by Lorie Newman

I read a postcard during the Christmas season years ago when my first child was only four years old– It read, “Do your children think the miracle of Christmas is how Santa gets down the chimney?”  OUCH!  I vowed then and there to make SURE my kids knew FULL well the real meaning of Christmas by doing fun and magical things during the Christmas season that bring honor to Jesus Christ.   

1. If you have a large fancy Christmas tree, consider purchasing a small Christmas tree just for the kids to decorate each year. Let them decorate it with all homemade items. In our home during the Christmas season, Fridays are our “Christmas Fun” days and we make an ornament each Friday for the little tree.

2. Going overboard on the Christmas gifts for your kids? I found this to be the case with me years ago. I didn’t want my children to grow up expecting lots of gifts and making that the focus of Christmas, so I decided to limit their gifts to only three. I figure, if three gifts was good enough for Jesus, then it is good enough for my children. It causes them to only ask for what they really want and it helps us all to take the focus off the gifts.

3. If your house layout will allow it, on Christmas Eve night, cover up the entrance to the room where the gifts will be opened with wrapping paper. The kids have to “bust through” Christmas! This adds to the excitement and it also keeps early risers from peaking at the gifts on Christmas morning!

4. Hang a stocking out for Jesus during the entire Christmas season. Allow the children to fill it with spare change. Let the children bag up the change after Christmas and put it in the offering plate at church for missions.

5. Definitely go through the kids toy boxes before Christmas! You may want to do this when the kids are away…. sometimes they are reluctant to give away their toys even when you know they have outgrown them! Donate the toys to a charity for kids who are needy.

6. Let each of your children browse through a Holiday cook-book to find a goodie they want to make.  Let them help you shop for the ingredients, then spend an afternoon cooking the goodie together in the kitchen.  Don’t forget to share some of it with neighbors and friends!

7.  Purchase an inexpensive and non-breakable nativity set for the kiddos to play with.  Role-play is great for little ones.

8.  Keep a basket full of Christmas books from the Library near the couch.  Choose a book to read each night before bed.  If your kids are older, you can even read a chapter each night from a Christmas Chapter book.

9.  Purchase those cheap plastic Christmas balls and use a permanent marker to write a name for Christ on each one.  Examples– Counselor, The Way, The Gate, Emmanuel, etc.  Put them all in a basket near the Christmas tree.  Each day, pick a new ball to read, discuss, and then add to the Christmas tree. 

10.  Above all, make sure you do not over emphasize “Santa.”  Satan would love nothing more than for the children of Christians to think the miracle of Christmas is how Santa gets down the chimney… make sure your kids know WHY they celebrate on December 25th.