For so many people, December 25 is the most joyful day of the year. It's a day filled with Christmas traditions like gathering around the Christmas tree to open carefully wrapped gifts and enjoying a big family Christmas brunch. Yet, for all the classic day-of holiday activities, there are just as many fun Christmas Eve traditions to get excited about the night before! While Ree Drummond's family enjoys an evening of carols and contemplation at church, other families might leave out homemade Christmas cookies for Santa.
No matter how you celebrate, starting a new Christmas Eve tradition will get you in an even more festive mood as you anticipate the main event. Here, you'll find a roundup of some time-honored traditions, plus a few more ideas that might not be so familiar. For example, perhaps you'd like to wear matching family Christmas pajamas just like the Drummonds do, or watch one of Ree's favorite Christmas movies.
You could also hand out Christmas Eve boxes, start hanging up a Christmas pickle ornament, make your own Christmas village, or sing some holiday karaoke after your Christmas Eve dinner celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes. One thing's for sure—no matter which Christmas Eve tradition you add to your roster, it'll bring treasured memories for years to come. So gather your loved ones around the tree, hang a few new ornaments, and start the celebration a day early!
Hide a Christmas Pickle Ornament
The Christmas pickle tradition is a pretty big dill—especially for the kiddos! Here's how it works: you'll hide a pickle ornament in the tree on Christmas Eve, then in the morning, the kids will race to see who can find it first. The winner gets to unwrap the first present or receives a small extra prizes.
Read Christmas Cards
You likely received a handful of cheerful Christmas cards this holiday season! So, carve out some time in your evening to go through them all. You'll be filled with joy at all the wonderful people you have in your life.
Play Christmas Games
From classic games like charades and heads up to more unique contests like a hot chocolate marshmallow toss, your whole crew will have so much festive fun playing Christmas games together.
Gather Around a Fire
There's nothing cozier than a Christmas Eve bonfire! Grab some blankets, bundle up, then build a roaring fire for roasting marshmallows or even chestnuts. Don't forget the hot cocoa!
Take Festive Family Photos
Dress up in your most festive outfits or grab some matching pajamas to pose in front of the camera! A family (or friend group) photoshoot will ensure you never forget your special celebrations. You might even use the best ones for next year's holiday cards.
Make Reindeer Food
If you're leaving milk and cookies for Santa, be sure to leave a little snack for his reindeer, too! You can grab carrots or make special food for his flying sleigh team using oats, sprinkles, and (biodegradable) glitter!
Go on a Holiday Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of Christmas decorations (like a wreath, inflatable Santa, large nutcracker, and more) then go on a family walk around your neighborhood to see how many of the items you can check off.
Put Together a Christmas Puzzle
Spend your Christmas Eve cozied around the fire with your family as you put together a festive puzzle (or play a seasonal board game)! Snacks and hot cocoa included, of course!
Say Bye to Your Elf on the Shelf
When Christmas Eve rolls around, it's time for your Scout Elf to head back to The North Pole. So, be sure to give them a proper sendoff before they join Santa on his journey!
Spend Time in the Snow
If you're lucky enough to enjoy a white Christmas, spend the evening enjoying all the fun snow activities! You can go sledding, build a snowman, make snow angels or even go ice skating.
Attend a Church Service
Christmas Eve church services are an important holiday tradition for many people. It's the perfect time to come together with friends and family to reflect on the reason for the season!
Celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes
You don't need to be Italian-American to celebrate this annual tradition, but it's been popular in the community for generations. You don't have to stick to the seven fish or seven dish rule either. The point is to celebrate with an abundance of seafood any way you'd like.
Read 'The Night Before Christmas'
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, everyone sat down to read this classic tale… well, maybe not the mouse. It's the perfect time to get the family together for a few minutes of calm!
Make a Yule Log Cake
One of the most festive (and most delicious!) Christmas desserts is this tasty chocolate roll cake. Make it Christmas Eve to eat on Christmas day or dig in early. No one will complain either way!
Get the Yule Log cake recipe.
Create Christmas Eve Boxes
Especially if you've got little ones, Christmas Eve boxes are a great way to help calm the anticipation of the big day by allowing them to open a little something the day before.
Sing Some Christmas Karaoke
Listening to Christmas tunes throughout December is one of the best ways to get in the holiday spirit. Set up karaoke on YouTube or invest in a karaoke machine and host a night belting your favorite holiday tunes.
Craft a Homespun Ornament
If you want sentimental heirlooms your grandkids can cherish during the holidays, start the tradition of making a DIY ornament each Christmas Eve. Eventually, you’ll have a collection for everyone to choose from.
Leave Cookies and Milk for Santa
After you've baked a few for your family to enjoy, make a plate of cookies for Santa. After the kids go to bed take a few bites out of the cookies so they'll have proof that Santa was really there!
Make a Christmas Toast
Christmas Eve is a time to gather with family and feel gratitude for each other, and for the food and gifts that await. And what better way to express that gratitude than by raising your glass for a toast with your nearest and dearest?
This is one of the most romantic holiday traditions! Grab your sweetheart and share a smooch under the mistletoe to spread a little Christmastime love.
Take a Carriage Ride
Bundle up in your favorite festive clothing and take a sweet carriage ride. Plenty of towns and cities offer this type of horse-drawn attraction, from New York to New Orleans. Some areas also have local Christmas train rides!
