The holidays can be stressful, chaotic, and overwhelming. Add in a new baby on top of that, and ohhhhh wow. AND the holidays can also be exciting and filled with anticipation of seeing family, doing holiday activities, eating lots of food, opening presents—the list goes on. 

Families that enjoy being in each other’s company, doing things with each other, and really love one another will create natural lifetime lasting memories, whether for little squishes ages 1+ or for a new little one. We created this post with exactly that in mind.

Creating these memories doesn’t have to break the bank either! Many lasting memories are simple things you can do together as a family with little to no cost.  

And speaking of lasting memories, do you have any from your childhood? 

Think Back to Your Own Childhood Holiday Memories

What were the best warm-and-fuzzy moments of the holidays that stood out for you? For most of us, it’s the memories of things we did together as a family. Or a crazy one-off moment when someone did something spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment and turned it into a new holiday family tradition. 

I’d like to share with you one of my holiday memories.  

This tradition started with my grandmother and has taken off! Every year, she would attach an ornament to our gifts, so I have an ornament for every year of my life. On top of that, now that my family has grown and moved, we exchange ornaments amongst all of us, often handmade and identifying the person’s interests.  

For example, mine are usually cameras, boobs, and cervixes of sorts; they used to be bears. My children and I will receive Christmas ornaments from my parents and both my siblings. Our tree is always SUPER stuffed, and we will one day run out of room. We also keep as many handmade ornaments as possible that make it over the years. Once the children are all grown, they can take their ornaments and build on the tree and the tradition, or at least count on ornaments from everyone.  

There’s a reason we remember some of these holiday traditions and moments and what made them so good.

Think About Why These Were Such Good Memories

Making new and lasting holiday memories and traditions for your family contributes to having a healthy family life, too. It nurtures interconnection and builds trust and security for your kids so they become open and honest with you as their parents.   

We can take life too seriously, and when it comes to the holidays, it can take a toll on the family vibe. When we can take a moment in the chaos and spend time with the family, we can build good times into each others’ memories.   

But every family and family dynamic is different. Some families are integrated, and some are just starting out. When it comes to creating lasting holiday memories, each family’s approach will be unique.

Think About What May Work for Your Family  

When children enter our lives, we desire so much for them. At the top of the list, there needs to be making lasting good memories as a family. Some are intentionally built into the family-life framework, while others spring up from spontaneous moments. These spontaneous moments can turn into a new tradition!  

For example, in my home we have a Gnome as our own Elf on the Shelf, because when the kids were little, I spontaneously moved the elf from the bag in which we were gifting it, and the kids took it and ran. My youngest is 12, in Grade 7, and still pretends to have an elf on the shelf because it sparks his curiosity and imagination. For him the elf is a mischief maker and he is excited to see what it gets up to in the night. We could hold space for our children to have this kind of fun; we may end up growing our kids into playful adults!

Find what works for your family. Here are some more ways to make new and lasting holiday memories.  

Ornament Collecting 

Here’s a touching story from K.O.: 

“My family collects a special ornament every year, and it’s always nice when we are putting up our Xmas tree and remembering the story behind each one of those ornaments. This year I intend to make an ornament instead—an angel made out of one of the neckties of my late father, which my son unfortunately did not get to meet.” 

Is there a particular ornament that caught your child’s eye? Or your partner, perhaps? Like Star Wars or Paw Patrol?

Do you collect Christmas ornaments? Is that a tradition you’ve pondered? 

Go to the Cinema

Here’s a story from D.D.: 

D.D. and her mother started a tradition toward the end of the D.D.’s time in high school. Christmas Eve, for dinner, they’d get Chinese Food from the local supermarket or choose a fast food place that was open. Christmas Day, after doing gifts, and if the weather looked okay and the roads were clear, they chose a movie to go see at the theatre. The staff was allowed to wear their pjs, and there were many families out to enjoy a show. D.D. still has a few of the ticket stubs from the Christmas’s they were able to go (they collect movie ticket stubs).  

Fast food, PJs, and the movie theatre all sound like a good time to us (that is, if you’re okay with the crowd)!

Is there a movie in the theatre you might want to see this Christmas? Does your theatre have big reclining seats? 

Cozy Movie Night In

Some people wait until Christmas Eve, but you can pick a specific day of the week, or when everyone is all available, to cozy up and watch a movie in front of the tv at home.  

Wear your favourite pair of PJs; maybe you’ve got a family set (gift idea?), slippers, cozy robe, favourite blanket, favourite Squishmallow. Whatever makes the family cozy and comfy.  

You can decide to do just a meal, just snacks, or a combo of both. Pizza and popcorn are always a solid choice. And don’t forget the hot drinks.

Pick a movie and enjoy. To avoid small scuffles, have a vote with majority rules to play the first movie suggestion and if it’s not too late, watch the second or save it for the next movie night.  

What was your favourite TV-watching movie with the family? Was it a good ol’ VHS tape or something broadcast from the local channel?

Cooking and/or Baking with the Kids

Kids love using their hands and getting into things, and maybe they love being in the kitchen. This time, why not get them involved and have a few days where you sit down with your kids and have them pick a few things to cook and a few things to bake?  

Letting them choose what to make will help them be more excited for holiday foods and help get them to try new things (if you’re lucky). They will be so proud and excited that they got to be involved in making an entire feast, because yes it will be a feast! 

