Christmas is a wonderful time to be a child.

Magic fills the air at every corner during the month of December: from Christmas movies, to music, to beautifully decorated stores with endless amounts of toys on display, to homes filled with baked goodies, laughter, and lighted trees. 

I have always rather enjoyed the Christmas season, but now, as a mother of two littles, it has taken on a new life. Watching them experience the magic of Christmas warms my soul and fills my heart to the brim.

Toddlers have a special way of making the most out of the simplest things. Don’t believe me? Give an empty box to a toddler and watch them play for hours. 

It really doesn’t take much to make Christmas special for your littles, but I do think something can be said for a little planning and purpose. 

Therefore, I have created a list of 10 Ways to Make Christmas Magical for Toddlers. 

1. Advent Calendar

An advent calendar is an easy way to fit in all of your Christmas traditions and activities. Our calendar for this year is mostly filled with things we would have done anyway… it just puts it in writing so that we don’t forget them. 

We will also be completing a scripture Advent Calendar that will help us keep the focus on Christ daily throughout this season. Head over to RedBird-Blue to grab your FREE Advent Scripture Calendar. (Trust me, it really is amazing!) 

2. Christmas Movie Night

Plug in the Christmas tree, turn off the lights, put on your pajamas, move your phone out of reach, and grab a bowl of popcorn as you watch one of your favorite family Christmas movies together. This tradition is one that you can start with your toddlers and continue on through the years… no matter how old they get! 

3. Wrapped Christmas Books

In our household, we started this tradition my son’s very first Christmas. This one takes a little extra work, but it is completely worth it! 

Wrap 25 Christmas books, one for each day of December leading up to Christmas, and enjoy 10 minutes every night as your toddler unwraps a book and you read it together as a family. 

Don’t have 25 Christmas books? No problem! Add one or two books to your collection each year, and supplement with a trip to the library. Even if you only have five Christmas books currently, wrap those up and countdown the last five days before Christmas. Each year you can add more days as you add more books to your collection.

*Tip* If using an Advent Calendar, coordinate your books with your Christmas activities. This year, I numbered the books and wrote that number with a sharpie on the wrapping paper. That way, on the day we watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, I can find the number to match the book, and can have our toddlers open that specific story for our nightly reading.

4. Christmas Lights

We all add lights to our tree, but this year, add lights somewhere a little more non-traditional. Place them on the ceiling of a small hallway, in a cardboard box, or above their bed and lay down with them as you stare at the lights (even better if you use moving lights) and talk about how beautiful the star over Bethlehem must have been. 

5. Letter to Santa

Writing letters to Santa is a great bonding experience with your child. Sit at the kitchen table together, and read out loud as you write the greeting to Santa, and have your child help you fill out their list. For your littlest babies, you may have to do some prompting, but record everything they say. This not only feeds into the magic of Christmas, but also makes for great keepsakes through the years.

6. Felt Christmas Tree

If your toddlers are anything like mine, they desperately want to help decorate your Christmas tree. Therefore, it can quickly become a time of frustration instead of joy. Simple solution? Distract your babes from your tree with their own Felt Christmas Tree that they can decorate again and again any time they want. 

7. Visit Santa

Santa is one of the most magical parts of Christmas. We read about him, sing about him, and talk about him all throughout the Christmas season. Keep the Santa magic alive by going to visit him at your local mall or during a Christmas event such as a downtown Christmas parade. 

8. Christmas Eve Box

This is another tradition that we began my son’s first Christmas and have fallen in love with it. Allow your children to open up one present on Christmas Eve that consists of new pajamas (which are great for Christmas morning pictures), a new Christmas book or movie, and even some other small goodies such as a candy cane or hot chocolate mix. 

9. Treats for Santa

I found this plate for $1 at Target this Christmas season, but have since seen many stores with plates very similar. Fill the plate on Christmas Eve and watch the magic light up in their eyes when they find the goodies half eaten on Christmas morning. 

*Since we will have already written a letter to Santa, the letter section on this particular plate will be used to write a thank you to Santa for bringing them gifts.

10. Special Christmas Wrapping Paper

For each child, choose a different wrapping paper and wrap all of their gifts in their special paper. Seeing gifts under the tree wrapped in fun paper (such as the pictured: Cars Christmas Paper or Minnie Mouse Christmas) will only add to the excitement of opening gifts. As they get older, choose more nondescript paper, and they will have to guess which paper is theirs.  Part of the fun will be in listening to their guesses all throughout December! Place a tiny scrap of the wrapping paper in the bottom of each child’s stocking so that on Christmas morning they will have to empty their stockings first to discover which wrapping paper is actually theirs. 

There you have it! 10 Ways to Make Christmas Magical for Toddlers. I hope it inspired you to add a new activity to your Christmas traditions this year. 

Quick disclaimer: I do not expect anyone to be super Mom or Dad and complete the entire list! Feel free to let yourself off the hook and just choose one or two ideas for this Christmas season. Anything you do will lend itself to great memories and traditions for your child! Enjoy this time to the fullest and leave the parental guilt behind. 

I pray a wonderful Christmas season to you and yours! 

My given name is Rachel, although the name I am called more than any other these days is Momma. Recently, my husband, Jonathan, and I decided to put my teaching career on pause to stay at home and focus on our two children. Ponytails and Pajamas documents our journey. Visit our website at www.ponytailsandpajamas.com