The Best Ways to Create Memorable Family Traditions at Christmas Time 🎄

What's the true meaning of Christmas?

Every family has their unique traditions and memories that make Christmas and the festive season such a special time of the year. So we asked you to tell us what your family's favourite Christmas traditions are and why.

If you're looking for ideas to make your Christmas memorable this year, you've come to the right place.

Family Time and Fun

Christmas at the beach. There's nothing better than hanging out all together enjoying the water and sunshine ☀🌊
Our family tradition is going camping
We love watching a Christmas movie as a family on Christmas Eve 🎅🎬
We love to watch every Christmas movie from the beginning of December to Christmas
Blasting Christmas tunes in the car for the whole month of December is absolutely acceptable in our family 🎶🎵
My tradition with my 3yr old daughter is to make gingerbread men together & let her ice/decorate gritting my teeth! We read the gingerbread story as well. This year I'll get my two year old son to help too.. Countdown to bedtime then it's eggnog cocktails & badly decorated gingerbread for us parents 🍸🍸🍸
Not feeling guilty about putting the kids in front of the TV if they're watching Christmas specials 📺

Every year we take a family photo on Christmas day and then print it out during the year to become a bauble 🎄 each Christmas we get to look over the photo baubles showing how much our family has changed or what happy face someone had when they opened up a present!

We always used to go down to the tennis courts after lunch and have a hit 🎾 all the cousins - great fun whilst the parents cleaned up and had some quiet time!
CBD Xmas day every year, love watch the kids grow and enjoy what magic the city offers
We love gifting matching pajamas on Christmas Eve 👯‍♂️ It makes for cute tradition and adorable family photos 📷
Reading Xmas books in bed and eating chocolate 📚🍫
Watching Christmas movies on Christmas Eve with a hot choccie 🎬☕
Walking around to see all the houses decked out in Christmas lights! I love this because there are always so many people out and about and it has such a community vibe
Our Xmas tradition is we watch the first three Home Alone movies each weekend in the lead up to Xmas, we love hearing the kids cracking up 😂
My family Christmas tradition is getting together and sharing a meal and a good time!!
When growing up we will always have a family pic with the church Christmas tree
My favourite tradition would be looking at the lights on Christmas Eve

"Every Christmas Eve we make a wish under the first star we see that night ✨ and then cuddle up as a family and watch The Santa Claus movie with gingerbread men cookies and hot chocolates 🍪☕ "

Building a snowman when we are in Europe
Going to the local Christmas Carols
Growing up every Christmas we would get in our PJ's, pile in the car and go look at Christmas lights and we loved it so now that I have 3 kids of my own we do the same thing and they love it too!
Just relaxing with the Whanau watching the Tamariki play
Favourite tradition is gathering together as a big family and seeing all the kids
Gathering with extended family
Candlelight and Carols 🕯🎵 it's just such a significantly special way to celebrate the occasion and creates wonderful family memories
Our favourite tradition is Chanumas - combining Christmas and Chanukah into one beautiful big family celebration
The gingerbread house - ours is a huge mess every year with everyone helping and adding their own style 🏠 It's never gram worthy but so so much fun!

"Whanau get togethers at the beach with good kai, sports, swimming and the Santa game 🥗🏈🏊‍♂️🎅"

Singing Christmas carols brings us all together
Christmas morning breakfast with the Family as I love seeing all the kids together with their cousins
Christmas Eve box with craft hot chocolate, matching pyjamas, board game and a new Christmas movie to watch together. Family time means everything 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
We love to wear an ugly shirt or dress for a laugh 😂
Christmas light looking on Christmas Eve and all the Christmas baking we do together as a family 🧁
Although I don't celebrate Christmas, we use this time to FINALLY get together as a family. It's very hard to get everyone in one place. So believe it or not the tradition of just getting together is my absolutely favourite! Plus we don't miss out on the feasts
My fave family tradition is boxing day golf sessions 🏌️‍♀️🏌️‍♂️
Family time in the city visiting all things Christmas
Beach, swim and afternoon naps
Camp 🏕 Fish 🎣 repeat. Family Christmas party at the beach

Food, Food and All Things Food

My favourite tradition is helping Mum make the trifle because we like baking together
Family BBQ 🍖🥓🧆
Family together for dinner with cuisines around the world especially dumplings for the kids
Chocolate for breakfast is a fave Christmas tradition 🍫
We love gathering for Xmas lunch
Making brunch together because it's fun, messy and full of laughter
Eating is the tradition I like the best because it's the best food of the year!

"Chocolate for breaky 🍫 and prawns for lunch 🍤 all about the food!"

