Making the Most of the Christmas Season with Your Kids: Simple Ideas for a More Meaningful December

December with kids can feel a little bit magical—and a little bit overwhelming.

There are school concerts, holiday parties, shopping, decorating, baking, family gatherings, and approximately one million opportunities to say, “Hurry up, we’re going to be late!” It’s easy for the season to become a blur of activities.

But when we look back on Christmases with our kids, it’s often the simple traditions we remember most. Some of mine include: reading The Night Before Christmas together on Christmas Eve night, driving around to look at Christmas lights with hot chocolate, making pretzel rolo treats (such an easy one to do with young kids!), Christmas Eve candlelight service, and all walking downstairs together on Christmas morning (except for the time my son woke me up at 3 am to tell me Santa had come and he had seen his presents under the tree!) 

For elementary-aged kids especially, December is a wonderful opportunity to slow down, create traditions, and give them a chance to participate in the season—not just receive presents.

Here are a few simple ideas for making the most of the Christmas season with your kids.

Create a Daily Christmas Countdown

Kids LOVE counting down to Christmas. Instead of making every day about a piece of candy or a tiny toy, consider creating a countdown that gives them something to do, think about, or remember each day.

That’s exactly what inspired my Christmas Coloring Countdown & Keepsake Journal.

It combines a Christmas countdown, coloring activity, and keepsake journal into one fun tradition that kids can enjoy throughout December.

From December 1 through Christmas Day, your child gets a new page to color and complete. Along the way, the pages encourage them to think about the season, share their thoughts, and record some of their favorite Christmas memories.

And because the journal becomes a keepsake, you're not just creating a fun December activity—you’re creating something you can look back on years from now.

Make It Personal

One of my favorite parts of this Christmas countdown is that your child's name can be printed right on the cover.

You can also choose between a boy or girl character, which appears throughout the journal.

That little bit of personalization makes it feel like it was created especially for your child—and makes the finished book something they may want to hang onto long after Christmas is over.

The printed version comes as individual 5x7 cards on white cardstock in a plastic album, ready for your child to color and fill with their own personality. Personalization is included.

Get the Personalized Printed Christmas Countdown & Keepsake Journal

Prefer to print it at home? There's also an instant PDF version, which allows you to personalize and print as many names as you need—great if you have multiple kids or want to give one to a friend or cousin.

Get the Printable Christmas Countdown PDF

Start a Christmas Memory Journal

You don't need a fancy journal to get kids writing about Christmas.

A few minutes here and there can be enough. Ask questions like:

• What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
• What are you most excited about this Christmas?
• What is something you're thankful for?
• What is your favorite Christmas memory?
• Who is someone you'd like to do something kind for?
• What is your favorite Christmas food?
• What makes your family special?
• What was the funniest thing that happened this Christmas?

For younger elementary kids, drawing a picture and adding a sentence or two is plenty. Older kids may enjoy writing a little more.

The goal isn't perfect handwriting or a beautifully written essay. It's giving your child a chance to stop and think about what they are experiencing.

And years from now, those little observations can be surprisingly precious.

Have a Christmas Reading Tradition

Pick a favorite Christmas book and read it together every year.

Or wrap up a collection of Christmas books and let your child choose one each night. You don't even need 24 new books—use books you already own, borrow some from the library, or repeat favorites from previous years.

Make it extra cozy with blankets, Christmas lights, hot chocolate, or pajamas.

Have a Christmas Lights Night

This one is simple, inexpensive, and easy to repeat every year.

Put everyone in pajamas, grab some hot chocolate, and drive around looking at Christmas lights.

You could even make it a tradition where everyone chooses their favorite house or neighborhood display.

The best part? You don't have to organize much. You're simply spending time together.

Bake Something Together

Choose one recipe that becomes your family's Christmas recipe. For us, it was actually just melting Rolos onto Pretzels with a pecan or M&M on top. My kids loved helping make them and it became a requirement every year! Those are the things they'll remember.

Add a Little Kindness to the Countdown

December is also a great time to help kids look beyond themselves.

Choose a few small acts of kindness that your family can do together:

• Leave a treat for the mail carrier.
• Make Christmas cards for a nursing home.
• Donate gently used toys.
• Let your child choose a few items from a food drive list.
• Make cookies for a neighbor.
• Leave a surprise note for someone.
• Pay for someone's coffee or hot chocolate.
• Help someone who could use an extra hand.

Acts of kindness don't have to be elaborate or expensive. The point is helping kids experience the joy of doing something for someone else. Meaningful holiday traditions often work best when they give children a tangible way to participate and contribute.

Don't Try to Do Everything

This might be the most important suggestion of all. There are so many wonderful Christmas ideas online that it's easy to feel like you're falling behind if your family isn't making homemade ornaments, baking twelve kinds of cookies, visiting Santa, volunteering, doing an advent calendar, seeing The Nutcracker, driving through three neighborhoods of Christmas lights, and recreating a picture-perfect gingerbread house.

You don't have to do it all!

Pick a few things your family genuinely enjoys and make those your traditions. A simple tradition repeated year after year can become much more meaningful than an elaborate activity you only manage to do once.

Make the Countdown About More Than Christmas Day

Christmas morning is exciting, but it's only one day.

The weeks leading up to it are an opportunity to create little moments your kids can look forward to every day.

A coloring page.

A journal question.

A favorite book.

A cup of cocoa.

A family walk.

A silly tradition.

A kind act.

A conversation at the dinner table.

Those little moments add up.

And that's what I wanted the Christmas Coloring Countdown & Keepsake Journal to encourage: not just counting down the days until Christmas, but actually enjoying them.

Shop the Personalized Printed Version →

Shop the Printable PDF Version →

Here's to a December filled with a little less rushing, a little more togetherness, and plenty of memories your kids will carry with them.