10 Easy and Inexpensive Christmas Traditions to Adopt

My kids each asked for one thing for Christmas this year. Both items can easily be purchased for less than $20. When I prod them to come up with more gift ideas they’re stumped. “Surprise me” they say.

While thinking of Christmas we parents can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get amazing gifts for our kids. But if your kids are anything like mine it’s not the gifts they love – it’s the traditions.

This year why not take the focus off of expensive gift giving and instead start some new easy and inexpensive Christmas traditions that your kids will remember for years?

# 1 – Elf of on the Shelf

Yep, I already went there. My kids are smitten with the Elf on the Shelf from the day after Thanksgiving all the way through Christmas. Each morning when they wake up the first thing they do is race to see who can find her first.

If you have younger kids (probably around ages 3-9) this is one tradition you won’t want to skip out on. The elf provides that Christmas magic for kids and is fun for the whole family.

# 2 – Sitting On Santa’s Lap

Some Christmas traditions aren’t as fun for us adults as they are for our kids. However, if the one thing your child is looking forward to this holiday season is sitting on Santa’s lap, you need to go do it.

Which means I need to go do it too………..

# 3 – PNP Videos

My kid’s second favorite fun thing to do after the Elf on the Shelf is getting videos from the Portable North Pole.

This site has a high quality free video and free phone call that you can customize specifically for your child. My girls love these videos so very much that I splurged and bought the premium package of videos yesterday. At $12.99 it’s been completely worth it. I love watching their eyes light up when Santa says their names.

# 4 – A Phone Call to Santa

Yep, you can call Santa (or allow your kids to…)

There are a few Santa’s phone numbers floating around. Here’s the one I have saved: (951) 262-3062. When you dial this number you’ll get a greeting from Santa and can leave your Christmas wish list for him.

# 5- Making Homemade Christmas Cards

What’s more fun than going to the dollar store buying some inexpensive art supplies and making homemade cards? NOTHING. My kids love to do this.

They make cards for everyone and the end product is so much better than store bought cards. (Or at least I think so.)

# 6 – Baking Christmas Cookies

Another tradition my daughters and I have is to bake huge batches of cookies for each holiday. That means just a few days a year I forget about the messes and let them go to town with icing and sprinkles. After the cookies are done we package them up in dollar tree containers and deliver them to my Dad and brothers.

They absolutely love giving their colorful cookies to the men in my family.

# 7 – Watch Christmas Movies

Another fun thing to do, regardless of the age of your children, is to watch Christmas movies. Some of my kid’s favorites are The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Santa Claus.

I’m also a sucker for Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

# 8 – Look at Christmas Lights

A friend of mine from High School goes all out on his Christmas lights every year. He has his lights (which are everywhere) programmed to “dance” to the music on a local radio station. He then invites people to park in his driveway, turn on the radio station, and watch his lights.

The whole family loves watching this.

# 9 – Making Operation Christmas Child Boxes

I completely missed out on OCC this year and I regret it. Making Operation Christmas Child boxes is a great way to help someone out who is in great need. My kids and I had a lot of fun doing this last year and it was a great learning experience for them.

# 10 – Making Homemade Garland/Christmas Décor

As a child I remember making all kinds of homemade Christmas décor with my mom. We would string garland out of popcorn and thread, make construction paper garland, and even paper mache ornaments.

What kind of Christmas traditions do you and your family partake in?