Are you longing to have a more meaningful Christmas? Perhaps you hope to help your children, grandchildren and the other young people in your life share special family traditions during the holiday season.
You might decide to cut down your own tree (Christmas Vacation-style!) or serve those less fortunate at a soup kitchen.
Check out these ideas for meaningful Christmas activities, and you might make some new family memories and have a wonderful time, too!
Some of our readers have shared how they enjoy meaningful time during the holidays with less emphasis on the commercial aspects. They’re enjoying simple Christmas celebrations and more time with friends and loved ones.
“I’ve been looking for ways to make Christmas exciting and magical for my children without making it chaotic and stressful for me,” wrote our reader Kelly.
Annie plans to buy ten $10 gasoline gift cards and pass them out randomly. She’s going to send some money to pay for someone’s heating bill, and she hopes to take a carriage ride in the city or go ice skating with her family.
Di from Copenhagen, Denmark plans to take time to listen to Christmas music, drink hot chocolate and tell her kids what Christmas is all about.
Marie plans to spend more time for family and friends, take a relaxing soak in a hot spring, make homemade Christmas decorations and stop in a tea shop for a hot drink.
Here are some more ideas about how to celebrate Christmas in a more meaningful way.
15 Ways to Have More Meaningful Holidays
1. Give a Gift with Purpose
If you have people on your list who seem to have everything for whom you still feel inclined to give a gift, consider giving to an organization like Heifer International.
You can choose wonderful gifts that will help other people, from a flock of ducks or a goat to an irrigation pump that will provide clean water. If you order early, Heifer will send you a beautiful card that you can give your recipient.
2. Sing Christmas Carols
Get together with some of your neighbors and go caroling. This nostalgic Christmas ritual doesn’t need to be complicated – just print out Christmas carol lyrics, announce a meeting place and go for an hour or two. Don’t forget the hot chocolate!
3. Pay a Visit
Talk to your nearest assisted living or nursing home facility, and find out if there is a resident who does not have regular visitors who could use a little cheering up. Visit someone who’s feeling lonely at the holidays, and simply give the gift of yourself. If you can bring your kids along, all the better.
4. Practice Gratitude
When I get caught up in the busyness of the season, writing in a gratitude journal always helps me refocus on all the good around me. You could also have a family activity where you share three things for which you’re grateful each evening during the holidays.
5. Spread Holiday Cheer
Make an effort to simply smile as much as possible during the holidays. Joy and smiles are contagious!
6. Give a Christmas Present to the Animals
Put some birdseed out for the birds, or go to your local shelter and pet the older cats for an hour. Make a donation to the Dumb Friends League or Humane Society.
7. Make a Spontaneous Donation
Put a bill or two in the red Salvation Army pot on a chilly day, and thank the bell-ringer for his or her service.
8. Start Your Day with Peace
Read a Christmas devotional during the holiday season, or begin your day with a prayer or meditation.
9. Make a Joyful Noise
Some families gather around the piano, sing one Christmas carol each night during the holiday season and explore the origin of the carol.
10. Give an Anonymous Gift to Someone in Need
My sister and parents have an annual tradition of making a gift basket for a family that has fallen on hard times. They have some hilarious stories of trying to be stealth in delivering the baskets and trying to sneak off without being discovered.
11. Do Something Kind for a Homeless Person
Give a warm pair of socks, a hat, a little cash or something yummy to eat.
12. Get Everyone Involved
Have each family member choose one activity during the holidays, so that each person has some personal involvement in your family’s celebration. You might just start some new family traditions!
13. Unplug and Read
Put the devices away and read a favorite Christmas story together, like The Night Before Christmas or the nativity story from the Bible.
14. Enjoy a Holiday Performance
Take in a play at your local community theater, or go hear a performance of Handel’s Messiah. If you’re a singer, join along!
15. Talk to Store Clerks
If you’ve ever worked a retail job during the holiday season, you know it can be very challenging. Ask employees how they’re doing, and give them extra grace when stores are busy and lines are long.
Christmas Blessing
I’ll end this series with an old Irish Christmas blessing. Here’s what I hope for you and yours this holiday season:
“The light of the Christmas star,
The warmth of home and hearth,
The cheer and good will of friends,
The hope of a childlike heart,
The joy of a thousand angels,
The love of the Son and God’s peace to you.”
How do you add more meaning to the season? Drop a comment about your traditions and ideas.
Here’s to a simpler Christmas and your most relaxed, peaceful, meaningful and enjoyable holiday ever.
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Eliza Cross is the creator of Happy Simple Living, where she shares ideas to help busy people simplify cooking, gardening, holidays, home, and money. She is also the award-winning author of 17 cookbooks, including Small Bites and 101 Things To Do With Bacon.
When I saw you mentioned my blog, I squee’d! Thank you!
I forgot to post last week but I did the challenge – we have our menus done – and I just posted my reply to this week’s too.
The meaning of Christmas is important to think about I feel.I like knowing why I do what I do, even if it’s because “I’m used to doing it”.
Christmas is a family tradition for us, that has evolved along with the family.
I’ve been reflecting on the why’s and how’s since last year. I am on the autism spectrum and feel easily overwhelmed by all the excitement and the running around. I’ve been trying to find ways to lessen the burn-out.
Your challenge to get ready is definitely helping I feel, thank you!
Best early christmas wishes to you. Hope it turns out to be a meaningful christmas ever. I hoping for the best. Thanks a lot for sharing these.
This year I did what I’ve said I would do for years! I finally sat down and planned out everything and now I feel so at ease with my gift giving, my activities with the kids…right down to what movies I plan to watch. It took about an hour and a half and about $20 bucks in supplies. My goal…for my family and me to truly feel the magic this year and not the stress!
http://thesimplifiedfamily.com/you-say-you-want-to-simplify-christmas-but-how-do-you-really-simplify-christmas/