12 Days of Christmas Ideas for Families: Fun Traditions
The Christmas season always seems to fly by. One minute you’re putting up the Christmas tree, and the next you’re cleaning up wrapping paper on Christmas morning and wondering how Christmas Day arrived so quickly.
That is exactly why I love the idea of creating intentional little traditions throughout December.
These 12 Days of Christmas ideas for families are all about slowing down, spending quality time together, and making memories your kids will actually remember. You don’t need elaborate presents or an expensive activity every night. Sometimes a Christmas movie, a cup of hot chocolate, or driving around looking at Christmas lights is enough.
Whether you have younger kids, older kids, or a combination of both, you can adjust these ideas to work for your whole family.
And who knows? You may find a new family tradition you want to repeat next year!
If you’re looking for even more ways to keep the kids busy during the holidays, grab my Free Printable Christmas Activity Book for an easy activity to have ready during Christmas break.
Updated: 09/26/2026
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What Are the 12 Days of Christmas?
You have probably heard the famous Twelve Days of Christmas song with its turtle doves, French hens, ladies dancing, and all of those golden rings.
Traditionally, however, the Twelve Days of Christmas actually begin on Christmas Day and continue into early January.
For this family Christmas tradition, we’re having a little more fun with the concept.
Instead of worrying about following the traditional dates, choose 12 days during December and plan one simple Christmas activity for each day. You could start on December 1st, count down the 12 days before Christmas Eve, or simply choose the days that work best for your family.
The goal isn’t to make December busier.
It’s to create little moments when everyone can put down their phones, forget about the never-ending Christmas to-do list, and enjoy being together.
How to Start Your Own 12 Days of Christmas Family Tradition
There really aren’t any rules.
Write each activity on a small piece of paper and place it inside envelopes, numbered bags, or even your family’s Advent calendar. Each day, let one family member reveal what you’ll be doing.
You can also mix activities with small gifts or a special treat.
For example, movie night could come with popcorn. A Christmas craft night could include new art supplies. A family game night could come with a new deck of playing cards or one of your favorite board games. Ticket to Ride and Apples to Apples are currently our favorite games.
Keep it simple.
The great thing about this tradition is that you can make it as inexpensive or elaborate as you’d like.
Here are 12 ideas to get you started.
The 12 Days at a Glance: Decorate the Christmas tree, have a Christmas movie night, make a hot chocolate bar, read a Christmas story, look at Christmas lights, have a family game night, bake Christmas treats, make Christmas crafts, sing Christmas carols, complete a kindness challenge, have a family Christmas party, and finish with a special family Christmas night.
Day 1: Decorate the Christmas Tree Together
Start your celebration with one of the most classic holiday traditions: decorating the Christmas tree.
Turn on your favorite Christmas music, make something warm to drink, and let everyone help.
If you have little kids, don’t worry about creating a perfectly styled Christmas tree. Let them hang ornaments wherever they want. Years from now, those imperfect little clusters of ornaments will probably be one of the things you miss most. For my 1-year-old, I got these unbreakable Christmas ornaments so he can participate in the fun.
You could even make a new ornament together every year.
Use salt dough, popsicle sticks, ribbons, photographs, or even pine cones you collect outside.
Add the year to the back, and you’ll slowly create a collection of family ornaments filled with memories.
And if your Elf happens to arrive around the same time, make the night even more exciting with one of these 100 Elf on the Shelf Ideas. I included plenty of easy and last-minute ideas for those nights when you suddenly remember the Elf still needs to move!
Day 2: Have a Christmas Movie Night
Pile onto the couch, grab a cozy blanket, make popcorn, and watch a favorite holiday movie together.
There are so many classics to choose from.
Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas with younger children, introduce older kids to It’s a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, or simply let the kids vote on their favorite Christmas show.
You could even turn December into a mini family film festival.
If your children are old enough, let a different person choose the movie each time. It’s a fun way to introduce your kids to movies you loved growing up.
Day 3: Have a Christmas Hot Chocolate Bar
A hot chocolate bar is ridiculously easy to put together, but kids think it’s the greatest thing ever.