Keep in mind, being in the kitchen with kids means there’s going to be some kitchen chaos. Be prepared for a kitchen cloud of flour dust and be careful with that broken egg near your foot. You might need to turn clean-up into a game if you’re wanting them to help with that too, instead of leaving it all to you. 

Was there any holiday baking or cooking you were involved in making as a kid that you remember fondly? Do you still have any recipes?

One-On-One Kiddo Days

Kids don’t always get one-on-one time with one parent or another. The holidays can give you a chance to give each kid a one-on-one day with each parent, letting them pick the activity they’d like to do with that parent. You get to connect to each other, and do something special just for the two of you and feel all the love.  

Do you remember a special outing, activity, or holiday memory with one of your parents?  

Game Night

Like movie night, get your comfy cozy pjs, grab your tastiest snacks and buckle up for some good old fashion family fun. This means bring out the board games and put down the iPhone (just for at least one round).  

Classic board games such as Sorry or Connect 4 are fun and don’t usually go on too long. 

Friendly competition is okay…but be aware of the Monopoly curse… be civil, it’s just a game. Don’t forget to count the pieces, the thimble always seems to go missing.  

If you’re big into card games like MTG (Magic the Gathering) or even Pokémon, maybe the kids are too! They might know more than you about the recent generations…seems there are too many to keep up with nowadays, and your kids may be surprised to learn that Pokémon is also an actual card game, not just cool toys or video games.

Did you play an entertaining game of Monopoly growing up? Are there any board games you’d introduce your family to, old or new?

Decorate the House/Tree

Pick some time where everyone is free. Discuss how you’d like to decorate the house, is there a theme in mind? Does it match the tree? Are you deciding to go with a real tree or an artificial? The lights! Who’s going to untangle the lights? Which kid volunteers as tribute?  

Don’t forget the glitter! There always seems to be an abundance of glitter around this time of year, and you can’t always figure out where it’s coming from.   

Do you still have any decorations from when you were growing up? Do you continue them as part of your family traditions? Or are you trying to rid your mind of all the glitter? Glitter free zone at your house I see.

Decorate the Doors

Not just the front door, the back door, the parlour door, the bedroom doors. All the doors.  

Wreaths for the main doors of the house, real or fake, bought from someone local or DIY, or if you happen to see a really really cool one that catches your eye online or at the big box store that you must have, go get ‘er.  

When it comes to your kids’ bedroom doors, let them pick some wrapping paper to cover their door with, and then let them decorate it with bows, stickers, draw on it, and go to town.  

With the other doors in the house, get creative, whatever you’d like, there are some really fancy indoor wreaths you can hang on a parlour door.  

Is there a particular place you’d get a wreath from growing up? Do you still have an artificial one that’s just surviving? 

It’s the Little Things That Help

The holidays can be rough for so many others in the community. You don’t have to have a big bank account to help others.  

You can: 

• Give to the food bank, donate to the toy drive, donate clothing, or toiletries, or volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen. 
• Get involved in your kids’ school’s shoebox program.  
• Volunteer at your children’s school during the holiday for any concerts, musicals, plays, performances that might need some extra help.  
• Buy a coffee for the person behind you at the local coffee shop. It can brighten someone’s day.   

All it takes is something small to make a big difference within your community.  

Have you had an experience of someone paying for your coffee? Did you do the shoebox program when you were in school? 

Make Christmas/Holiday Cards

Instead of buying Christmas/Holiday cards, get crafty and make them instead.  

Here’s a very personal story about card making, from A.H.: 

“One of the many traditions I have that contributes to lasting memories is to make Christmas cards by hand, using many many stamps of my own as well as the ones inherited from my mom; she used to use her stamps for multiple memory-making purposes before the torch was passed over to me. Last year I paused that tradition on account of saying goodbye to both my mother and grandmother in the span of a few months. However, this year I’ve gotten back into the swing of it. Families who are crafty really could look more into this, as there are so many creative stamps and card ideas out there!”  

Do you still have a stack pile of cards you received from people from last year? Cut those up and use the images and phrases in them you like and make collage cards out of them, add stickers and drawings and write little personal messages to each person you are making the card for. Or take some wrapping paper and like with the kid’s bedroom doors, create cards with the same idea. The possibilities are endless when it comes to card making. Maybe you have a set of rubber stamps and some ink from when you were a kid, your kids might love using those to create a card.

Have you received a homemade card before? How did it feel to receive it? 

Try a Winter or Holiday Activity

If you enjoy the snow and you happen to have some laying on your front lawn, what better opportunity to make a snowman as a family, and perhaps a snowman family.  

Is there enough snow to build a fort? Digging a little snow-cave could be cozy. Or if there isn’t enough for a fort or cave, just making snow angels can be enjoyable.  

Along with the cozy, there’s the chaos. Be careful if you’re going to have a snowball fight, make sure teams are even, and safety first.  

Don’t forget to try and explore winter activities outside of your house perimeter.  

Maybe this is the year you try skating for the first (or 20th) time, explore a trail nearby with a winter perspective, or drive around and look at everyone’s holiday lights in the neighbourhoods. Try checking out if there is a tree lighting ceremony or special concert or festival put on in your community. Take mugs of your hot beverage of choice (drive safe), and you’ve got a cozy outdoor outing.  

Did you have any winter activities you did growing up? Is there anything you would like to try now that you didn’t get to do then?

We hope you get some ideas of how to make new and lasting holiday memories for your family! If you’d like to share your memories, we’d love to hear them. Any good holiday birth memories?