Have a White Elephant Gift Exchange
Why save all the fun for Christmas morning? Enjoy a family white elephant gift exchange the night before! In this gift-giving game, everyone brings a quirky or gag gift that’s wrapped with no label. Members draw numbers and, in order, select a gift to unwrap. If it’s your turn and you see someone who has an unwrapped gift you want, you can choose to steal it instead.
Write Riddles on Each Present
Before you place gifts under the tree, write a riddle about the present on the wrapping paper or the card attached. In the morning, have everyone go around and try to guess what their present is! This cute guessing game will become a family favorite.
"Wrap" Everyone's Door
On Christmas Eve, place wrapping paper over the kids' doorways or the entrance to the living room. They'll have to burst through in the morning to get to their presents!
Build a Gingerbread House
Decorating a gingerbread house is fun for all ages, so why not make it an annual tradition? Follow these tips to make one from scratch or save time and buy a kit. Either way, it'll be so entertaining.
Hang a New Symbolic Ornament
Start a tradition of buying an ornament that corresponds to something that happened during the year. For example, find a tennis ball ornament if your family began playing tennis together. This will create unique memories attached to each of your family's ornaments!
Make Cinnamon Rolls
Pro tip: If you'd prefer to deliver ooey gooey cinnamon rolls in the morning, you can simply prep the dough on Christmas Eve! Growing up, Ree's mom always made them for her own good friends at Christmastime, and in Ree's words, "You could literally hear the primal groans of pure joy rising from the rooftops of our town."
Flip Through Old Christmas Photos
Trust us: Your kids will love staring at shots from Christmases past… and they'll be giggling with delight at most of them. (For inspiration, here's Ree in her first-ever Nutcracker performance!)
Make Your Own Eggnog
What's Christmas without a mug of eggnog (or, okay, several mugs)? You don't have to go the raw egg route, by the way: In this recipe, they're swapped for whipped heavy cream.
Sport Ugly Christmas Sweaters
You have to be a pretty big Grinch not to love ugly Christmas sweaters. After all, they're comfy, cozy, and oddly charming. Have the gang slide on their versions of the best of the worst, or ask everyone to DIY their pullovers. You can even make it into an annual contest, with the most extreme entry winning.
Dress Up Your Pet
Hey, Christmas fun shouldn't be relegated to humans alone! Give your pets a holiday-ready makeover with fun hats, antlers, and even red and green capes.
Make Stovetop Potpourri
There are few things more nostalgia-inducing than smells—which is what makes the idea of starting a potpourri tradition so special. Your kids will remember the smell of your home on Christmas Eve for years to come!
Wear Matching PJs
On Christmas Eve, get the whole family dressed in the most ridiculous matching pajamas you can find. Then, wear them Christmas morning, just like the Drummonds. You'll make memories to last a lifetime—and hilarious Instagram posts.
See the Lights
One activity guaranteed to get everyone in the holiday spirit is to pack in the family car, turn on the carols, and head off to see the best light displays in your area. Whether over-the-top and tacky, or understated and lovely, houses dressed in their brightest holiday bulbs and bling are sure to get the whole clan smiling. Don't forget the hot chocolate for some extra sweetness on the ride!
Watch Christmas Movies
From the Jimmy Stewart classic It's a Wonderful Life, to Will Ferrell's sweet and silly film, Elf—both Ree favorites—binging Christmas movies is a merry way to to while away the night before the big day.
Make a Christmas Village
Why pay big prices for a decorative Christmas village when you and the kiddos can make one yourselves using inexpensive wooden birdhouses? The best part is, you can start a tradition by crafting a new building every Christmas Eve and placing it with the rest of the village.
Volunteer
There is little that feels quite as good as doing good, so this Christmas Eve (and every one after) why not volunteer your time to serve those in need? Nursing homes, senior centers, homeless shelters, hospitals, and animal shelters are all places that tend to need help and where you can make a big difference.
Hang Stockings
The night before Christmas is the perfect time to hang (and stuff!) stockings by the chimney with care. But if you'd like to take the tradition a step further, why not make your own DIY stockings for every member of your family?
Go Caroling
Grab your family and friends and head out into the neighborhood to wish your neighbors a Merry Christmas in song. Or, get a karaoke machine and start a new tradition rocking around the Christmas tree.
Bake Christmas Cookies
If there's one activity everyone loves to do on Christmas Eve, it's bake cookies. Ree recommends making more than one type, so cookie platters will look more fun.
Follow Santa
Thanks to NORAD's Santa Tracker, which has been keeping an eye out for the Jolly Old Elf for more than 60 years, it's possible for kids to follow Mr. Claus as he makes his appointed rounds on Christmas Eve. In addition to the website, you can get updates on Santa's progress across the globe via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Make Christmas Crackers
Whether you call them Christmas crackers or poppers, these brightly-colored table decorations filled with confetti, gifts, and jokes make a great Christmas Eve craft. After you've DIYed to your heart's content, use them with dinner!
Create Care Packages
Like volunteering, putting together care packages is an activity that brings home the reason for the season. Get the whole family involved in filling up boxes with goodies on Christmas Eve. You can drop them off to homeless shelters that night, or mail them later to soldiers overseas for a pleasant post-Christmas surprise.
Toss an Open House Party
The traditional shindig's more relaxed cousin, an open house party invites guests to drop in anytime during a specific period. This is especially great for busy Christmas Eves, since it makes it easier for your fam and friends to find the time to attend.
Do Christmas Crafts
Crafting on Christmas Eve brings everyone closer. We especially love this recipe for salt dough ornaments, which can be given as adorable gifts or hung on your own family's tree.