Christmas Traditions You Can Share With Your Family
Plenty of Christmas traditions are being practiced by countries all over the world during the Christmas season. Some of these traditions can be as diverse as the culture and religious practices of each and every of those countries in the world.
Being part of a family inevitably means there will be traditions passed down through the years. Many people share specific Christmas traditions with their family that they learned from their own families growing up.
But maybe you're just beginning your Christmas holidays as a family and you don't really have any traditions of your own yet. There are many popular traditions that you can pick from and make them a part of your own holiday traditions. There are traditions that are suitable for any age group.
One favorite holiday tradition in many families is making Christmas cards to send out. You can choose to send cards personalized with your own family photo and a poem or a few lines telling the receiver what they mean to you. If you don't have the time to make Christmas cards, you can get store bought ones and add your own touch to them.
Another well-known holiday tradition is attending a church event together. Many churches have Christmas Eve services that are beautiful with all the decorations and the soft glow of candlelight. Many churches choose to pass on the live poinsettias they use in decorations on to the people who attend the service.
Young children can write letters to Santa and take it to the local post office. Some post offices have a special box set up just for letters from Santa. Kids can also get involved in decorating the Christmas tree and as you hang the ornaments on the tree, if there's no history behind the ornaments, you can share bits of your history with your child or talk about the meaning of Christmas.
Putting up the tree can become a time of sharing conversation that children look forward to. You can start a tradition of listening to certain songs as you put up the tree. One family listened to Bing Crosby Christmas songs while putting up their tree over forty ago, then their grown children kept up the tradition and later passed it on to their children.
Bing Crosby Christmas songs
A well received tradition is the practice of dining by candlelight on Christmas Eve and afterward, each family member opens one gift. You'll want to set aside a particular gift on Christmas Eve so that you're not digging through the piles of gifts to find it.
After the gifts are open, gather together to sing Christmas songs. Christmas is filled with anticipation of the coming day and the days leading up to it should be celebrated just as much as the day is.
Most cities have Christmas parades or Christmas music shows that residents can attend. Make it a habit to attend one every year. The night before Christmas, begin the tradition of reading a Christmas book, sharing the Christmas story, or watching a much loved Christmas movie together. Whatever traditions you decide to incorporate into your family, you'll be glad you did. It'll make the holidays more meaningful and give everyone something to look forward to.
Christmas music
Choose or Make a Christmas Stocking That Reflects Your Personality
Decorating a Christmas stocking for everyone in the family is a favorite tradition in many families. Each person decorates the stocking and adds personal touches that show the kind of things they enjoy out of life.
Christmas stocking
You don't have to have any artistic ability to make a Christmas stocking that reflects who you are. With all the traditional red and white stockings for sale, you can certainly go that route, but a plain stocking is sort of like a one size fits all article of clothing. It's made to fit one in a crowd, not made to stand out from the crowd.
Why settle for the same kind of Christmas stocking that everyone else is also buying or making? Let who you are shine right down to all the decorations you use for the Christmas holiday.
Start with a plain Christmas stocking in your favorite color - you might have to hunt for one since the red and white ones are the most traditional colors - but they are out there. Once you find it, you can write your name across the top of the stocking using a rainbow of glitter glue found in those handy no drip glue pens.
Or you can write your name out in regular school glue and then sprinkle glitter or rhinestones in the glue. If you choose to do it with the regular glue, the stocking will take at least forty eight hours to dry completely.
You can then write or draw whatever you want on the bottom of the stocking. Muslin stockings work best for drawing artwork directly on the material. If you do pick out a muslin stocking, though, make sure you put a thick piece of cardboard inside the stocking before you draw anything. Otherwise, the colors will bleed through to the back of the stocking.
If drawing isn't your area of interest, then you can sew on applique cut outs of Christmas designs such as gingerbread houses, snowmen etc. You can also make muslin quilt stockings by sewing on quilt squares to make miniature Christmas quilts.
If you're into music, you can even make music note quilts. Or for less sewing, you can simply iron on your favorite designs or use transfer patterns. With transfer patterns, you iron them on and then trace around the design with fabric paint.
If you would prefer not to make a Christmas stocking, then you can buy one that reflects your personality. Are you a race car fan? You can buy your favorite race car stocking. If you're a die-hard football fan, then you can buy your favorite team stocking and proudly display your team spirit throughout the season. There are Christmas stockings available that will reflect your personality.
A Christmas Isn't Complete Without Carols
One of the many Christmas traditions people celebrate is caroling. One account of this tradition is said to stem back to centuries ago when people would gather and sing in a religious gathering. Others say the history of caroling has nothing to do with religion and is instead given the outdated term of wassailing.
No one knows with one hundred percent certainty. But both sides agree it did involve a group of people known as carolers. Legend has it that this group of carolers gathered together and sang in order to be fed, hence the term, "sing for your supper."
These groups of carolers would travel to various neighborhoods singing their songs. The origin of where caroling began has been disputed with some saying it began in Italy, while others insist it's an English tradition.
Whichever version is correct, as time passed, door to door caroling died down somewhat but is still very much a tradition especially in smaller towns with a close knit population. For many people, today's modern caroling involves carolers singing in Christmas parades, at church functions and in private homes.
At home or work Christmas parties, people will gather around a piano or stereo, play Christmas songs and have their own version of caroling. Did you know there's a day set aside every December for caroling?
It's called Go Caroling Day.
If you want to plan a caroling event for your group or for your family, it's not difficult. It's a great way to spread the joy to your family and friends. No one has to have perfect pitch to sing in a caroling group.
All you have to do is be willing to give it a shot. Find out how many people would be interested in going and set a caroling meeting. Pick a date to go caroling and schedule a few warm up singing sessions with your group of volunteers.
Print out copies and staple them together of the carols your group would like to sing and practice until you can sing in relatively harmony. You're not looking for perfection - you just want to make sure everyone has some familiarity with the songs you plan to sing. You can purchase carol books, but depending on the size of your group, that could quickly get expensive if you're the one paying for them.
carol books
Know ahead of time where you're going to go. Some communities have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to trespassers and sadly, carolers would fall under the heading of trespassers in some housing areas.
You don't have to stick to going door to door if the weather doesn't cooperate. You can visit children's hospitals, nursing homes, community churches and more. Plan to go caroling this Christmas season. It's an experience you'll always cherish.
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