Growing up, my family celebrated Advent and Christmas. Every year, my mom would get one of those chocolate Advent calendars from the grocery store for us to open each day leading up to Christmas. My sisters and I would take turns getting the coveted piece of chocolate for the day. My family’s traditions look a little different than when I was growing up, but I still enjoy the anticipation and excitement of the holiday season. It’s something I wanted to share with my own kids now that I’m the mom, but to do it in a way that made sense for our family. As an interfaith family with two parents who work outside the home, we need countdown activities and traditions that honor all the holidays we celebrate this time of year and also require little effort but yield maximum magic.
To accomplish this, I use a neutral countdown calendar with pockets for each day of December. I slip in pieces of paper with the date and write an activity for each day. While that might not sound “low effort,” we’ve come up with mostly experiences that we already do as a way to limit more presents and focus on time together and special traditions. Here are some categories of experiences I pull from every year for our calendar.
Easy Weekday Wins
While school is still in session, the weekdays during December are not the time for elaborate crafts or special outings. These are the days I pull from this list:
- Pick a wrapped book: I wrap up holiday books we already own in wrapping paper and have my kids open one to read that night.
- Pajama dance party: We do this for Hanukkah and Christmas but basically we wear our holiday pajamas and dance it out to some holiday music!
- Candy cane or piece of gelt: A small, seasonal treat that requires no scheduling or planning!
Acts of Service
At this time of year especially, our family likes to contribute to food and toy drives and think of ways we can give to others. I like to add a few of these throughout the month!
- Wrap a gift: Have your child help in wrapping a gift for a toy drive or for a family member.
- Make a card: Make a card for a neighbor, teacher, or family member.
- Volunteer: Take a shift at a food pantry, ring the bell for the Salvation Army, or make something for a neighbor or community member who needs some extra care this season.
Holiday Outings
I always look at our calendar before I make the countdown activities to see where we already have special events planned. No need to overdo it–that’s your activity for the day! St. Louis Mom has already rounded up an amazing list of holiday events (some are free!). These are ones we often add to our countdown calendar.
- Meet Santa
- The Polar Express
- Saint Louis Ballet’s The Nutcracker
- Candy Cane Lane
- Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden
- Winter Celebrations at the Saint Louis Art Museum
Traditions at Home
There are holiday traditions we do at home every year as well that I schedule into our month. They might be making a certain food, doing a craft, or watching a certain movie. Parceling them out throughout the month helps me check the items off our list that I want to make sure we do while also knowing when to plan for them (i.e. when to get ingredients for cookies!)
- Bake Hanukkah and Christmas cookies
- Make hot chocolate
- Make paper snowflakes
- Make dotter Christmas trees and dreidels
- Play dreidel
- Make dried orange garlands
- Watch a holiday movie
I hope this gives you some ideas for your own family’s holiday season if you celebrate this time of year. After being the magic for several years now, I’ve learned that it’s never too late to start a tradition and that my kids often remember the simplest things the most. Happy holidays!
