Skip to Content

Fun Christmas Eve Traditions to Start with Your Kids

Christmas Eve is usually the lull before the storm, isn’t it? All that hard work and preparation comes to a head as you and your family get ready to go to bed to wake up to the excitement of Christmas morning. Sometimes the night before Christmas can be somewhat boring or forgotten about.

Fun Christmas Eve Traditions for Kids

If you want to start some fun Christmas Eve traditions that the entire family will love, check these out:

Bake-a-Thon

Christmas Eve traditions
Via preimers on Pixabay
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, see our disclosure.

Use the Christmas Eve day or evening to do all of your holiday baking. If you have other events that you need to make cookies or pies for, then simply save Christmas Eve for one special kind of treat to make with your entire family.

Some fun holiday themed treats could be peppermint chocolate chip cookies, old-fashioned ginger bread men or a Christmas themed cake. Plus, having fresh baked goods will be great for when Santa arrives that night!

Pre-Christmas Secret Santa Gift Exchange

Christmas Eve traditions
Via congerdesign on Pixabay

About a month or a few weeks before Christmas Eve, put some names in a hat and have each family member pick a name. Whoever they pick is the person that they have to buy a secret Santa gift for. One parent can be “in the know” as to who has who to buy for so that they can help the kids either make or buy their secret Santa present.

On Christmas Eve, exchange your secret Santa gifts. This is a fun way to allow each family member pick out something special for another one. You can even open this up to grandparents and extended family if you want to invite them over for Christmas Eve celebrations!

Family Fun Night

Christmas Eve traditions
Via emz993 on Pixabay

Throughout the year, many families will take the time to get together to spend much appreciated time with one another. Why not make Christmas Eve such an occasion? Create a tradition of hosting a family board game night or potluck dinner on Christmas Eve.

If you want to make it even more fun, ask guests to wear their favorite Christmas jammies or ugly sweaters! Other ideas include having a showing of one of your favorite Christmas movies, going Christmas caroling and having hot chocolate afterwards or going sledding. Get creative with this!

Give Back

Via congerdesign on Pixabay

Christmas Eve is the perfect time to give back to your community. Round the entire family up and head on down to your local church or community soup kitchen or homeless shelter and offer a helping hand for a few hours. You can also contact local human services agencies and ask for any needed items for community members in need.

For example, maybe you could get in touch with your county’s Child Protective Agency and see if any of the children currently in state care want anything special for Christmas that their foster families aren’t able to get for them? Pick up the item and deliver it to the agency to give to the child. This will be very unique to the area you live in! Think ahead about the where you live and where you could help out most leading up to Christmas.

Fun Christmas Eve Traditions to Start With Your Kids

Share and join us on social media!