family gathering.
Pro tip: Print off the words to the songs for maximal participation! And just so you know, you don’t have to be good at singing to make this a family tradition 🙂
4. Read The Christmas Story
You can do this on your own, or with family and friends, but we have done this the last few years to continue to re-calibrate our hearts towards Jesus this time of year. We typically have done this Christmas Eve, but I know other families who do this Christmas morning (before or after opening gifts, whatever will work better for you!)
Where to find the Christmas Story:
5. Simple Christmas Traditions For The Kids
1. Sing Happy Birthday To Jesus On Christmas Day:
I had several friends in the SIE community say they do this with their kiddos! Either in the morning via cinnamon rolls (my personal favorite) or later in the day with a birthday cake. My husband would probably sub pull-apart cake/monkey bread for cinnamon rolls, but choose whatever you’d like!
2. Do A Daily Advent Activity
Option 1: Jesse Tree:
We have been doing a Jesse Tree for the last three years. Our first small group leaders told us about this years ago when their kids were our kids’ ages, and they inspired us to do this each year! We follow a reading plan that goes with the Jesus Storybook Bible (highly recommend this Bible even if you’re not doing a Jesse Tree!). We purchased a small, affordable tree from Walmart one year. I found this one that’s similar and another option for an even better price here! We got the ornaments from Etsy.
I know several friends who have done an ornament exchange where each person makes x number of ornaments for one day (pending the number of people participating). What a fun activity to do with other families and friends!
These are similar to the ornaments we have, but if you search “Jesse Tree” on Etsy, you can find free printables that you can print and even laminate to make them last for a cheaper option.
Here is the reading plan we use for the Jesus Storybook Bible: Jesse Tree Reading Plan
Option 2: Ann Voskamp Advent Devotional For Kids:
I had several friends recommend this kids advent reading plan to me as well designed by Ann Voskamp. There are daily devotionals, discussion questions, and advent activities for each day.
Although this post isn’t #sponsored by Ann Voskamp, she also has this Christmas calendar for Advent, too!
This is basically a simplified version of Elf on the Shelf, where you move your shepherd to a new location for your kiddos to find each morning. It comes with a book that points kids to the Christmas story and Jesus’ birth. We usually look for our shepherd, stick him by our Jesse Tree when we find him, then read our Jesse Tree devotional for the day. The kids have loved this simple and sweet bit of fun!
Other Fun And Simple Christmas Traditions
Baking Special Treats
Food is truly one of those things that imprints upon our memories and reminds us of special events. For my husband, they made “pull-apart cake” (or “monkey bread” as it’s known in other places) on Christmas morning. For me, there are some special cookie recipes that my grandma and mom used to make every year at this time. Several of you mentioned cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning as one of your family traditions!
The beautiful thing about making special Christmas treats is that they make a great gift for friends, neighbors, or family during the holidays. Package up a few to give away, or do what the ladies in our small group are doing this year and make it a social event by hosting a cookie exchange! There are several ways to incorporate some special foods that will leave your house smelling like Christmas. If you have any recipes you love, leave them in the comments!
I made a short and sweet e-book with some of our favorite holiday treat recipes. You can grab it HERE or by clicking the image above. We’ll be making several of these this year. Make sure to let me know via email or social media if you make one of these! Tag SIE and share a pic of what you created!
Christmas Pajamas
I don’t know what it is about having cozy holiday-themed jammies, but it’s something that has become a tradition in our family. My grandparents always gifted us new pajamas on Christmas Eve, and now we have gifted our kiddos new jammies as part of their Christmas gift. (We usually give it to them at the beginning of the month so we can feel festive all December long!) Even if you don’t have kiddos, snagging some matching pajamas with your extended family or spouse is such a fun holiday tradition!
Our favorite places we’ve gotten pajamas so far are Old Navy and Target. For our kiddos, we’ve also found them at The Children’s Place! Just make sure you order them early because sizes go FAST once December hits.
I did scour Amazon a bit to find some cute options, and there are several! I’ll link them below:
Star Wars Christmas Pajamas
These are Amazon Clothing Brand, and the reviews are fantastic compared to other holiday pajama sets I found online. If you happen to be a Star Wars lover or know someone who is, these would make a great purchase! They have 5 different designs to choose from.
The Children’s Place Family Matching Christmas Holiday Fleece Pajamas Sets, Adult, Big Kid, Toddler, Baby
I’m not going to trust any brand on Amazon, but The Children’s Place always has such good quality stuff! They have several options in these sets to choose from.
The Children’s Place Family Matching Christmas Holiday Pajamas Sets, Snug Fit 100% Cotton, Adult, Big Kid, Toddler, Baby
These are the jammies we got our kiddos last year! They are adorable, but definitely SIZE UP because the design is more a fitted situation and the material doesn’t have a lot of stretch to it.
Burt’s Bees Baby Family Jammies Matching Holiday Organic Cotton Pajamas
Burt’s Bees is also a great brand, and these pajamas had great reviews! Price is equal with other pajama sets, which isn’t always the case with this brand.
Go Look At Christmas Lights
You likely have a few options here (depending on where you live), but I’ll share what y’all shared and what we have done over the last few years!
Option A: Go through a drive-through light show.
We have a very popular one where we live now. It’s very nice, but the traffic can be TERRIBLE. And if you’ve got young kiddos it may not work out. Although, I know families who do this every year and look forward to this yearly tradition!
Option B: Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt
We did this when I was a kid, and we’ve done this with our kiddos for the last two years! There are a few neighborhoods that go all out decorating for Christmas, so we brew some hot chocolate for the kids (coffee for us), pack some popcorn, and drive around looking for Christmas lights. We like this option because it has some flexibility if anyone gets too tired or starts to tap out on riding in the car.
We also like to jam to some Christmas music while we ride! Some of our favorite artists are Celtic Worship and Phil Wickham. You can do a quick Spotify search for a Christmas playlist of your choice and be on your way!
Go To A Local Christmas Parade
Do a quick google search or ask around to see if you have a Christmas parade or tree lighting close to where you live! Several people said this is an annual December tradition for them.
Remember, Keep It Simple!
It is so easy to over-book and over-commit during the holiday season. That’ll leave you feeling stressed out, depleted, and at your wits end just in time to start a new year. (Not ideal, right?) Decide what’s important to you and your family, then say no to the rest. Don’t put pressure on yourself to attend every holiday event, bake every holiday treat, or whatever the case may be. Keep those Christmas traditions simple, keep it fun, and have a great holiday season, friends!
Thankful for you!
Hey friend! I’m Jen, a Mama of three and physical therapist living in North Carolina. You’ll find inspiration and resources for faith, relationships, and motherhood on SIE. Check out my About page to learn more!
