12 Days of Christmas Gift Ideas for Families

One of our family's favorite Christmas traditions is surprising a friend or neighbor with  12-days of Christmas fun!   We've been doing it now for several years and my kids won't let us go through a Christmas season anymore without it.  When a friend recently mentioned wanting to start the tradition in her family and not really knowing where to begin, I thought I would compile some of the things we've learned over the last few years and share it with all of you. 

Choosing your recipient.   We take this step pretty seriously and have each member of the family give their input a couple of weeks beforehand.  We then pray about the names and decide who will be the recipient.  We don't  choose who we think is the neediest, but usually someone who is new or we feel could use a little pick-me-up or TLC.   After a family has been chosen, we try to do a little reconnaissance to make sure they're going to be in town through Christmas Eve.   This could also be fun to do for your own family. 

 Planning. After we decide who we're going to surprise, we sit down in a family meeting and plan each day's gifts out , marking it on the calendar what we're going to do.  It's helpful if the parents have done a little pre-planning and have some ideas to suggest, as well as having a budget in mind.  After you've decided what you want to do, I highly recommend purchasing everything in advance, so that you're not stuck at 7:00pm on some crazy night right before Christmas with nothing to give.   

Notes.  We usually write silly little poems to go with each night, but it isn't necessary at all.  Each delivery could simply have a note that reads, "On the seventh night of Christmas, the elf brought to you seven...."  or you could print off these cute printable tags that I found.

Packaging:  We package everything up in cheap gift bags or inexpensive baskets (from the dollar store), but you could wrap everything up in wrapping paper too. 

Delivery.  After all that prep work is when it's time for the real fun to begin!  We usually begin delivering on December 13, so that we'll finish up on Christmas Eve.  Our kids really enjoy leaving the gift on the doorstep, ringing the doorbell, and running to our car which I've parked just out of sight.  But you could also do blocked phone calls (by dialing *67 before the phone number) with the message that their package has been delivered.  My kids enjoy the running too much and would throw a fit if we ever tried that though!   We do try to vary the times of our deliveries, to minimize the chance of being caught, but my older kids have gotten brazen and will sometimes hide in the bushes to watch them open the door. 

Finishing up.  To reveal yourself or not?   We usually opt not to, because that's our personality, but it's up to the individual family whether you want them to  know who you are or not. 

It never fails to be a great experience for our family and we love imagining their excitement and anticipation each night for our deliveries.

So what do you give each night? 

I've compiled two versions of ideas...a deluxe version and a more economical version.  Both lists would be best suited for families with children.  You could mix and match between the two lists or add in any of your own ideas.  One thing to keep in mind, is that the lists are very flexible and you could move items around depending on how many people they have in their family or how many of a certain item you can easily find. 


Deluxe Version  Approximate Cost:  ~$125

1-a fun Christmas movie (perhaps this one,  this one, or this family favorite)
2-children's Christmas picture books (board books are cheaper--we like  this one  or   this one )
3-things for dinner (a soup mix, bread, and a bottle of sparkling cider)
4-different kinds of flavored hot chocolate mix + marshmallows
5-blossomed poinsettia plant  (this is an easy one to move around to a different day)
6-pairs of fuzzy socks (or these ones) for however many people they have in their family--check the dollar store
7- a goody plate with 7 different treats
8-sheets of Christmas Stickers
9-Christmas Cookie Cutters (+ a roll of sugar cookie dough + frosting + sprinkles)
10-Christmas ornaments (I like this set:  10-piece Olive Wood Nativity Ornament Set)
11-oranges + Christmas Orange story  (printed from here or  this gorgeous book version)
12-candy canes + the beautiful children's book, The Legend of the Candy Cane: The Inspirational Story of Our Favorite Christmas Candy  (the board book is cheaper)


Less Expensive Version  Approximate cost:  <$50

1-chocolate orange (to share) + printed Christmas Orange story
2-Christmas coloring books (and a box of crayons) (this one and  this one are cute)
3-things for dinner (a soup mix, bread, and a bottle of sparkling cider)
4- packets of flavored hot chocolate mix + marshmallows
5-blossomed poinsettia plant
6- Christmas cookie cutters + sugar cookie dough + frosting
7-homemade ornaments (or inexpensive 7-piece Nativity set from the Dollar Store)
8-Candy bar note with 8 different candy bars (use hot glue or clear packing tape to attach to a cardboard or poster board)  See this post or this post or this post for some fun ideas for writing the note
9-muffins for a yummy breakfast (along with 9 funny Christmas jokes to tell at breakfast)
10-oranges (with a reminder about Christmas orange story from 1st day)
11-a goody plate with 11 treats
12-a cd you've burned with your 12 favorite Christmas songs

 

Here are some other items you could also use:

*Christmas/New Year party in a box (party poppers, Martinelli's,photo booth props ,light-up necklaces, noisemakers, etc)

*Chocolate Oranges

* Holiday Stampers

*   Christmas Fun Mad Libs

* Nativity Stained  Glass Coloring Book

* Handmade Felt Nativity

HAVE FUN!!!!

