12 Christmas Traditions to Start With Your Grandchildren

Ask an adult what they remember about Christmas as a child, and they rarely mention a present. They remember the same thing happening every year: the walk on Christmas Eve, the smell of a particular kitchen, the ornament they were allowed to hang at the top.

That is a tradition. And grandparents are exceptionally good at them, because you have the one thing a tradition really needs: time. You will be there next Christmas, and the one after that.

Here are twelve traditions you can start this year. Pick one or two. A tradition only needs to happen twice before a child starts saying “we always do this.”

1. An ornament every year

Give each grandchild one ornament every Christmas, chosen for something that happened that year: a little football for the year they joined a team, a tiny suitcase for the year they flew on a plane. Write the year on the back. By the time they move out, they have a box of ornaments for their own first tree, and a story for every one.

2. The Christmas Eve story

Read the same story every Christmas Eve, in person or on a video call. ’Twas the Night Before Christmas is the classic. It does not matter that they know it by heart. That is the point.

3. Your family recipe, taught by you

Every family has a dish that only appears at Christmas. Teach it to them, step by step, with the secret part only you know. When they are old enough, let them make it alone while you watch. Write the recipe down in your own handwriting and give it to them.

4. Baking day

Choose a day in December that is always baking day at your house. Cookies, gingerbread, mince pies, whatever your family loves. Children forgive any amount of mess if they are allowed to lick the spoon. If you need encouragement, our honest guide on how not to bake with your grandchildren will help.

5. The lights walk

On one evening in December, wrap up warm and walk or drive around to look at the Christmas lights. Bring a flask of hot chocolate. Every year, vote for the best house.

6. A story from your Christmas

Each Christmas, tell them one story from a Christmas when you were young. What was on the table, what you hoped for, who was there, what went wrong. Over the years, they will collect your whole childhood.

7. The time capsule

On Christmas Day, each write down a few lines: what you loved about this Christmas, what you hope for next year. Seal them in an envelope and open last year’s. Children are amazed by what they wrote a year ago.

8. Matching pyjamas, or matching socks

Some families love matching Christmas pyjamas. If that feels like too much, matching Christmas socks work just as well, and they fit in an envelope for grandkids who live far away.

9. A Christmas kindness

Every year, do one kind thing together for someone else: cards for a neighbour who lives alone, a box for the food bank, cookies for the postman. Children who do this every year grow up thinking it is simply part of Christmas.

10. The grandparent’s photo

Take the same photo every Christmas: the grandkids on your sofa, in front of your tree, or on your front step. Put them side by side after five years and watch everyone go quiet.

11. The countdown

Do one small thing together every day of December: snowflakes, carols, a film, a gingerbread house. It works in person and on video calls, so it suits families who live far apart. Our list of 24 Christmas countdown activities has a whole month of ideas.

12. The Christmas book

Give a book every Christmas Eve and write a message inside the cover, with the date. Over the years, it becomes a shelf of books with your handwriting in all of them.

How to make a tradition stick

Start small. One tradition kept for ten years beats five traditions that fade after one.

Talk to the parents. They have their own traditions, and the other grandparents may too. Find something that fits in, rather than competing for Christmas morning.

Make it work from far away. If your grandkids live far from you, choose traditions that travel: a story on a call, an ornament in the post, a recipe card, a countdown you do together on the screen. Our guide to a long-distance Christmas has more ideas.

Say “we always”. Children love the words “we always do this at Grandma’s.” Use them from the second year onwards.

Start with the countdown

If you are not sure where to begin, start with December itself. Our free printable Christmas Countdown has 24 small activities for the days before Christmas, a calendar for the fridge, and a page to write down your best moments to keep for next year.

Get the free Christmas Countdown

What is the Christmas tradition you remember most from your own childhood?