Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat — and BYU employees are staying busy with their special holiday traditions. Check out some of their favorite holiday celebration suggestions below and find some new ideas for your Christmas!
Photo by Rebekah Baker
Keep Christ in Christmas
- Have a Christmas Eve Bethlehem dinner to slow down and remember the true meaning of Christmas (Suggested by Jill H.)
- Read Luke 2 on Christmas Eve (Suggested by Jennifer M.)
- Decorate your tree with Christmas ornaments that have Christ’s many titles on them (Suggested by Bobbe M.)
- Set up a Nativity scene one piece per day, and read scriptures about each figure every night (Suggested by Bobbe M.)
- Reenact the Nativity story (Suggested by Lola T.)
Have a countdown to Christmas
- Add an ornament to the Christmas tree every morning and dedicate each ornament to a family member or ancestor (Suggested by Jon H.)
- Read a Christmas book — like "Christmas for a Dollar,” “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey” or “Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect” —
every night until Christmas (Suggested by Caroline T.)
Munch on festive foods
- Snack on egg salad sandwiches while watching “The Forgotten Carols” on Christmas Eve (Suggested by Mary J.)
- Dress in formal wear and serve a multi-course meal on gold and silver dishes (Suggested by Joshua P.)
- Make caramel popcorn, mint brownies or homemade marshmallows (Suggested by Genevieve B.)
- Host a “Cookie Day” and have each family bring sugar cookies to frost and eat together. (Suggested by Hayley J.)
- Make a big pot of steaming chicken noodle soup to share. (Suggested by Hayley J.)
- Make a smorgasbord of everyone’s favorite food to eat while watching “The Polar Express” (Suggested by Jennifer M.)
- Shape cinnamon rolls into a Christmas tree and enjoy them with a mug of homemade hot chocolate (Suggested by Lola T.)
Appreciate traditions from around the world
- Celebrate Saint Nicholas Day: Place a pair of shoes out on the evening of December 5, and wake up to see them filled with chocolate gold coins and a new Christmas tree ornament (Suggested by Matt C.)
- Spend the day making Guatemalan tamales (Suggested by Sandy P.)
- Enjoy the German and French version of fondue: raclette. Melt cheese and dip grilled veggies, meat or bread into it (Suggested by Hayley J.)
- Make grybai: Lithuanian spice cookies, shaped like mushrooms (Suggested AnnMarie H.)
- Eat green chile burritos for Christmas brunch (Suggested by Brenna K.)
- Celebrate Día de Reyes (Wise Men Day) and enjoy Rosca de Reyes bread and Abuelita hot chocolate (Suggested by Analize C.)
- Spend a night caroling and then divide into teams for a week-long game of cricket — the losing team has to make everyone dinner! (Suggested by Mereane I.)
- Celebrate Posadas: Sing villancicos (Christmas carols) and visit friends’ doorsteps to ask if there is room in the inn (representing Mary and Joseph) (Suggested by Analize C.)
Enjoy outdoor activities
- Hit the ski slopes before opening presents (Suggested by Lori S.)
- Get a tree permit, climb up the mountains and cut down a Christmas tree (Suggested by Roni M.)
- Visit a Las Vegas dry lakebed, shoot clay pigeons and drive a dune buggy across the sand (Suggested by Lindsey M.)
Photo by Nate Edwards
Give thoughtful gifts
- Get matching pajamas for the family and give a little gift that coordinates with the design (snowflakes for snowflake pajamas, stuffed animals for a shirt with reindeer on it, etc.) (Suggested by Amy T.)
- Wrap each child’s favorite sugar cereal and place it under the tree for them to enjoy on Christmas day (Suggested by David J.)
- Set up a “Twelve Days of Christmas” scavenger hunt, with clues to little gifts each day
- Donate to a local charity (Suggested by Abby B.)
- Bring a Christmas ornament and treats to neighbors (Suggested by Genevieve B.)
- Give family members a yearly ornament that symbolizes something important that occurred in their life that year (Suggested by Jennifer M.)
Make Christmas creative
- Buy a ceramic Christmas village and paint it with the family (Suggested by Kaitlyn S.)
- Make your own “Santa’s Workshop” and give homemade gifts (Suggested by Ben D.)
- Design and create luminarias to place along the driveway on Christmas Eve (Suggested by Kris B.)
- Have a stocking photo shoot for new arrivals born into the family in December (Suggested by Brenna K.)
- Make wearable stockings for babies born between December 1 and 25 (Suggested by Brenna K.)
- Convert your kitchen into a gingerbread construction area: devote countertops to different building stations and compare your creations at the end (Suggested by Shaunna G.)
Get cozy with family
- Pull out your sleeping bags and have a family sleepover under the Christmas tree lights (Suggested by Sarah S. and Eric J.)
- Grab some buttery movie theater popcorn, pack everyone into a car and drive around to see neighbors’ Christmas lights (Suggested by Collette B.)
- Snuggle up for a day packed with Christmas movies and yummy snacks (Suggested by Alison S.)
Other festive activities
- Watch holiday movies while working on a Christmas puzzle (Suggested by Katherine R.)
- Stuff stockings with silly string and have a silly string war after presents are opened (Suggested by Jenifer J.)
- Attend the Ogden Santa Run and visit the Ogden Christmas Village afterward (Suggested by Rebecca F.)
- Start the season off right with a classic Christmas movie, like “The Muppet Christmas Carol” (Suggested by Brooke S.)
