Christmas Eve is one of my favourite days of the year, I just love the anticipation. For kids, the excitement of the day before Christmas can be almost too much to bear, so they need to be kept busy. If you’re looking for ways to do that, here’s what to do on Christmas Eve, a selection of great Christmas Eve traditions for kids.
North Pole Breakfast
I love this idea! It isn’t something we’ve done before but it seems a great year to start new traditions. For families that have a visiting elf, you can use it as a goodbye breakfast for him. The idea is you decorate your table with a Christmas theme and serve a festive Christmas treat. Blissful Domestication has more ideas.
Spotting Christmas Lights
On Christmas Eve, we wait until it is getting dark and then wrap up warm before heading out to see some Christmas lights. We usually drive to somewhere we know there are some good ones and then get out and have a walk around to look at them. When we’re done we head home and warm up with hot chocolate and marshmallows.
Christmas Story Time
When my children were small, we had a big box of Christmas books that would come out of the loft every Christmas and would result in a Christmas story time pretty much every day in December as well as Christmas Eve! Now they are too old for picture books, I’m planning to continue the Christmas Eve tradition by purchasing a longer festive book.
Christmas Scavenger Hunt
While a traditional scavenger hunt means collecting items, this is more of an observation game that you can do on a family walk. You essentially look out for a list of things that we associate with Christmas and tick them off when you see them. You could offer a small prize for completion. Below are some ideas of what you could spot, I would suggest tailoring to where you are planning to walk.
- Some Twinkly lights
- Some Holly
- A Robin
- A stick that looks like stickman
- A wreath
- A Christmas tree
- Someone wearing a Christmas jumper
- A Christmas window display
- A reindeer
- A Santa hat
Make Our Own Christmas Decorations
Every year, we make a different type of Christmas decoration, usually using some kind of process art type method. We then keep a few for ourselves and give the rest to friends and family. This year we’re going to try resin and alcohol ink. You can have a look at what we’ve done in other years and get some ideas from other bloggers in this post on Christmas Decorations to Make with Kids.
Sing Christmas Songs
If your children are small they will likely enjoy singing Christmas songs with you like “Jingle Bells” and “When Santa Got Stuck up the Chimney”. You can use instruments like bells and shakers and it can be particularly fun to learn new songs together.
If your children are older they might find this not very cool but as long as they aren’t actual teenagers (to whom any kind of singing with parents is likely to be off the table) they might enjoy putting on some Christmas songs and dancing around.
Have a Festive Games Night
A festive games night is lovely Christmas Eve tradition for slightly older children. You can serve some festive snacks, put on some Christmas music, dress up in your Christmas jumpers and play some fun family games. Eating a bar of chocolate with hat, scarf and gloves on is fun.
Christmas Baking
We did a Gingerbread House a few years ago. The kids loved decorating it but frankly, the actual baking of it was a nightmare. I’ve since learnt to stick to simpler baking on Christmas Eve when there is usually already a lot going on it the kitchen. We will probably do some of these festive brownies because they are super simple and I love brownies!
Deliver Gifts to Family and Friends
If there are friends or family members you won’t see on Christmas Day, a great thing to do on Christmas Eve is to deliver cards and presents to them. What we like to do is bake Christmas cookies with the children, wrap them in a pretty parcel and then drop them off to people.
Give Gifts to Families in Need
If you want to support the less fortunate at Christmas, then a lovely Christmas Eve tradition is to donate presents to families in need. You could do this via a shelter or through one of the charities that run gift trees where you collect a label with a child’s details on and then purchase something for that child. You could also deliver food to your local food bank.
Have a Christmas Party or a Festive Coffee Morning
If you enjoy hosting, a Christmas Party for your children’s friends and their parents can be a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve. If the children are young, it could be as simple as a festive coffee morning or it could be Christmas drinks with a few children’s games in the evening.
A Christmas Eve Box
While they are a relatively modern Christmas Eve tradition, opening a special box of festive things is a lovely thing to do on Christmas Eve. Our box contains new Pjs (fluffy, of course), festive mugs (reused each year), a jar of hot chocolate, mini marshmallows, snacks, the children’s Christmas stockings and a Christmas book or DVD.
See a Pantomime
For us, Christmas isn’t Christmas without a pantomime. We always go in that dead time between Christmas and New Year but if you’re at a loose end on Christmas Eve then a panto can be a great idea.
See a Christmas Movie at the Cinema
If pantomime isn’t your thing then you could go to cinema to see a festive movie. There’s always a family friendly film showing on Christmas Eve and it will buy a bit of peace and quiet from the kids asking if it’s time to open presents yet.
A Festive Photoshoot
This is a particularly lovely idea for babies and toddlers. Dress the children (and yourself!) up in cute festive outfits and either take some pictures yourself or hire a professional photography to take some.