Make a big batch of hot chocolate and set out toppings like:
-
Mini marshmallows
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Whipped cream
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Crushed candy canes
-
Chocolate chips
-
Caramel sauce
-
Sprinkles
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Cinnamon
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Cookies
You could even offer a few different hot chocolate flavors.
Let everyone create their own combination and give their drink a funny Christmas name.
Pair it with your Christmas movie night or drink it while decorating the tree.
Day 4: Read a Christmas Story Together
Choose one night to slow everything down and read a Christmas story together.
Pull out your favorite Christmas books, turn on the tree lights, and pile onto the couch.
For Christian families, this is also a beautiful opportunity to read the Nativity story and talk about the wise men, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, and the birth of Jesus.
You can also pair your Bible reading with my Bible Coloring Pages for Kids, which include Christmas and Nativity scenes kids can color while you talk about the Christmas story.
Older children may enjoy reading The Gift of the Magi, while younger children might prefer a picture book about Santa Claus or another favorite Christmas character.
You don’t need to finish an entire good book in one night either. Read a chapter each evening throughout the Christmas season.
Day 5: Go Look at Christmas Lights
This might be one of my favorite Christmas traditions because it requires almost no planning.
Have everyone put on pajamas, fill travel mugs with hot chocolate, turn up the Christmas songs, and drive or walk around looking at Christmas lights.
Make it even more exciting by creating a Christmas light scavenger hunt.
See who can spot things like:
- Santa Claus
- A snowman
- Candy canes
- A reindeer
- A Nativity scene
- A giant Christmas tree
- The Grinch
It’s completely free and can be so much fun.
When you get home, keep the Christmas fun going with one of these 200 Screen-Free Activities for Kids for even simpler ways to spend time together.
Day 6: Have a Family Game Night
Turn off the TV and pull out the board games.
Let everyone choose one game and spend the evening playing together.
For families with different ages, choose simple games that younger kids can play too. If your children are older, introduce strategy games or card games.
You can even have a tiny prize for the winner, maybe a gift card, Christmas candy, or the right to choose tomorrow’s activity.
Just remember: if your family is anything like mine, you may need a little good luck getting through game night without someone arguing about the rules!
Day 7: Bake Christmas Treats
Christmas baking deserves its own day.
Choose one or two sweet treats to make together rather than trying to bake 14 different kinds of cookies in one afternoon.
Sugar cookies are always a great option because kids can help roll the dough, cut the shapes, and decorate them.
Put on Christmas music while you bake and don’t worry about the mess.
You can even package some of your treats and deliver them to a neighbor, teacher, friend, or family member.
It’s a simple, fun idea that combines family time with doing something kind for someone else.
Day 8: Have a Christmas Craft Night
Set out construction paper, glue, scissors, markers, pom-poms, and whatever art supplies you already have.
Then let everyone create.
You can make:
- Paper snowflakes
- Christmas cards
- Homemade ornaments
- Paper chains
- Pine cone Christmas trees
- Santa crafts
- Nativity crafts
- Christmas bookmarks
If you’re doing this with younger children, keep it simple. The point isn’t to create Pinterest-perfect crafts.
For another easy option for little kids, try one of these Santa Claus Activities for Toddlers. They’re perfect if your younger kids aren’t quite ready for complicated Christmas crafts.
The point is spending time together.
And those crooked homemade ornaments from your five-year-old or little girl will probably mean more to you years from now than anything you could buy at the store.
Day 9: Have a Christmas Carol Night
You don’t need to go door-to-door singing unless your family wants to!
Put on your favorite Christmas carol playlist and have a family sing-along at home.
Let everyone choose a favorite.
You can sing classic Christmas songs, silly songs the kids love, or religious Christmas hymns.
If someone in your family plays an instrument, even better.
Another fun way to do this is Christmas karaoke. You may discover a hidden talent in the family, or at least get some hilarious videos to look back on next year.
Day 10: Do a Christmas Kindness Challenge
Christmas can easily become centered around what everyone wants to receive.
One fun way to balance all that Christmas wishing is to let the kids write their wishes down ahead of time using one of my Free Letters to Santa Templates.
Use one of your 12 days to focus on giving instead.
As a family, choose one act of kindness.