Xmas pancakes for breakfast with ice cream and fruit 🍦🍎 Family games outside on Christmas day
I love Christmas baking with the kids to gift to others 🎁
A little champagne breakfast really puts you in the mood for a lovely Christmas day with family and friends
Eating Christmas cake for breakfast and lunch
Egg nog lattes and crapes with bacon on Christmas morning. I mean do I really need to explain why...
Xmas pudding with brandy sauce because the recipe has been handed down generations and it is still the best part of Xmas
Getting together with the whanau and sharing kai because it's delicious and awesome seeing the kid gang all together

"Wine, beer, cheese, chocolate and more Wine 🍷"

We have a Aussie BBQ Christmas Eve with all the families living in our court, everyone enjoys themselves. It's quite a beautiful night before Xmas day
Christmas pancake breakfast and Santa sacks for everyone including the adults
Gathering with extended family and eating a feast
Roast chicken and veggies on the menu every year, has been that way for a long time! Mmm chicken... also baking a gingerbread Christmas train with the little one
Pigging out in good company
Eating too much Xmas pudding because it's so delicious

"We have a large wooden "SUPRISE" advent calendar. Each day is a note that gives an exciting activity... or surprise. (Bake Xmas cookies, watch a Xmas movie, build a gingerbread house, or a clue to where a box of chocolates could be) It's great fun and the kids LOVE it!"

Our tradition is gaining extra kgs from eating heaps of yummy food
Licorice all sorts for my Dad! Every year he eats the whole bag, feels sick and then sleeps the arvo away 😴
Every year I make my grandmas Christmas pudding and my Aunty in Melbourne does the same. Something we took over when grandma passed 8 years ago
Raspberries on Xmas eve like we used to with poppa
Christmas baking together as a family. I look forward to it the most every year!
We love preparing and cooking a Xmas feast together and enjoy the company and laughter
A beach BBQ with all the family 🏖🍖🥓

"We eat traditional Polish dumplings on Christmas eve but just for fun we always put an almond in one of them who ever finds it will have a lucky year starting with doing dishwashing after Christmas Eve dinner! I love it as everyone gets so excited and tries to find it first!"

Having a Baileys hot chocolate and watching Love Actually ☕
Chinese food every Christmas Eve and the reading of the night before Christmas a tradition started by my mum which I proudly continue now that she calls heaven home
Ham and eggs for breakfast with a glass of Champagne 🍾
Our extended family organises a family Christmas Pavlova making contest every year where we get to unleash our inner competitiveness! As a kid it was really funny watching the adults frantically whisking and folding huffing and puffing just to get the perfect fluffiness.
Definitely Boxing Day left over sandwiches 🥪
Eating Ferrero Rochers because it's Christmas!
Our tradition is making gingerbread men and a gingerbread house ready for chrissy day. It keeps us all occupied and the kids busy so they don't snoop for pressies 🎁🎁🎁

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree 🎄

We purchase some beautiful Christmas tree ornaments for one another. Every year the tree becomes even more beautiful and we can share who gave it to us and what year and so on. We love it rather than spending money on unwanted gifts
Decorating the Christmas tree as it's something we do as a family with the same music and looking at photos of who put the star up the previous year 🎄⭐
Making a special decoration for the tree 🎨
The highlight for us is putting up the star on Christmas Eve ✨
We write names on baubles for the new family and friends that have come into our lives. As we put all the baubles on the tree we remember the ones that have past
To have the Christmas tree up nice and early so that we can feel the joy of Christmas for longer 🎄
A new ornament each year for each of the children

"We have different amounts of money in sealed Christmas ornaments dangling off the Christmas tree. Every Christmas on Boxing Day each person in the family would take turns picking the ornament opening it up and collecting the money inside. It is purely based on luck and this saves headaches in shopping for Christmas presents! It is so much fun and we are always excited to see who gets the most each year!"

Kids pick out a new decoration each year! When they have left home or have a family they can take those decorations for their own tree
This year I'm going to start the family tradition- hide the pickle (hide a pickle Xmas decoration in the tree and everyone races to find it! 🥒
First of December we put up the Christmas tree and start our advent calendars!
Bottle of champagne while decoration the tree 🍾
Santa makes an early delivery with a letter and decorations for our boys to help trim the tree 🎅✉
Our favourite Christmas tradition is that the kids put fabric gift sacks under the tree for Santa to pop their gifts into. The kids love the idea of helping Santa as he must go through a lot of wrapping paper!
We pick out our favourite Polaroid photos from the family album and hang them on the tree as ornaments to remind us of all the wonderful memories from the year!