Go for Hot Chocolate Somewhere Festive
I love a hot chocolate at Christmas and there is nothing more festive than drinking it somewhere with beautiful decorations while watching the hustle and bustle of people doing their last minute preparations. We have a farm shop near us which is ideal for this but big stores that go all out on their decorations work well too.
Christmas Movie Marathon
We love a good movie night and if we’re struggling for what to do on Christmas Eve then a festive film is our go to, to be watched on the sofa, from under our duvets, while eating festive snacks. For movie ideas check out this great list of Christmas Films from Twins, Tantrums and Cold Coffee.
Go Ice Skating
If you’re lucky enough too have an outdoor ice rink near you, it’s a lovely thing to do on Christmas Eve. If you have small children then make sure they have supports for them otherwise you’ll struggle to support them the whole time.
Visit a Garden Centre
Garden centres have become a big part of Christmas in recent years with huge displays of festive decorations. If you want something to help you get into the Christmas spirit then a visit to a festive garden centre will do the job, with perhaps the purchase of a few new ornaments while you’re there.
Go to a Carol Service
Every year on Christmas Eve when I was a child my mother and I would go to a local animal sanctuary and sing Christmas carols in the barn with the animals. It was something I looked forward to every year and would love to do again with my own children if there were any similar events in my area.
Go Carolling
If you enjoy singing then you might like to go carolling as a family. If there is a cause you’re passionate about then you could raise funds for them in the process.
Go Out for a Meal or Get a Takeaway
If you’ll be spending the next day cooking up a feast, then Christmas Eve can be a great time to go out for dinner or get a takeaway.
Hang Up Your Christmas Stockings and Put Out a Treat for Santa
The final Christmas Eve tradition for kids each year is to hang up their stockings and leave out a treat for Santa. We always leave a Christmas biscuit we’ve baked, a drink of milk and a carrot for Rudolf. We also go out into our garden and leave out the magic key for Santa (we don’t have a chimney) and sprinkle some reindeer food out.
What to do on Christmas Eve with Babies
While your baby won’t necessarily have any idea what’s going on, it’s still nice to make Christmas Eve enjoyable for you, as well as starting Christmas Eve traditions that you’ll continue as they get older. The traditions most suited to babies are:
- A Festive Photoshoot
- Spotting Christmas Lights
- Going for hot chocolate somewhere festive
- Dropping presents off to family and friends
- Go to a carol concert
- Visit a festive garden centre
What to do on Christmas Eve with Toddlers
While toddlers may not fully understand what’s going on they will definitely pick up on the atmosphere and be excited. Here are my favourite ways to keep toddlers occupied.
- Spotting Christmas Lights
- A festive story time
- Sing Christmas songs
- Have a festive coffee morning
- Visit a festive garden centre
What to do on Christmas Eve with Preschoolers
Preschoolers are a great age to enjoy Christmas, they can understand what’s going on and are old enough to take part in activities they were too young for the year before. While you could do almost any of the suggestions in this post with preschoolers, these are my top picks.
- North Pole Breakfast
- Make your own Christmas decorations
- Christmas scavenger hunt
- Christmas baking
- A Christmas Eve box
- Watch Christmas movies
What to do on Christmas Eve with Children 5-8
Children between 5 and 8 are often the most excited about Christmas as they are young enough to still believe and old enough to still remember the excitement of the year before. My top Christmas Eve traditions for 5-8 year olds are:
- A North Pole breakfast
- Make Christmas decorations
- Have a festive games night
- See a pantomime
- Go ice skating
- A Christmas Eve box
What to do on Christmas Eve with Tweens
I have two tweens now, one who still believes and one who doesn’t, luckily the one that doesn’t is very good at keeping the magic alive for the one that does. I’ll be doing some of these things with my tweens this Christmas Eve.
- A North Pole Breakfast
- Spotting the Christmas lights
- A Christmas movie marathon
- Giving gifts to families in need
- Having hot chocolate somewhere festive
- Going Ice Skating
What to do on Christmas Eve with a Mix of Different Ages
If your children span a large age range then it can be difficult to decide what to do on Christmas Eve. The suggestions below work well for a range of age groups
- A North Pole Breakfast
- Spotting Christmas Lights
- Christmas baking (the older ones bake, the younger ones ice)
- A Christmas movie
- A Christmas Eve box
- A Christmas party
- Visit a festive garden centre
What do you do on Christmas Eve?
If you’re looking for more inspiration, have a look at these answers from other parents to the question “What do you do on Christmas Eve?”
“On Christmas eve I always take the kids out to look at all of the Christmas lights! I usually buy a couple of festive snacks, pop them in the car and then we all get into Christmas jumpers (or Christmas pyjamas for the kids) and we drive round looking at all the lights and of course looking up in the sky to see if we can see Father Christmas too! When we get home we have hot chocolates to warm up and then get the snacks and drink ready for Father Christmas and the reindeers before bed!”
