10 Christmas Eve Traditions to Bring Magic to Your Home (2021)

Christmas Eve is almost as magical as Christmas Day itself.  Kids, and adults like me, are full of excitement and anticipation as the big day gets closer and closer.   Take a peek into our magical Christmas Eve Traditions, and find some to adopt with your family this year. 

Do you remember that feeling you had as a kid when you knew Santa was coming the next day? The raw anticipation and pure excitement that kept you from going to bed early and woke you up way before the sun was up?

I am in my thirties now and still remember that feeling I had on the night before Christmas.  Looking back now, I know that it was my Mom and Dad that helped to make that magical feeling possible. 

Today, I am going to share with you the traditions I have taken from my childhood as well as some new traditions my husband and I have made together to make this special day magical for not only the kids, but for us as well. 

Magical Christmas Eve with Snack Day

Snack day has only been a part of our Christmas Eve traditions since the boys first Christmas.  We decided very early on that traveling with three kids to various family members home over the Christmas holiday was not our idea of magical. 

Instead we have stayed put for almost six years now and have made Christmas Eve in our house an exciting fun filled food extravagnza.

Liliana and I spend the morning creating treats that will line our table all day long for enjoyable snacking.

Mawmaw and Poppie come over and enjoy the snacks with us and bring gifts from Santa! Because everyone knows that Poppie is his best friend and has an in with Santa!

It is one of our favorite ways to elevate a day, and no snack day would be complete without games to play. Which takes us to our next item for magical Christmas Eve Traditions.

Play Board Games a Christmas Eve Tradition

We love to combine snack day with board games. We are a pretty competitive family and bringing games into the mix really amps up the excitement for us.

We have quite a few favorites, but these are our go to games for Christmas Eve!

• UNO– This traditional card game is easy to play and so much fun. They have so many variations of UNO nowadays that you are sure to find one that your family loves
• Ready Set Spaghetti– This 1980’s board game may be a little hard to find, but it is so much fun. The best part is that kids of all ages (including my sister in her forties) can play.
• Life– This game is a little too advanced for the younger kids, but it is so much fun to play with sissy now that she is a little older.
• Candy Land– The name says it all! Candy land and Christmas go hand in hand.
• Sorry– This is one of my favorite board games to play, so it is one that has to make our Christmas Eve cut!

There are also a ton of Christmas themed games out there like the Santa Game and Christmas Trivia! These may be making an appearance on our Christmas Eve board game table this year!

Build a Fire and Roast Mallows

There’s not much more magical than a roaring fire in the fire place on Christmas Eve night, unless you add Marshmallows!

Every year we build a little fire in our fireplace. It is a magical backdrop to our Christmas Eve magical traditions. The kids love helping to gather up the wood for the fire and searching for the perfect marshmallow roasting stick. Plus it is a great way to get out of the house and get some steps in after all that snacking.

If you don’t have a fireplace, no worries!! You can still roast marshmallows over a pretty open flame with this cute s’mores maker!

My husband and I also enjoy snuggling by the fire on Christmas Eve night talking about the day and all the excitement of tomorrow. It is our chance to unwind, drink a glass of champagne and enjoy the quiet and one another.

Make Santa Cookies

No Christmas Eve would be complete without cookies for Santa!

Every year since I was a little girl, we would make sugar cookies for Santa. We always cut them out into festive shapes and decorate them with sprinkles and colored sugar.

As I have gotten older and had children of my own, this is one tradition that is my favorite.

While sugar cookies are our favorites, we know Santa also loves these delicious treats!

• Chocolate Chip Cookies– our recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies is one of our favorite all around cookies and has gotten rave reviews from Santa!
• Easy Peanut Butter Cookies– This is a Christmas favorite! Add a Hershey Kiss in the middle and you have a sweet treat Santa will love!
• Gingerbread Cookies- Soft, chewy, and a little spicy these cookies will give Santa that extra kick he needs to finish off his night in the sky!

Read A Christmas Story

Our kids love to be read to, and Christmas Eve is no exception. We read two very special stories that help the Christmas Eve Magic continue well into the night.

We always read the birth of Jesus out of the bible and talk to the kids about the meaning behind Christmas. This is a tradition that I have brought over from my childhood. I can still hear my daddy reading from our huge family bible every Christmas Eve just before tucking us into bed.

