One of my favorite things to do with the kids each year is open a book and do a (mostly) corresponding activity with the kids every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas. The kids look forward to it, I love planning it, and it helps me fit in all the different activities I'd like to do with them!
This year, the days got a little blurred and I didn't take as many pictures as I have in the past, so I'm going to do my best to be accurate with the timeline here.
Oliver absolutely loved the tradition of opening a book each day and always hoped it was his turn to open it!
November 29th
Holly Days
Holly Days
The first activity we do each year is going to Holly Days (a free event Vernal puts on). It's pretty cold, but always a fun time. I did a separate blog post talking about what we did for it this year.
Make Countdown Chain
Every year on December 30, we make a countdown chain for each child to hang next to the back door. I love how visual it was for kids as they wait for Christmas.
December 1st
Draw Names
No picture for this activity, but we love reading The Last Straw, a book about putting a straw in the manger for each secret act of service around the house. Ashtyn likes to draw names for who we do the service for, so I put her in charge of that each week. Today was the day we started that.
December 2nd
Decorate Kids' Tree
Again, no picture, but the kids have a little tree upstairs in their room. We have some decorations that I don't want on our big tree that they can put up on theirs and we spend some time making homemade ornaments for their tree as well.
December 3rd
Decorate the tree
Decorating the tree is a simple and favorite tradition!
December 4th
Letter to Santa
I like to try to get letters in early, just in case of any surprises (we've had some pretty close to Christmas when I've waited in the past). I didn't get any pictures, but we have a template I'll use for the kids. Ashtyn made an origami letter this year instead of using the template.
December 5th
Visit Santa!
We actually got to see Santa twice this year--once at our ward party, where I planned to see Santa, and once when we went to the library at our normal time and Santa was there. The kids didn't mind seeing him twice! And they got to pick a book when they saw him at the library as well.
December 6th
Polar Express Party
Polar Express Party
I love our polar express party each year!
I get some treats ready and make white hot chocolate. We also have some "tickets" to board the Polar Express. Everyone comes in pajamas, and we watch the movie while we eat the treats and drink the hot chocolate.
December 7th
Make ornaments as a family
We love making a new ornament for our tree, a tradition Ben and I started the first year we were married. This year, we made ornaments out of pipe cleaners, and they turned out cute.
December 8th
Making gingerbread houses
This is another of my favorite traditions. Ben helps me put together some houses out of graham crackers and we always add an upside-down ice cream cone for a tree. We give the kids frosting and a bunch of candy and let them go at it. I always use my grandma's icing recipe as the "glue", and it holds really well. I know the kids love it and while it can get pretty crazy with so many kids, it's very worth it to me.
December 9th
Ninja Elves
Again, no picture. Instead of exchanging gifts with Ben's family, we all contribute that money in an envelope to a local family in need. We put together a basket and this year's turned out really cute, and we were able to get a large amount of money to donate. We found a young family whose mom is going through cancer and our kids tried doorbell ditching it (I say tried because we couldn't get them to open the door until Ben just took it and stayed at the door, but they didn't know us, so it was okay).
December 10th
Make gingerbread cookies
We make gingerbread cookies every year using my great grandma's recipe. Then we use store icing, eye sprinkles, and mini M&M's to decorate them. The kids love the cookies.
December 11th
Deliver treats to firemen, policemen, and mailman
No picture, but the kids love to make cards for the mailman and some firemen and policemen and drop them off with a bag of the gingerbread cookies we made.
December 12th
Grinch Day
This is a tradition we started last year that the kids love it. They knew immediately what it was when I told them we were doing our Grinch day. We start with reading the book, doing some Grinch crafts, and making Grinch Rice Krispie Treats. We also watched both the cartoon and the animated version of the Grinch movies.
December 13th
Birthday Party for Jesus
We like to do a little birthday party for Jesus leading up to Christmas. We start by giving a gift to Jesus--something that we are going to do this year to be more like Christ. We also look at gifts we have given in the last year. We always have a treat (this year, I did one of my favorites "diet approved" cakes that I make that uses coconut flour and honey) and sing happy birthday to Jesus with a candle. We finish off the night by watching The Christ Child on YouTube, my favorite video depicting the birth of Christ.
December 14th
Extended gifts
When Ashtyn was four, she wanted to make a gift for everyone in the extended family. Every year, she's wanted to continue, and her sisters have wanted to join her. We have found ways to make it simple, since they are making so many, but still fun and with a unique and creative touch from them. What we did do is the girls write a story and illustrate it and then I copy it for them. They then wrap all the presents.