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General Conference Traditions

General Conference weekend is upon us again and I thought it would be fun to gather a list of some fun General Conference traditions from my friends.  Most of the traditions revolve around food and quiet activities that keep hands busy and minds awake, but there are some fun, unique ones in here too that I wanted to share (and try someday too).

Most of these are quoted directly from friends.  Traditions with an asterisk* next to them, are traditions that our family uses.  

Feel free to add in some of your favorite traditions to the comment section! 

Food related traditions:

*Fresh homemade doughnuts (or some other exciting treat) on Sunday morning.  We rarely eat fried food, so the kids (and adults) look forward to it all year. 

Go to the grandparents' home for Sunday morning breakfast, then watch Sunday morning together.

Hot homemade bread coming out of the oven just when everything starts. It sure gets everyone in the room quick.

We have the kids listen for the "special word' of each talk (ie the topic). And then each time they hear the special word, they tell us and they get a small candy.

My parents have an indoor picnic and invite any near relatives. We would have all sorts of cold cuts, cheeses, and sandwich fixings with fun buns or fancy breads, along with chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, etc...

As a parent, we buy skittles, m and m's and play bingo for the first Sunday session.

We all get a bowl of M&Ms and every time we hear "Heavenly Father" or "Lord" we get to eat one! Helps keep our attention!

I used to go with my brother (and usually a couple other guys) to Chuck-a-Rama or other suitable eaterie and eat together before going over to the Stake Center for Priesthood Session.

*Ice cream sundaes at the YM president's house before Priesthood Session. 

A yummy breakfast/brunch something and watching on the internet, blasted loud thru the house while we watch in our jammies.

Ritz crackers, easy cheese, and guava juice...... whenever the prophet speaks to us. President Monson always gets out these three things when his family comes to visit, so when he speaks, that's what we eat. 

Quiet Ways to Engage the Kids:

(our basement was right in the middle of being remodeled in this picture...so excuse the torn up walls and tv on the ground)

(Similar to this story in the Friend) I have a friend who sets up their tent in front of the TV to watch it. Because King Benjamin's people listened to the first General Conference from their tents. :)  (How fun is that?  I want to try this one.)

*As a kid, we put out a huge sheet and dumped a million Legos on it and just built Lego creations for hours.   We were quiet and engaged.  (also shared by another friend)
 
We like to go through our 72-HR kits and update them.

We allow the kids and ourselves to work on something quiet with our hands, like my knitting, Peter's model painting, etc. We do this so we can stay awake during the talks. Not that the talks are boring, of course they are not, but the couch is so soft and comfy........

*Give small notebooks to each of the kids to take notes (or draw pictures).

*Have General Conference Activities printed off for each child. 


Service oriented traditions:

*Make a special treat (like cinnamon rolls or apple pies) and bring them to friends before or after conference. 

Invite an older ward member  to come watch with you.

*Invite a family to eat dinner with you between or after sessions. 


Miscellaneous traditions:

*The General Conference after my boys turn 12, my husband takes them on a Conference weekend trip to Utah ( a long flight for us) to attend as many sessions as possible (especially Priesthood Session).  It was a great time for them to bond and talk about the responsibilities of the Priesthood. 

*The week before Conference, have a special FHE about modern-day prophets and recognizing the spirit and tie it into preparing for General Conference. 

Have the house cleaned and errands run before conference, and make the room into a "Quiet Zone",  even posting signs on the entrance. 

Between sessions we usually check out the biographies or documentary stuff on byu tv. 

(from lds.org) Remove the spread with photos of the General Authorities from the most recent general conference edition of the Ensign. Use it to help children learn to identify the names of the speakers.

(from lds.org) Create general conference traditions by participating between sessions in a family activity, such as playing games, watching old family videos, taking a walk, or talking about the session that just ended.