The key is to know your audience. Our boys are still little, so while we read the story as written, we talk about it afterwards and break it down so they really understand. We ask questions and let them ask questions.

We also read “T’was the Night Before Christmas” and that is where the magic begins at our home!

Santa’s Magical Visit

While we read “T’was the Night Before Christmas” something magical happens just outside our window… Santa’s sleigh bells are heard!

This tradition started when my nephew was two years old. My dad would get on the roof and run across to the chimney with jingle bells in hand. As my nephew got older, he began to understand that Poppie wasn’t in the room and began to think something was up.

That is when dad came up with the magic we use today.

We hide a cassette player, yes I know it is old school, but that is what we use. The cassette has jingle bells playing ing the background.

The kids get so excited to hear Santa come that it gets them to bed in a flash!

Open a Special Gift

Gifts are part of the magic of Christmas for kids. There’s something exciting about a wrapped present that gets your imagination going.

Every Christmas Eve day we allow the kids to open gifts from Mawmaw and Poppie so they can have some fun with them.

As we wind the day down, they are ready to open up another gift, so we always do one small gift that can be opened on the night before.

Ideas for Christmas Eve Gifts

• Special Pajamas
• A book- maybe a Christmas themed one- be prepared to have to read!
• A special ornament- this year we did the sweetest ornaments from Noonday!
• Stuffed Animal to sleep with

It doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive, just special!

Snoop Under the Tree

I can still remember my daddy under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve shaking every present that had his name on it trying to guess what was inside. He would try to sweet talk me into telling him what was inside or if his guess was right.

Most of the time I was quick to give away the surprise and he would laugh his great booming laugh alerting mom to my transgression.

It is one of my favorite memories of my childhood Christmases.

Today I encourage the kids to get in there and shake some gifts up to see if they know what may be inside. I am much better prepared to give my best poker face if they guess it!

Watch Your Favorite Christmas Movies

We start watching Christmas movies on Thanksgiving day, but no Christmas Eve would be complete without our favorite Christmas movies!

Christmas movies set the stage for Christmas Day and bring to life all the magic that Christmas holds. Check out some of our favorite Christmas Movies!

Must Watch Christmas Movies

• The Star– This is one of the sweetest depictions of the meaning of Christmas
• A Year Without a Santa Claus– Who doesn’t love the music in this show?! Heat Miser and Snow Miser are some of my favorite Christmas characters
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas– The cartoon version is our favorite, but there are so many spinoffs of this classic, it is easy to find one your family will love
• Elf-This is one of my favorites! The kids aren’t as into this one as I am, but they watch it with me anyways
• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer– This classic claymation is a must watch
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town-Another classic that is a must watch at Christmas time!
• Frosty-This fun loving snowman is a great way to usher in Christmas Day!
• Polar Express– A train leading to the North Pole is every little kids dream. This movie is full of magic and beautiful animation.
• Home Alone-This film is one I remember watching as a kid in the 90s. Such a fun movie to watch with the kids
• The Santa Claus– Another classic from the 90’s. The Santa Claus with Tim Allen is a funny and entertaining movie for the holidays!

Leave Santa and His Reindeer Snacks

Santa works hard all night to deliver toys to all the good girls and boys, so it is only right to leave him and his band of reindeer a delicious snack.

We leave out cookies for Santa along with a note and glass of milk.

Santa’s reindeer get carrots or apples to get them through the night!

Better yet, is that Santa always leaves the kids a note of thanks for them to read the next morning. Yet another tradition my parents started so long ago when I was a kid.

Make it a Sleepover

One of the things I always loved about Christmas as a kid was getting to sleep with my sister on Christmas Eve. We would hop in her bed and talk ourselves to sleep dreaming about what the next morning would bring.

We would wake up at 4 am and start trying to wake mom and dad up. Dad would tell us to go back to bed, but I know that he was just as excited as we were.

It is always fun if you have multiple kids to allow them to sleep in the same room. Yeah they will be a little rambunctious, but that is what the magic of Christmas Eve is all about!

Bringing Magic to Your Home on Christmas Eve

We hope that these ideas inspire you to start your own Christmas Eve traditions this year! Do you have any fun traditions? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.

You may also like to check out these Christmas related posts

• Christmas Gift Giving on a Budget
• DIY Joy Bottles

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Spread the love