Oh Christmas time is some of my favorite family time because of our family’s Christmas traditions.  When I think about my favorite carols at Christmas, O Holy Night has to be right at the top. Listening to it reminds me of the great gift Christ was to us and makes me want to follow Him more. This year I thought it would be fun to spruce up a few of our traditions and thought it might be fun that you might like too!
I adore HUGE prints in my home, especially that will help my kids come to know and remember the true meaning of Christmas, so this year, I am hanging this sweet print in a special place.
To grab the King of Kings Free Printable, Click HERE.
Tradition 1:
So our first tradition we do is to display an empty manger in our home. On the first Monday in December, we have a family night where we talk about the gifts Christ gave us and how we can give gifts of ourselves to Him throughout the holiday season. We all fill out a special card with our gift to him, (some include praying more fervently, being obedient to parents on the first time, not complaining, etc.) and we put them under the tree. On Christmas morning, we open them and read them and share what we learned. On this family night we also talk about service and make a goal to fill our manger with hay so it’s soft when Christmas comes. 1 piece of hay = 1 act of service. I don’t monitor this. I remind the kids each morning and slowly, but surely, that manger gets filled up each holiday season. I find that the more service we are all involved in, the happier our home is. One idea I had is to put this huge print behind the manger to remind us that Christ came to be our Exemplar, our King and on a personal level, our friend. As I serve others, I am really coming closer to Him.
Tradition 2:
One of my favorite things I love to do is to put a nativity out that my kiddos can play with. I love having reminders all over my home of the true meaning of Christmas and several times throughout the season, we go over the Christmas Story and let the kids reenact it with their nativity. I pick up new nativities that are unbreakable so I don’t have to stress and they don’t have to be careful! This is just a fun way to help them remember the true meaning of the season. I thought it might be fun to put this new print up just over the nativity.
These big prints are really easy to get printed for cheap. Take the file to a FedEx Office, Office Max or Staples and get it printed as an engineering print for $5 (24×36) or $9 (36×48). Then just hang with some command strips. It really is that simple!
To grab the King of Kings Free Printable, Click HERE.
I hope you have the Happiest of Holiday seasons and that you can find a new tradition or idea to help you remember the real reason for the season!
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If you loved this, I’m sure you will also love these:
Christmas Countdown / For Unto Us a Child is Born / For Unto You
 This post was originally shared on The Crafting Chicks.
