Starting New Christmas Traditions

If you are looking for ways to add a little spark into your holiday parties, then start some new Christmas traditions. Here are 7 cheery Holiday ideas.

1. Make the Christmas party a birthday party.
Because Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, we give our family Christmas parties that special emphasis. The hosting family serves a cake complete with birthday candles (i.e. 1 candle per child under 10 years) for the children to blow. We also sing the "Happy Birthday" song to help the children remember the reason for the holiday.

2. Make the Christmas feast a potluck.
To help the hosting family with the food, make the family Christmas party a potluck. You can begin planning the Christmas potluck on the Thanksgiving Day gathering by asking everyone what they would like to share at the upcoming party. This will allow family members the freedom to choose a main dish, side dish, dessert or beverages as their preferences instead of being pressured into bringing a certain item. It also creates a feeling of 'togetherness' as all family members become involved in participating in making the family Christmas party a success.

3. Ask adults to bring in a $5 wrapped gift.
Instead of all adults buying gifts for every grown-up in the family, ask each adult to bring in a nice $5 wrapped unisex gift. Have them place them in the "Santa Sack" or a large laundry "Holiday Basket." For example, a gathering of 6 families will end up having a total of 12 surprise gifts that can be used for the Christmas Games that will be played at the party.

4. Play Games
Since the grown-ups gave up receiving gifts in order to manage family budgets, give them a chance to be kids again by playing a few Christmas games. The winners of the games are given prizes from the 'Santa Sack' or 'Holiday Basket' collected earlier.

a. "Hot Rudolph" or "Hot Snow Man"
This is the children's game 'hot potato' with a Christmas twist. Use a stuffed holiday toy like "Rudolph" or a "Snow Man" for the potato and have all the adults who brought a wrapped gift gather in a circle and pass the "Hot Christmas Toy" around. You can assign an older child to be in charge of turning the music on and off. Last 3 people left win a gift.

b. "Draw Santa"
Pass out sheets of blank paper and pens to the adults. Instruct them to draw Santa while they place the piece of paper on top of their heads. Give them 5 minutes to complete their drawing and have the children choose the two best Santa drawings. Give the 'artists' their gifts.

c. Find the Most Words in "Merry Christmas"
On the back of their Santa drawing, have them write the words "Merry Christmas." Give everyone 5 minutes to write down the most words that they can create from the holiday greeting. Words must have a minimum of two letters. After the 5 minutes is over, give a gift to the individual with the least amount of words and gift for the person with the most words.

d. Christmas Raffle
For the remaining gifts, have raffles to give them away. Have everyone write down their name on a post-it note and drop it into an empty gift bag. Draw names out until all the gifts have been given out.

5. Special Thank You Balloons
Each family can write a special note of gratitude to Jesus for all the blessings they've received throughout the year. Tie the note on a string of a helium filled balloon and release it into the sky. Families can read their note aloud or choose to keep it private.

6. Have a donation box. The Host Family chooses charity.
The Host Family chooses a charity before the party starts. Have a decorated box or holiday piggy bank available and visible for all family members. Instead of giving gifts to one another, the adults can choose to make a donation to the Host Family's Choice of Charity. You can have them write a check directly to the charity so that there is no misconceptions that the money is not being given to the appropriate organization.

7. Christmas Bread
Rosca de Reyes is a Mexican tradition usually done on January 6th to honor the coming of the Three Kings to Jesus. The Christmas Bread is a round bread shaped like a wreath with a small cook-proof baby doll (to symbolize the infant Jesus) baked into the bread itself. For our family festivities, the bread can be made at Christmas. Each person is given a slice of the Christmas bread. The family member who happens to get the slice that holds the infant doll is the family who will host next year's Christmas Party.