You might:
- Donate toys your children have outgrown
- Buy gifts for a giving tree
- Bring cookies to a neighbor
- Write Christmas cards for nursing home residents
- Leave a generous tip
- Donate food to a local pantry
- Help another family
- Give a small gift card to someone who could use it
It doesn’t have to be a great gift or cost a lot of money.
Teaching children to notice other people is one of the best gifts we can give them during the holidays.
Day 11: Have a Family Christmas Party
You don’t need guests to have a Christmas party.
Have one with your own family!
Wear Christmas pajamas, play music, eat appetizers, play games, and make fun drinks for the kids.
You can incorporate some 12 Days of Christmas party ideas by using themes from the famous song.
Maybe serve pear slices for the partridge in a pear tree, hide golden objects around the house for a scavenger hunt, or see who can create the funniest drawing of French hens and turtle doves.
You could even exchange inexpensive 12 Days of Christmas gift ideas, with each person choosing a silly or meaningful fun gift for someone else.
Don’t overthink it.
The goal is simply to celebrate.
Day 12: Have a Special Family Christmas Night
Finish your 12 days with something that feels special to your family.
Order your favorite dinner.
Turn off the overhead lights and sit around the glowing Christmas tree.
Make hot chocolate.
Read the Christmas story.
Watch one final Christmas movie.
Talk about everyone’s favorite memory from the past year.
You could even ask each family member what they’re looking forward to in the New Year.
I also have a Free New Year’s Resolution Printable for Kids if you want to turn this into a simple family activity and let everyone write down something they’re excited to work toward next year.
If you celebrate the 12 days immediately before Christmas, this can become your Christmas Eve tradition before the big day.
The kids will already be excited about Christmas morning, so ending your family countdown with a quieter evening together can be a beautiful way to soak up those final moments.
More 12 Days of Christmas Gift Ideas
You definitely don’t need to give your kids something every day.
But if you’d like to occasionally pair an activity with a small gift, keep it connected to what you’re doing.
For movie night, give them popcorn or a new cozy blanket.
For game night, surprise the family with a new board game.
For craft night, give the kids some new art supplies.
For story night, wrap up a new Christmas book.
For baking night, give each child their own Christmas cookie cutter.
Other inexpensive ideas include Christmas socks, candy canes, playing cards, stickers, ornaments, hot chocolate packets, coloring supplies, and other small gifts.
Not sure what your kids actually want this year? Have them fill out my Free Dear Santa Wish List Printable before you start your Christmas shopping.
If you have older kids, even a $5 coffee shop or ice cream gift card can be a fun surprise.
Make It Work for Your Family
Please don’t look at this list and think you now have 12 more things you need to squeeze into December.
You don’t.
That’s the opposite of what this tradition should be.
Skip ideas your family doesn’t enjoy. Combine several activities into one night. Repeat your favorites from last year. Change the activities as your children get older.
Maybe your young daughter loves crafts right now, but a few years from now she’d rather have Christmas movie nights. Maybe your older kids would prefer restaurant date nights with Mom or Dad or a competitive family game night.
Let the tradition grow with your family.
The first day of Christmas doesn’t need to look exactly the same every year, and neither does the 12th day.
Creating traditions isn’t about following someone else’s perfect December schedule.
It’s about finding little things your own family looks forward to doing together.
Start a New Family Tradition This Christmas
There are so many things competing for our attention during Christmas time.
School events, shopping, parties, presents, decorating, baking, the end of the school semester, and everything else that somehow needs to happen before December 25.
That’s why intentionally setting aside family time can be such a great way to actually enjoy the season instead of rushing through it.
Your kids probably won’t remember every present they opened.
But they may remember decorating cookies at the kitchen table, singing Christmas songs terribly in the car, drinking hot chocolate while looking at lights, or laughing until their stomachs hurt during family game night.
Those are the moments that make a wonderful holiday season.
Pick your favorite ideas, write them on slips of paper, add them to your Advent calendar, and start whenever it works for you.
And if you need an easy activity for those slower days at home, don’t forget to download my Free Printable Christmas Activity Book.
You don’t have to create a perfect Christmas.
Just create a little more time together.
And that might be the best Christmas tradition of all.
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