Jess from Tantrums to Smiles
“We keep it pretty simple by leaving out a drink and biscuits for Santa, a carrot for the reindeer and before the children go to bed we check the Santa tracker online to see where he is!”
Victoria from Travel Vixta
We have a Christmas Eve party at our home for all our extended families. This includes a buffet, children’s games and dancing.
Lynne from The Swan Effect Family
We started hosting them 3 years ago and it’s a great way of getting everyone excited for the ‘Big Day’.
We spend the day at my daughters grandma’s with her cousins and aunties and uncles, then come home and she gets her ‘Christmas eve box’ which has a new Christmas teddy, pjs and a Christmas themed book in it. Then we have a hot chocolate and watch a movie before sprinkling (eco friendly) reindeer food outside, putting a glass of baileys and a mince pie out for Father Christmas.
Raimy from Readerraptor Hatchings
We have a morning of visiting grandparents and dropping off presents whilst my husband works. When he finishes, we usually take the dog for a walk around our village and the woods – burn off some of that excess excitable energy. Once we’re home it’s a festive movie, prepping the snacks for Father Christmas and we have family over for a big dinner complete with gifts of new pyjamas, games to play and books to read. It’s relaxed yet makes sure that they’re sufficiently worn out to sleep through!
Hayley from Sea, Stay, Explore
We used to stay home, wear our new Christmas PJs and watch a festive film. However, in 2019, we headed to the seaside, grabbed breakfast and visited the sea life centre. We plan to do this on a regular basis now as it was so much fun.
Vicki from Blossom Education
We’re part Danish, so it’s when our feast begins! he kids get to open some of their presents, after the traditional evening meal (pork followed by rice pudding with an almond hidden in it). And then we set out a little something for Father Christmas before bed.
Emilie from The Body Doula
We always go out for lunch as a family and then go to the Christmas Crib service at church. Then we head home, put Christmas pjs on, and have hot chocolate and a Christmas film before an early night!
Alina from We Made This Life
We literally do as little as possible and stay at home. We have a Christmas Eve Box for our son to entertain him during the afternoon when the excitement is building, but given how busy Christmas Day is, we try to be relaxed and as free as we can the day before.
Catherine from Wales with Kids
Every christmas eve all nine of us go out for a walk to the local roman fort with the dog, we used to stop for a drink at the pub, but its now closed, so we take a flask of hot chocolate instead, when we return home each of the children get a tree present, usually a new pair of pjs and a joint present of a new game or dvd for them to watch or play during the evening.
Mandi from Best Spa Days
We do a long walk in the hills, then come home to our Christmas boxes. Inside are new PJs, popcorn, and treats. We then all get our new PJs on and watch Polar Express.
Jenny from Peak District Kids
For us Christmas eve is always a trip to an outdoor ice rink followed by takeaway pizza and a Harry Potter film.
Angela from Exploring Hampshire
We try to have a relaxed Christmas Eve, it usually involves decorating a gingerbread house, watching festive movies, making mince pies, taking a walk to look at the festive lights, mulling cider, putting on our Christmas pyjamas and enjoying a takeaway.
Karina from Mum’s the Nerd
We go to the Christmas Eve crib service at the local church and come home for a Christmas film.
Karen from Fuelled by Latte
Bake festive treats like cheese straws & mince pies and then watch Muppets Christmas Carol & eat them! It’s something I did for years with my Dad, who passed away 18 months ago so want to continue doing this with my daughter!
Sam from Dove Cottage
Some friends of ours in our village always have an open house on Christmas Eve during the afternoon. Everyone from the village pops in at some time or another and it’s just so lovely to see everyone. They set up a cinema room for the kids, and they all bundle together in there watching Christmas films and snacking on popcorn and hot chocolate. It’s a lovely way to spend the day just being with people!
Nikki from Things that Start with
We’re at home and stay close, lots of baking and preparing everything for Christmas dinner ahead of time, as well as a dog walk down to the beach or across to the creek, then movies and our Christmas Eve box. In the box will be a new Christmas book, PJs, and decorations for the tree. It’s what I’ve done since I was young so that on Christmas day no body gets stuck in the kitchen peeling vegetables or having to do lots of work.
Cerys from Hey Mom! What’s Cooking?
Our whole family sit down for a special Christmas story time. The children recite The Night Before Christmas and then we read a Christmas storybook which is over 100 years old – The Fairy Way Home. It belonged to my children’s great grandmother. Everyone has to be a character in the story. It is such a lovely way to get into the Christmas spirit. We follow this by drinking tea and eating mince pies.
Sarah-Marie from Tired but Crafty Mum
Christmas Eve is all about wearing our pyjamas, playing games, baking treats and making crafts.
Nita from Mummy Wishes
Enjoyed this post? Why not pin it for later!
Leave a Reply