Something about Christmas makes it a really special family holiday. We just want to spend time together even more and just love on our girls.
Ben and I have talked about starting a Christmas tradition in the past, but we never really made an effort to until we had kids.
Now that our oldest is two, she will start to remember traditions, like making ornaments, and get excited for Christmas.
Starting Christmas Traditions
We love doing things that make our daughters smile, and one thing that always works is unwrapping a present.
So, this year we’re starting the Christmas tradition of wrapping up twelve Christmas/holiday books (for the twelve days of Christmas) and unwrapping one to read each evening the twelve nights before Christmas.
This tradition is perfect for our family because both our baby and toddler can get involved right now. I love that reading aloud books is something that interests everyone.
I am a total bookworm, and our two-year-old loves books as well. This Christmas tradition was the perfect way for us to get our reading fix, do a holiday activity, and make memories.
Plus, our old books feel fresh and exciting again!
It is so much fun to unwrap a different book each night and read it before bed as a family. I love how thrilled Ella is about opening a wrapped book and snuggling up to read the story with us. Baby loves reading a story with Daddy too!
Baby can be hard to entertain and this activity was perfect for her! I can’t wait to get to Christmas so she can open her little stocking. I’ve got a list of stocking stuffers for her first stocking that I think we both will love!
These are the moments I’ll cherish when our daughters are teenagers who refuse to spend time with us!
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How We Did It: Choosing 12 Christmas Books
I wanted to have a mix of cute stories that really captured the magic and wonder of Christmas, along with books that would teach our children about the true meaning of Christmas.
We had to start with the classics, of course, Twas the Night Before Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and a Nativity story.
I filled in the rest with books that looked fun to read and added a few more stories about Jesus’ birth.
Secondhand or thrift stores are great places to find books if you don’t already have enough holiday books. Books don’t have to be new, just new to you.
You could also just wrap old favorites. The whole point of this tradition is to spend quality time together!
Wrapping 12 Books
I got out our Christmas wrapping paper and got to work during nap time.
Well… during one kid’s naptime.
Nearly half my books were square, and I found an easy way to wrap square books.
First, I cut a larger square of wrapping paper and rotated my book half a turn so that it was like a diamond inside the square.
Then I folded all the corners in towards the middle and taped it.
This method uses less wrapping paper and takes less time. Plus it is easy for toddlers to open if you just tape the corners that meet in the center of the book.
I did try it with rectangular books, but it didn’t work perfectly every time, so I used my regular old wrapping methods to wrap them.
Here are all my wrapped books! Aren’t they pretty?
Unwrapping and Reading
December 13 is twelve evenings away from Christmas. I wanted to make sure we finished opening and reading the books before Christmas Day, especially if we happened to unwrap Twas the Night Before Christmas.
We let Ella choose a gift and unwrap it.
She was excited to see the book!
Of course, Baby wanted to have a turn opening presents too.
Then we snuggled on the couch together and read the story! (Everyone except Mom the photographer, of course…)
Also, reading aloud doesn’t have to be intimidating or boring! These are my secrets to reading aloud in way that is both engaging and entertaining for everyone!
A Christmas Tradition That Grows with Our Kids
This Christmas tradition is easy to customize for your family and can adapt with your children as they get older.
If you’ve only got five books, for example, just start with that! If you’ve got twenty, choose your favorites, or wrap them all.
Maybe you’ve got an Advent calendar and are looking for experiences to put in the little boxes rather than treats. Add unwrapping a book to the calendar.
Older children may need a little more stimulation. Make the tradition into a game, instead. Hide a book and do a scavenger hunt to find it. Or make an obstacle course for them to complete in order to get to the book.
Your family may be movie buffs rather than bookworms. Wrap twelve Christmas movies instead! You can work on promoting literacy skills the other eleven months of the year 😉
I am so excited to continue this tradition with our girls! Are you looking for Christmas traditions to start this year? Pin this one and try it out!
Another tradition we do is Christmas stockings. We have a five-month-old joining in on the fun this year and I’ve put together a list of over 20 things that I want to put in her stocking! While I love the baby things on that list, I’m tempted to get myself a few of the mom things too!
Have you made your gift list and checked it twice? Maybe our toy guide can help you decide on the perfect gift for the little ones in your life. We’ve also got doll and stuffed animal gift ideas, kitchen toy gift ideas, building toy guides, puzzle gift ideas, and musical toy ideas.
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