By Aly Lamoreaux

I didn’t grow up with many holiday traditions. Don’t get me wrong—my family celebrated plenty—but nothing ever looked the same twice. Some years we’d cut down a tree from a local farm on December first; other years, we’d grab one from a parking lot on Christmas Eve. I remember feeling a little jealous of families who had full-blown rituals they returned to year after year.

Traditions bring a special kind of magic to the holiday season. They give us something to look forward to, create connection, and eventually become part of the family lore our kids will retell long after they’re grown.

The beautiful thing is, it’s never too late to start. Maybe, like me, you didn’t grow up with many traditions, but now that you have little ones, you want to build a few of your own. Whether you’re celebrating baby’s first Christmas or wrangling a crew of toddlers, you can start right where you are (and no, you don’t need twenty perfectly executed rituals!). Choose what feels fun and life-giving for your family, then go from there.

If you need a little inspiration to get started, here are a few simple holiday traditions to try on for size.

Holiday Traditions For Families

Matching Pajamas

Pick festive pajamas for your family and bask in your cozy coordination all season long. A friend of mine has five kids ages 3-10 and they’ve been doing this ever since their youngest (twins) were babies. The Instagram carousel she posts of her kids in their matching jammies every year is always a highlight of my holiday season.

Jolabokaflod

Nope, not a typo! Jolabokaflod is an Icelandic tradition where people exchange books on Christmas Eve, then spend the day reading and eating chocolate. Dreamy, right? My husband and I are both big readers, so we adopted this tradition even before we were married. Now with young kids, things obviously look different (read: we’re not working through novels while the kids are awake), but we’ve brought the kids into the fun by gifting them Christmas Eve board books and cocoa.

Book Advent Calendar

Wrap up 24 books at the end of November, then open up one to read each night in December before bed. These will become your little ones' favorite stories throughout the year!

Ornament Hide-And-Seek

Have you ever heard of the Pickle ornament? Every year, pick one funky or special ornament—if you’re a ‘90s kid, you probably grew up with a pickle ornament—to “hide” in the tree while decorating, then ask the kids to find it. Whoever finds it first gets a prize, then is tasked with re-hiding it to be found (and re-hid!) throughout the season.

A Special Ornament

Commemorate each year by purchasing an ornament that highlights it. Maybe one for baby’s first Christmas, one that nods to a new hobby you’ve picked up (bread-baking or painting, perhaps?), or this beautiful glass number with your favorite photo inside.

Holiday Card Book

Turn your annual holiday card stack into a series of books you can flip through year after year. Go old-school and choose an album with slip-in pockets you can slide cards into, or upload photos of the cards to your computer and create a digitized version. 

Cookie Hooky Day

Pick one random weekday during the month of December to keep the kids out of school or daycare and spend the day baking instead. Decorate sugar cookies, make shortbread you can enjoy throughout the season, and pack some in tins to gift to friends and neighbors. 

RELATED: 10 Holiday Cookie Recipes To Make With Kids

Gingerbread House Competition 

Some family friends of ours have been hosting an annual gingerbread house competition with their crew of 8+ cousins since they were little. They’re all in high school or college now, and the kids would tell you it’s still one of their favorite parts of the season. The houses have become increasingly impressive over the years, too.

Sleepover Under The Tree

Pick one night in December where the whole family sleeps next to the Christmas tree. Pillows and blankets everywhere, a snack plate for dinner, and your favorite Christmas movie with popcorn before bed.

Letters To The Kids

Every year, write a note to your kids about their year. Share about all the ways you've watched them grow, what you're proud of, and what you're looking forward to for the next year. Leave it under the tree for them to open on Christmas morning, or New Year's Eve.

Car Cocoa 

The best way to beat witching hour when it gets dark at 5pm? Load the kids in the car, turn on your favorite holiday playlist, and go on a search for the best lights in the neighborhood. Bring your own cocoa for everyone to sip along the way, and if you want to make the night super easy, pick up dinner on the way home. 

Give Back

Set up a snack basket on your porch for delivery drivers working overtime during the season. Put together a gift box for kids who wouldn’t otherwise get presents this year. Volunteer at a local soup kitchen. Volunteering is a beautiful way to teach kids that the gift is truly in the giving. 

Get Away

The holidays might just be the perfect excuse for a well-timed get away each year. Some of our best friends take their kids to New York City every December (I know, pure magic). Other friends of ours spend a week at their family cabin in the mountains. And another family we know does a yearly staycation at a local hotel (the indoor pool is a HIT with the kids). 

Remember The Why

Lest you read this and feel like you need to start 12 new traditions in order to make the season magical, remember the why behind them first. The goal is to find repeatable things that create joy and anticipation for your family.

If you try a tradition and it doesn’t work, you don’t have to repeat it. If you’ve done something for ten years and it doesn’t fit for some reason this year, give yourself permission to skip—or tweak—it. The only rule here is to have fun and find something you can look forward to every year.

Now let the traditions begin!