Fun Christmas Traditions For One and All

So much doom and gloom in the news, so many people affected by the economy and the holiday spirit seems dim for many. While there may not be as many gifts under the tree this year, there are lots of other ways to enjoy the holidays without spending big bucks. Our family has some fun traditions that add fun and laughter to the holiday season and best of all cost almost nothing. One of our favorites is the annual Christmas Eve entertainment that the kids put on each year. When they were younger it was skits, as they grew older it was games and songs. This annual tradition keeps all the cousins connected in the weeks before Christmas as they text, email and "Face Book" each other with their ideas. The songs are usually hysterical. My all time favorite was the "Twelve Days of Christmas". Each day was dedicated to a family member and they re-worked the words to something relevant to that person or couple. Each cousin or pair of cousins would sing their day and by the end, all of the room was filled with laughter and everyone was singing along!

Another fun entertainment was the Karaoke extravaganza. The initial thought was that we would all sing Christmas carols together, but it evolved into a mini "American Idol" that lasted most of the evening with all age groups participating. The cost of the karaoke rental was minimal but the fun was enormous.

One of our favorite games is Santa Bingo.. everyone can play, it’s easy and fun. Our spin is that the kids make up the Bingo calls with terms relevant to the families instead of using numbers. They used CLAUS, instead of BINGO. They make up 8-10 choices for each letter and those become the "Bingo Calls". For example, under C is Carol’s Birthday, since my birthday falls during the holidays. One of the cousins has recently gotten engaged, so I am sure this year’s Bingo calls will include that event. They always add events that have happened during the year. Then everyone fills in their own Bingo card using the choices the kids have made up. The prizes are usually instant lottery tickets or some small token, but trust me, it is never about the prizes! Santa Bingo is easy, inexpensive, and yet fun for all. The way the kids play it, the game keeps everyone up to date on all the happenings since last year.

Another funny Christmas Eve game was "Guess Who". The kids printed out photos of famous people, cartoon characters, animals, politicians etc. You name it, they had a photo on this sheet. Everyone got a sheet and had to match up each photo with someone in the family. Once everyone finished with their guesses, the kids revealed their selections. They were very creative.. but the ones everyone knew instantly was that Santa was Grandpa and Mother Teresa was Grandma.. the rest of us were up for grabs! Even the littlest ones had fun guessing who was who!

Small traditions like these are all a major part of our family holidays. It keeps the focus off the material aspect of the holidays and helps us each to appreciate the joy of a large family. After all, isn’t that what the holidays should be all about? If you would like to see more of our family traditions visit Celebration Ideas Online . There are ideas, instructions and even a free printable Santa Bingo game you can use for your own gathering.