December 15th
Make sibling gifts
This is a tradition that I got from my aunt, who had her kids make a gift for their siblings each year. It's one of my favorite traditions. The kids love creating the gift and getting that one-on-one time with Mom while I help them with it, and the kids always love opening them as well. We always have them draw names, so they are only making a gift for one of their siblings.
December 16th
Make Cookies for Neighbors
I love making Christmas cookies, so every year (to give me more of a chance to make a lot of cookies) I make big batches of four different kinds of cookies--white chocolate chip (dyed red), M&M (dyed green), snickerdoodle, and peanut butter kiss (rolled in sprinkles). Then I put them in bags to deliver to the neighbors on our street. It's a long day (especially being pregnant) but I love it, and the kids love helping me some as well (Ben endures it because he knows how much I love it and is so sweet to help with things like dinner).
December 17th
Look at Christmas lights
This isn't my favorite tradition, but it's probably top of the list for the kids (except Oliver, who asked to come but then also asked to go home the entire time). I always look up some addresses ahead of time to find some dancing lights, because that's the kids' favorite thing. When we're done looking at lights, we always stop for a little treat (this year, I ran into Smith's and grabbed the kids a little ice cream treat because we had a time constraint).
December 18th
Candy Cane Hunt
This is such a simple activity that the kids love every year! We read a book about the history of candy canes and how candy canes remind of us of Christ and then I hide candy canes around the house. I do some easy ones and some harder ones. This year we got to do it with cousins, which made it even more fun.
December 19th
Snow Day!
We got to do our snow day with cousins this year too, which was really fun! I don't even know where I got them, but I had found these little snowmen in our Christmas stuff and the kids started off the day putting one together. Then we did paper snowflakes and the kids kept throwing them around the living room saying it was snowing (we've had very little real snow this year). Later in the day, we got out marshmallows and toothpicks and the kids got to put together different shaped snowflakes out of them. Then we finished off the day with fake snow (which was hair conditioner mixed with baking soda). The kids all liked it, but Oliver and Jonathan especially loved it. It made a big mess, but it was so cute to see how much Oliver and Jonathan liked it.
December 20th
Caroling
The kids really wanted to go caroling, so the adults got over our social awkwardness and took them 😂 we went to the neighbors surrounding our house and sang them each two songs. It was cold but a lot of fun and just the right amount of time, I thought. The kids had a lot of fun and I think our neighbors loved seeing the kids sing to them 💖
(We actually did this on the same day as the candy cane hunt because our schedules got a little busy this close to Christmas, but we counted it as this day's activity)
December 21st
Christmas Around the World
I love teaching the kids about different traditions around the world. We have a cute book that outlines what cookies get left for Santa in different places around the world and some of their other traditions. In the back, they have some recipes for some of the cookies and we like to try a different recipe each year. This year, the kids chose "snowballs" from Alaska and some no bake chocolate ones from Hawaii. The kids loved the snowball ones, but weren't fans of the chocolate ones.
December 22nd
Family Dinner
The Sunday before Christmas, Ben's family did their nicer Christmas dinner, with a roast and lots of yummy sides. It was nice to visit together and enjoy the food.
December 23rd
Make Cookies for Santa
Our tradition is to always make cookies for Santa the day before Christmas Eve (so I don't have to worry about it on Christmas Eve). The kids each take turns with me rolling out the dough and using the cookies cutters. Then they each get a plate of cookies to decorate. I decorate the rest to have around over Christmas and to leave for Santa. This year, Ben's cousin and her kids came over and decorated with us (the recipe makes a ton of cookies!). I didn't eat any cookies this year, but they turned out cute and based off how quickly they disappeared, they turned out yummy.
December 24th
Christmas Eve Traditions
On Christmas Eve, we always open our book in the evening (usually the kids get to open it in the morning). We spend the morning relaxing and having a bigger breakfast (that we can have as leftovers on Christmas). This year, Ben's cousin messaged him about pickleball, so he went and did that with the girls while I stayed home during Oliver's nap. It was actually really nice having the house to myself while I cleaned up and got things all ready for Christmas. Then we went over and had soup for dinner with Ben's family and his aunt's family. After soup, we do the nativity and this year, Hannah played a beautiful Christmas rendition on the violin for everyone.
Then it's time to head home to get ready for Santa. We open one present each first, a new blanket. After getting on pajamas, the kids open The Night Before Christmas, and we read it together and sing Silent Night. Then we lay out stockings, put out cookies, milk, and carrots, and go up to bed.
We had a wonderful time experiencing all our traditions together leading up to Christmas and just enjoying the season together!
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