{25 ways to keep the Magic in Christmas}


Seeing the magic of Christmas unfold through Mason's eyes will forever be one of my favorite things. I've always loved the Christmas season, but there is just something so special about sharing Christmas with your child(ren). It's so important to Nathan and I to keep the magic in Christmas for Mason. Even though it's a lot of work on our end, it's worth it and we enjoy it. Seeing his face light up and the way he believes makes my heart and soul so happy. And if we're being honest, there really is only a short period of time that they truly believe. Why not make that time as magical as possible?

Below are 25 ways that we keep the magic in Christmas for Mason. 


1.) Make a personalized video from Santa and add in as many pictures and personal details that you can. The more Santa knows about them the more they believe! We use Portable North Pole to make our personalized Santa videos. We have done this every year since Mason was born and I feel like he gets more excited with each new year. I love to video his reactions to the Santa video as he is watching it. It makes the sweetest of Christmas memories.

2.) Schedule a call from Santa Claus. You can do this on the Portable North Pole as well.

3.) Take them to visit Santa. It's so easy to find a Santa near you. We like to scope out the more realistic looking Santas so that there are less questions asked by Mason. If you have a Bass Pro Shop near you I highly suggest checking there. We've been to a few Bass Pro Shops around Christmas time and they always have the greatest Santa's and most beautiful backgrounds. Plus, the picture is free! And they always have specials on more prints.

4.) Let them write a letter to Santa and mail it. There are some places that will actually write a letter back to your child. Or, you can DIY the letter yourself. There are tons of free letterhead on Pinterest {here, here and here}.

5.) If you do not have a chimney {we do not} have a special key for Santa to be able to get in. We leave ours hanging from our doorknob on Christmas Eve...easy for Santa to find.  Example here.

6.) Put Santa in your photos. We use Santa was in my House. There are several apps out there that do this.

7.) Grow a candy cane. Plant a peppermint and leave it. Bring the kid(s) back later to see that the magic peppermint seed grew into candy cane. We will have our Elf leave a peppermint and a place to plant it {sprinkled with glitter, of course} for Mason to plant. He would believe it more this way. When he gets home from school the peppermint will have grown into a candy cane.

8.) Let them watch the live Reindeer camera. There are several apps out there for this one as well.

9.) Watch the Santa Tracker to keep up with Santa's whereabouts on Christmas Eve.

10.) Make magic Reindeer Food {oats, sprinkles and glitter} to put in the yard on Christmas Eve to help guide the reindeer to your home.

11.) Leave special treats out for Santa and the Reindeer. We leave cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

12.) On Christmas Eve take bites out of the treats that your little(s) left for Santa and the Reindeer so when they wake in the morning they can see that Santa and the reindeer found the special treats.

13.) Have Santa leave a thank you note for the special treats.

14.) Embrace the Elf on the Shelf. We started this tradition last year and it was a big hit. Mason was in complete awe of his elf and thought his magic was just about the coolest thing ever. He has talked about Max throughout the whole year and cannot wait for his return.

15.) Watch Christmas movies. We like to choose ones that are full of magic, prove Santa is real, or has a good message. A few of our favorites are Polar Express, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Home Alone and The Santa Clause.

16.) Read Christmas books. Again, we love the ones that are full of Christmas magic. Some of our favorites are Polar Express, The Gift Giver, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey and the Night Before Christmas.

17.) Drop a bell in the yard and tell the little(s) that it must have fallen off Santa's sleigh.

18.) Sprinkle glitter around the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve to show that Santa was there and left some of his magic dust. You can also do this on your fireplace, porch and yard and anywhere else Santa might have walked.

19.) Leave Reindeer poop {chocolate covered raisins} on your porch and in your yard. Kids get a kick out of this!

20.) Have a Christmas campout by the glow of the Christmas tree. Grab some sleeping bags, your most festive pajamas, some hot cocoa and cozy up by the tree to watch a Christmas movie. Sleep all night by the tree!

21.) Take a ride on the Polar Express. This is hands down one of our most favorite Christmas traditions. The whole experience is magical from start to finish. I think most big towns do some sort of Polar Express. It seems to get more popular each year. We have to buy our tickets in September every year.

22.) Listen to North Pole Radio. Christmas music all day by DJ Santa Claus. In between songs they play commentary from Santa and the elves.

23.) Leave a Santa Special Delivery Bag by the tree on Christmas morning! Even better if it's personalized with the child's name. You can find these on Amazon and Target even had them in their dollar section this year.

24.) Leave Santa tracks around the house with a pair of boots and flour.

25.) Make sure Santa uses different wrapping paper than Mom & Dad do.


How do you keep the magic in Christmas for your kid(s)? Any traditions you have?

Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Becky at BYBMG | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram


20 comments

  1. Yes yes yes!! I do the majority of these things and it makes Christmas so special. I love helping make the magic of Christmas come alive for my kids. Thanks for sharing. I'm stealing a few ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are wonderful tips!! Love the reindeer poop

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOVE this list! We have done so many of these over the years but I would like to try a few more! Thanks for sharing these ideas friend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are all great ways to keep the magic this time of year! I really want to do a call from Santa and also the picture of him in the house!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such great ideas, Crystal!! Pinning so I can refer back to this list every year!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great list! Definitely want to sign up for the phone call from Santa for Sadie!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The reindeer poop!! Oh my so funny! These are such special ideas, Crystal. Love them all!

    ReplyDelete
  8. These are all GREAT ideas, Crystal. Seeing Christmas through your child's eyes is truly the very best gift ever. I wish we could always have tiny kids at Christmas time, but since they will eventually grow up, I'm trying to soak every ounce of it up right now.

    ReplyDelete
  9. #14. I swore I would never do the elf on the shelf thing until my now 8 year old was in kindergarten and was devastated that everyone in his class had an elf on the shelf at home and he didn't. I bought one the following year and even my 14 year old gets into it!

    Jen@Jenshealthylife
    jenshealthylife.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. These are such fun suggestions! My mom still goes crazy for the Santa tracker, calling us to give us updates throughout the day. :) I'll have to check out the North Pole radio this year, sounds really fun. And I agree, Bass Pro Shops have the best Santas, hand down!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is such a great list! We are obsessed with the santa tracker on Christmas Eve! And yes different paper! Somehow my mother never did this when I was a kid and we never noticed?? Crazy. My kids would notice. Haha

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love this! I actually just sent it to Chris so we can decide what we are gonna do! I know Noah would get a kick out of the reindeer poop!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love these ideas, Crystal! Thanks for sharing. My son reminds me of your Mason, and I think he would totally get a kick out of the reindeer poop on the porch! You know how boys are... ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Such a sweet list. I think having a kid definitely helps stay in the spirit. I've found that getting old (and being kidless)...it's kind of hard to get and stay in the holiday mood. So special that you do these things with your kiddo!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. You are creating such great memories for mason, I love every single one of these, and simultaneously feel exhausted.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love all these!!! I never would've thought of 80% of these. What a magical season for Mason :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. These are all so great, and so many we do, too!!
    We also LOVE the app Catch Santa in My House. Christmas morning we open it up and see that Santa has really been in our home!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Crystal, you've given me so much to do this Christmas to make it more magical than ever before.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh I love these ideas! While we do quite a few of them, it's always fun to add more! The wrapping paper part is my favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Such a fun list! I completely forgot about the peppermint/candy cane tradition when I wrote my post yesterday. We did that with jelly beans/lollipops for Easter and the kids loved it!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the comments! Hope you are having an amazing day!!