There are so many ways to schedule your homeschool year, but one thing most of us have in common is that we take a long break over the December Holidays. Most years, I take off Thanksgiving through the New Year. I have found this is the easiest way for me to enjoy the season without feeling like I have too many things to accomplish and not enough hours in the day. My kids on the other hand start to get a little stir crazy with so much unstructured time on their hands.
I have found that having certain traditions serve as anchor points throughout our holiday break. Even though our days and weeks aren’t very structured, these traditions give my kids (and my husband and I) things to look forward to.
Here are a few ideas for some fun December traditions we implement during our homeschool break.
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Create a Christmas Bucket List
We always start with our Christmas Bucket list. All of the fun things we want to do during our Christmas break go on this list. Most of the ideas in this post are items we put on our bucket list. I wrote an article on creating a Christmas Bucket List for the Homeschool Review Crew last year. You can read it for more details on creating a Christmas Bucket List.
Pizza and Movie Nights
This is one of the easiest traditions to implement and one that we all look forward to. There are certain movies that we only watch once a year so they really are a fun treat. It’s even better when we put blankets on the floor and have a pizza picnic during our movie. We are not a family that watches TV during meals often, so this is a special treat that we only do during Christmastime.
Special Ornaments
When my oldest was a baby we started the tradition of picking special ornaments to add to our tree. For my kids’ first Christmas they each got a birthstone ornament with their name on it. Every year following, the boys have picked out their own ornaments. We have ended up with an interesting variety over the years. Some are funny and some are downright ugly, but I love unpacking the special ornament box every year. It is like opening a time capsule. My kids also look forward to looking through all of their ornament memories and picking a new one every year.
My original intention with the special ornaments was to collect these over the years, and when they grow up and leave home someday they could take their special ornaments to put on their own Christmas tree. Now I am pretty sure that is not happening because I don’t think I can part with these treasures. If you decide to start this tradition, maybe get two of each ornament so you can both have a collection.
Hot Cocoa and Christmas Lights
Another favorite activity is going to a local coffee shop for hot chocolate, which we sip as we look at Christmas lights. If you can find a local light show where they synchronize lights with music, it is totally worth fighting traffic to go see these attractions. We have a few of these in our neighborhood that we enjoy.
Go to the Zoo
Find a zoo that does a Christmas lights event. It’s so fun to see the animals at night and the atmosphere is always fun and festive. We’ve been enjoying this tradition since the kids were still being pushed around in a double stroller, and even now with a teenager and a preteen we still love this tradition.
Build a LEGO Christmas Village or Nativity
This is a challenge I gave my kids. I want them to build an elaborate LEGO nativity scene. They seriously have more bricks than they need to accomplish the task, and it is a project that will keep them busy.
If you aren’t quite up to the task of a LEGO village, these LEGO Advent Calendars are super fun. We don’t do these every year, but it is definitely something the boys look forward to when we have these.
Love Your Neighbors
We’ve had a yearly tradition to bake cookies for our neighbors. This has always involved an all-day baking marathon where we bake countless dozens of treats to pack into tins and bless our neighbors. Then we were hit with a pandemic and decided it might not be a blessing to share homemade goodies with others. Even so, we have still looked for ways to love our neighbors amidst a world turned upside down.
Cookies or no cookies, challenge your kids to find ways to love your neighbors this season.
I would love to read about some of your favorite Christmas traditions. This is truly the most wonderful time of the year and I wish you all great joy as you create these holiday memories with your families!
