Christmas ideas for your family
Crafts, games, letters and answers to the questions Christmas brings. Choose a topic or find a particular article.
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Letters & Christmas stories
First letters, personal messages and the story of an arrival. Find words and ideas that fit your family’s Christmas.
Explore the topic ↗Christmas day & family plans
Visits, work, travel and last-minute changes. Make a plan around your real family day, with room for things to change.
Explore the topic ↗Christmas crafts
Paper, pencils and things you have at home. Make decorations, cards and small Christmas creations together.
Explore the topic ↗Games & time together
What to do while waiting, visiting or enjoying a quiet afternoon. Games, reading and ideas for time together.
Explore the topic ↗Traditions & memories
Family customs and memories worth keeping. Choose what to carry on, change or try for the first time this Christmas.
Explore the topic ↗Children’s questions & feelings
Questions about Santa, expectations and disappointment about presents. Find starting points for a conversation that fits your child.
Explore the topic ↗What to do while waiting for Santa ↗
Choose what fits this moment: make something, play a game or write a few words. You do not have to fill every minute of waiting.
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Traditions & memories
Christmas in Austria: Christkind, local masks and Silent Night
Explore Austria’s Christmas traditions with children: compare one family’s tree ritual, distinguish two masked customs and discover where Silent Night began.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in Canada: three stops, three different traditions
A shared meal, a disguised visitor and a city parade give you three ways to talk with your child about Christmas in Canada, without turning regional examples into a rule for everyone.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in Czechia: Ježíšek, the festive table and family customs
“Why have our friends already decorated their tree when we haven’t?” A child’s question like this is a good opening for a conversation about Christmas. You can begin simply: “This is how we do it at home. Other families have their own customs.” Czech Christmas has familiar figures, foods and decorations, but each household puts them together a little differently.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in Germany: the stories behind a boot, a calendar and a wooden pyramid
A St Nicholas boot, a December calendar and a wooden pyramid serve different purposes. Explore them with your child without treating one custom or regional craft as the whole of Christmas in Germany.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in Italy: northern sweets, Neapolitan Nativity scenes and Befana
“Who brings presents in Italy?” When talking about Christmas together, it is easy to stop at one figure and one date. But the Italian festive season offers more stories. Three stops are enough for a first introduction: sweet breads in the north, Nativity scenes in Naples and Befana in January. Each shows a different side of the season.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in Japan: cake, chicken and lights alongside New Year traditions
In a picture from Japan, Christmas decorations glow, a strawberry cake sits on the table and chicken is served beside it. “Is this Christmas too?” a child might ask. Yes, these things are part of Japan’s Christmas season too. That does not mean every household celebrates this way. New Year customs have their own place alongside Christmas.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in Slovakia: from wafers to regional stories
You are sitting at a Christmas Eve table in Slovakia. Some things feel familiar; you do not yet know what to call others. Perhaps there are bobaľky beside a wafer with honey, or someone mentions mačanka. You do not need to know the whole menu beforehand. Just listen to what makes Christmas special in this family. Slovak Christmas traditions do not form a single list that applies from the west of the country to the east.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in Spain: from Nochebuena to Three Kings Day
If your child sees a Spanish Three Kings parade, they may ask, “Do they still have Christmas in January?” Yes: according to Spain’s national tourist office, the Christmas season extends through 6 January. That does not mean every family celebrates the same way or all presents arrive on one day. Start by distinguishing Christmas Eve from Three Kings Day in January. If you come across a Christmas log, add one more point: this is a Catalan custom, not a rule for all of Spain.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in the United Kingdom: crackers, panto and a Welsh visitor
A paper crown, a Christmas pantomime with speaking parts and the Welsh Mari Lwyd: three British Christmas scenes explained for children, without extra preparations or sweeping claims.
Read the article ↗Traditions & memories
Christmas in the USA: Santa, New Mexico’s lights and the Three Kings
You spot Santa in an American Christmas story, and your child asks whether everyone in the United States celebrates this way. A single picture cannot answer that. Alongside the familiar figure in red are local light traditions and the stories of different communities. Let’s look at three examples together: each reveals a different part of Christmas in America.
Read the article ↗Christmas crafts
Make a cardboard photo stand with a separate rear leg
Give a Christmas drawing or spare family photo a place on the shelf. Make a cardboard backing with a separate rear leg, then use ready-made photo corners to hold a picture you can change.
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Let your child draw the Christmas meal you are actually serving
Make one small menu card from the host’s confirmed plan. Pictures can show what is coming without inventing another dish.
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