The holiday season is filled with family traditions. From decorating a tree together to making a favorite recipe, these traditions are often the things that create the most treasured memories. Carrying on traditions from generation to generation is something special that helps to strengthen a family’s identity. If you have young children, here are some ideas for holiday activities your family could cherish for years to come.

• Between the stress of holiday to-do lists and the anticipation of the day itself, it can be hard to remember to be thankful throughout the holiday season. Create an Advent Calendar that helps your family remain thankful this month by hanging 25 clear plastic fill-able ornaments from a ribbon. Each day, have a member of your family fill an ornament with a note about something they’re thankful for.
• Help your kids give back this holiday season by introducing “Santa’s Toy Swap.” Have your kids pick out old toys to leave under the tree for Santa to take back to the North Pole to repair for other children.
• Read holiday stories together. Whether it’s a new book each year or the same one again and again, reading stories as a family is a simple tradition your children will look forward to every year.
• Start an ornament collection for each of your kids by giving ornaments as gifts, letting them pick out their own, or making one with them each year. Your kids will be excited to decorate the tree with their ornaments and will have a collection to take with them when they move out. Make sure to mark each ornament with the year, so both you and your child can see how the collection grows with them every year.
• Take a cue from a holiday children’s book. There are so many children’s books that inspire holiday traditions, such as The Elf on the Shelf which allows families to adopt one of Santa’s “scout elves” to keep an eye on their home during the Christmas season. After reading Night Tree, your kids will be excited to decorate an outdoor tree with seeds, popcorn, and fruits as a gift to the animals of the woods. Another book to spark a new family tradition is The Pajama Elves, which pairs with a Christmas Eve gift of new pajamas.

Whichever way you choose to celebrate, we hope you find ways to create memorable moments with your family. What are your favorite family traditions?