20+ Holiday Traditions That Add Meaning, Not Clutter
November 10, 2024
Keep holiday about traditions and experiences, not things. In the home I grew up in, we are a little tradition obsessed. I know each family has its own list of traditions; some are long, detail-oriented and time consuming, while some are simple, short and sweet. Because I often get asked about some of the things I grew up with and have implemented in my own little family to celebrate, I am sharing a list of some of the things we do in our home, combined with traditions my Instagram followers have shared with me too. This compiled list include traditions of different faiths and backgrounds, and I hope this inspires you to make your holiday season special!
But first, don't miss out on signing up for our free Holiday Shopping Tracker to help you keep track of all the gift planning and shopping.
1. Wrap Christmas books, then unwrap a few each night in December.
I wrap all our Christmas books in November, and we love the experience of rediscovering our favorite Christmas books. It doesn’t require buying anything new and adds to the holiday magic on the daily.
2. Thanksgiving Potluck
My siblings come to us with their families for Thanksgiving dinner. Since we're now a large family, we do it potluck style, and set up a buffet for everyone to self-serve. This greatly reduces the cost, the workload and the stress of hosting. And it guarantees that there's something for everyone to eat and enjoy
3. Get matching Chanukkah PJs.
We get matching Chanukkah PJ's each year, and we wear them for taking family photos to create holiday cards with (in advance). We also all get to wear them during Chanukkah week! It adds a-lot to the festivities, and I love seeing each of my kids go up in PJ sizes every year, makes my mamma heart melt.
4. Hot Cocoa Party
We make a whole big deal about having hot cocoa with marshmallows, hot cocoa bombs, or other variations on random nights during the holiday season. It's the randomness part that get the kids so hyped up and excited!
5. Decorate gingerbread houses.
We always do a family party where the kids get to assemble and decorate gingerbread houses. The older ones are competitive about it, and try to add cool elements and out-do each other. For the most part, it's all in good spirits.
PS: Costco sells pre-assembled kits!
6. Holiday Traditional Foods
Nothing does it for me more than making the holiday traditional foods! Latkes on Hanukkah, Turkey and cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving, and so on. The smells wafting through my home makes all the hard work worth it!
7. Draidel with a Yummy Twist!
Each night of Chanuka my husband sits with the kids and plays dreidel. We use chocolate coins (to minimize germs with the little ones), and everyone peels and eats their chocolate coins at the end. No losers, no tantrums.
8. Early Ball Drop
My kids always ask to stay up to "watch the ball drop", but Lord knows, I cannot handle having my rugrats up so late and cranky the next day. Hubby and I have started turning the clock ahead and we're all watching the ball drop on TV (thank you YouTube!). Party hats, party horns and balloons, the whole shibang. Happy rugrats go to sleep at 8:00 as usual, ecstatic, and we have a quiet house to ourselves.
9. Love from Afar
Living far from my family, so making family recipes for the holidays always brings me comfort
10. Host a cookie exchange.
I have hosted my cookie exchange for over 10 years now, and it is still my favorite Christmas tradition. I invite neighborhood friends, and everyone brings a few dozen cookies. We sample small pieces of the cookies and eat appetizers. We vote on the most creative, most beautiful, most delicious, and best all-around. Each person leaves with an assortment of cookies and I provide the to-go boxes, and it is a super fun night. And, if you are obsessed with cookies (like I am) this is a great way to taste a lot of different and delicious treats without the work of preparing them all.
11. See some Christmas lights.
Whether it is at Christmas in Color or other light displays around town, we set aside one night in December to go see a special light display.
12. Make a Christmas craft.
We love crafting and always try to make something each season. Whether it is snow globes, stockings, ornaments, or a simple paint project, we have fun creating together during the holidays.
13. Write a letter to Santa.
In recent years, my kids leave their letters to Santa with the elf. It’s a tradition that most people share, but one I love and have my kids do early.
14. See Santa Claus.
There are many ways to do this, and I’m grateful we have always been able to make this happen without paying for it. My father would dress up as Santa each year and not-s0-discreetly come in and put the gifts under the tree. My kids would always peek from upstairs, muffle their giggles when they "caught him" and pretend they never saw anything.
15. Volunteer in the community's Soup Kitchen
We volunteer as a family at the local soup kitchen on Thanksgiving eve and at least once more during the holiday season. It's important to me that they learn about being happy with all the wonderful things they have in life that are usually taken for granted, and learning to be of service to the greater community. You need to give, not just get in life.
16. Table Runners and Candlelit
Every year we have a new color theme for our table runners, candles and napkins for Thanksgiving dinner. We exchange them between my siblings and I, so every year is special without purchasing a-lot and building up a big pile that's hardly used.
17. Sharing Gratitude
We all share gratitude at Thanksgiving dinner. But we all share a gratitude on the topics of family, friends, community and health. Gives everyone time to contemplate all many things they are lucky to have in life.
18. Creating Christmas Ornaments
Everyone makes a new one each year, and we hang them on the tree. At the end of the season, we add them to their individual bins. It's so wonderful see their creativity develop and their artistic skills honed as they grow and mature.
19. Go to a holiday concert or Christmas play.
This Christmas tradition changes for us every year, but seeing the Nutcracker, a Christmas Carol, going to the symphony, or supporting a friend in a play, is one of my favorite things to do during the season.
20. Snuggles, Snacks and Savor moments
We snuggle with snacks and hot drinks on the couch together and look back on photos and videos from the past year and reminisce about the best moments.
21. Singing Traditional Songs
We've been blessed with beautiful voices. Watching my kids sing Chanukkah songs around the Menorah, and continue to sing as we hang around the couch brings me to tears.
22. Menorah Decorating
Aside from the menorahs that my kids actually light, I also put out on display the menorahs they decorated in previous years.
Have you adopted any of these traditions? I love them for the emphasis that they put on togetherness during the holidays and not on things. Let me know which traditions you end up trying, I'd love to hear from you in the comments section, via email or Instagram messenger!
And if you're looking for a truly unique gift, why not give the gift of stress-free holiday organizing? It’s a thoughtful and timeless gesture anyone would appreciate!
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Shiffy is the founder of ClearSpace by Shiffy LLC, a Professional Home Organizing Business in South Florida, servicing Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. She loves creating systems out of chaos and is known for her attention to detail, and ensuring that each project is customized and streamlined to fit the customer's lifestyle. Her projects are easy to maintain long term, bringing function to any space. She shares her tips and tricks on Instagram @clearspacebyshiffy
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