"Putting a present under the Kmart wish tree it teaches my kids the importance of giving and the happiness that sharing brings 🎁🎄"

The whole fam is choosing and putting up the Christmas tree - young and old love it
All contributing to putting up the Christmas tree at mums. Even though I no longer live there we always put it up together with my son 🥰
Our fave traditions are Christmas paper decorating 🎁 singing carols 🎶 and putting up the tree 🎄
Decorating the house with lights just for fun 💡
Our favourite tradition is making hand made Christmas cards together, lots of glitter and stamps and even more love 💕 It's something our friends and family love to receive and treasure as we write heart felt true words in them
Putting up the Christmas tree and cranking up Michael Buble
The Christmas tree farm adventure! Pick out a tree, face painting and a new ornament each year

Did Someone Say Prezzies? 🎁

Papi disappearing at the same time Father Christmas arrives at family lunch each year to hand out the presents with all the grandkid elves
Waiting for the whole family to be awake before opening the presents on Christmas morning
Gifting and Reading books leading up to Christmas together with the kids (book advent) 📚
The kids and I love wrapping presents and putting them under the wishing tree for the less fortunate kids
We do an elf box on Christmas Eve filled with pyjamas, a treat something to read. Pop corn for a Xmas movie and a small toy
Popping bon bons because of the dad jokes

"My favourite Christmas tradition is putting together a bag for Share The Dignity or Hope in a Suitcase with my daughters. It helps put things into perspective for them when they realise how important these bags are for someone in need"

Secret santa on Xmas day, so funny 🤫🎅
Our Christmas tradition would be dinner and exchanging gifts every time cause who doesn't like gifts 🎁
Opening one gift on Xmas Eve
We unwrap a book each night of December until Santa comes
We have started the want, read, need, wear tradition from this year
Our favourite tradition is waiting for everyone to be awake to open our Santa sacks and look at all the presents together. Then we give our other gifts to each other. Have always done since I was a kid and now do it with my boys

Our favourite family tradition is opening presents the night before because we are too excited to wait! 😆

Presents on Christmas Eve night so you can spend the night dreaming of all the gifts you have ☁🎁
In the Philippines we did Christmas at midnight and watched the fireworks after opening our presents 🎆🎇
Christmas tradition is early morning Christmas present opening for the kiddies followed by a huge feast of a late lunch!! Roasts glazed ham salads roasted veggies. Stuffing gravy the lot. And then I'm the baker in the family so there's a minimum of 5 different desserts. Usually a cheesecake and mini Pavs too. Oh how I love Christmas!!! 🎂🍰🍮
We are just starting one this year of Christmas stockings with WANT NEED READ and WEAR presents 🧦
Gathering on Christmas Eve for dinner and waiting for 12 midnight to open the Christmas gifts 🌑

Here Comes Santa Claus 🎅

Our Christmas tradition is making a batch of reindeer food 🦌 leading up to Christmas and then the night before we sprinkle it on our lawn to guide the reindeer to our house 🏡 We also love leaving the reindeer carrots and Santa milk and a cookie too 🥕🥛🍪
Our family tradition is midnight mass. We get to open one pressie when we get home 🎁 and pop some cookies and milk out for Santa and the reindeer
Our family tradition is baking cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve with our little man and matching family PJs every year 🛏
As a family we watch home alone on Xmas Eve and then we all sleep in the lounge room by the Xmas tree 🎄 as the kids try and see If they can spot 👀 Santa in action

"Leaving out a glass of milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer is a must Christmas Eve tradition at our place. Its our way of giving thanks and also making sure the Christmas team is refreshed as they have many more stops to make. Also signals bedtime at our home 🛏"

The Christmas pigs 🐷 instead of Santa 🎅 because my child is scared of him!
Leaving a cookie, milk and a carrot out for Santa and his reindeer! The kids get so excited and it keeps the magic of Christmas alive 🧝‍♀️
Getting into PJ's on Christmas Eve and leaving out treats for santa and reindeers
The Christmas Eve note to Santa & leaving out carrots biscuits & milk for Santa!! My girls love doing it the air is filled with excitement!! It's the best!
Putting our shoes out for Santa to fill it with lollies on Christmas Eve 👟🍭
Having the kids Dad dress up as Santa and surprising them to hand out the Secret Santa pressies to the family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

"Dressing up as Mr or Mrs Santa Claus 🎅🤶 (one of the adults) and having presents for all the kids with our family and relatives over Christmas feast as the kids light up and look forward to this tradition every year"