20+ Fun Family Holiday Traditions with Teens
When your children are toddlers or elementary schoolers, it is hard to imagine that they’ll ever actually be teenagers.
But then that moment comes when your kids are growing up and suddenly the family holiday traditions they loved for years are no longer very appealing to them.
Christmas picture books? Maybe not this year.
Visiting Santa? Pass.
With my own kids entering the teen and tween age ranges, I asked my Instagram audience for suggestions about family holiday traditions that would appeal to older kids.
And they delivered! I’ve collected some of my favorite suggestions below and I hope you’ll find them helpful for your family too.
And, of course, every family and child is different. Some want to keep the same traditions going forever (my siblings and I kept doing gingerbread house decorating parties into our high school years and some of our guy friends loved being invited and got just as into it as the rest of us!).
The main thing I always try to remember is that traditions are to serve our family and not the other way around. If the tradition no longer works, that means your family has just grown and changed, not that anything is wrong!
20+ Fun Family Holiday Traditions with Teens
Go look at lights: I can’t think of an age where this activity gets old. Pair it with pajamas/loungewear in the car and the seasonal Chick-Fil-A peppermint shake and you have yourself a very special night.
Cookie Time: A bunch of people said their teens still enjoy cookie decorating, which makes me really happy. The fun part about teens is you can try out some harder decorating skills. A cookie challenge was also mentioned. Each child chooses a cookie they love and make it. This would be fun to do with a bunch of friends. Have them over to your house, blast some Christmas music and eat some delicious cookies!
Service: I love this suggestion. Service with little kids can be so difficult, but with older kids it can be really meaningful and memorable. Suggestions included serving at the soup kitchen, making sack lunches for the homeless, getting involved in a charity event and adopting a family and go shopping for the gifts together.
Christmas Day traditions: After all of the present unwrapping hoopla is done, it’s always fun to have something else to look forward to. Last year I did a post about Christmas Day traditions and it was one of the most popular posts! Suggestions ranged from going to a movie, Chinese food on Christmas Day and snow football.
Get them involved in the prep: One of the best parts about being one of the older kids is being in on all of the action. Get your teens involved in Secret Santa, the 12 Days of Christmas, Elf on the Shelf or even shopping for others. If they don’t like cookie decorating, ask them to plan a holiday treat they do enjoy. Have them help with picking out the advent calendars. The options are endless here since there seems to be so much to do during the holidays.
Gift Buying: Someone suggested to make a budget and have everyone buy a funny/unique stocking stuffer for each other. I can’t imagine the laughs and explanations this would provide, plus the memories would be gold! Another recommendations was to draw names and make something homemade and special for that person.
Gingerbread House Competition: Each year we host a gingerbread house party and I can’t see us stopping in the near future. Our girls love it, the friends they have over love it – it’s just straight magic. Someone suggested launching marshmallows at each others gingerbread houses after it was over and I think most teens would eat that up!
Scavenger Hunt: Growing up, my dad always put on a scavenger hunt for our big present and it was one of my fondest memories of Christmas. (If you need help creating a scavenger hunt, use these templates!)
Teen Game Night: We are a huge game family, so I would love to be invited to this one! Suggestions given by you guys were the candy bar game, the bowl game, and LCR (with money or gift cards). Minute to Win It games is another fabulous idea for this age group. Here are some of our favorite Minute to Win It games, which could easily be transformed into a holiday edition.
Go See a Holiday Show: The girls and I love going to see anything in our community and this ups the ante with the holidays attached to it. Dress up for a holiday concert, a local symphony or go see a show at the local live theater.
Christmas Movies: Who doesn’t love snuggling up on the couch with a great Christmas movie? A fun addition to this idea was to add corresponding foods – Home Alone with pizza, Elf with spaghetti, Santa Clause go to Denny’s, etc. Another way you could do this is having a fire pit with a projector for an outside movie experience.
Christmas Eve/Day: Lots of people are tossing out the traditional Christmas Eve/Day meal and instead doing a theme, like appetizers only or make your favorite dish! This smorgasbord sounds like a lot of fun!
Christmas Jammies: As kids become teens, they might not be as excited about having elves or Santas on their jammies. Instead swap them out for new lounge wear or a new comfy hoodie!
Mystery or Progressive dinners: If I know anything about teens, it’s that they love food. Put together a mystery/progressive dinner at some homes – or if you want zero prep, do it at restaurants. We did a Burger Hop a long time ago and had the best time.
Advent Calendars: Keep the daily magic alive by getting your teen an advent calendar! There are tons and tons of teen advent calendar options! You can find more than 30 ideas here!
Shopping Day with Grandma: My teen would love having a one-on-one day with her grandma shopping for her Christmas present and going to eat lunch!
Cocoa bar night for friends: Grab some hot chocolate mix, candy canes, marshmallows, whip cream, toffee bits, white chocolate shavings and some caramel sauce. Make it extra fun with some paper coffee cups – plus easier clean up for you!
Cutting down a Christmas tree: I know a ton of people who do this and it is one of their very favorite Christmas traditions that can continue on regardless of age.
Snow Tubing: A lot of people suggest snow tubing on Christmas Eve or on NYE day, but fitting a snow tubing day in anytime during the holidays sounds like a great time to me!
Christmas lip sync battles: If your family is the performing type, this would be a blast. Have everyone pick their own song (or even better, pick each others songs) and belt it out!
Random Acts of Christmas Kindness: There are tons of different ways to do this, but one way is drawing names and doing one anonymous act of kindness each day for that person until Christmas. Remember to keep it a secret! This idea makes my heart burst a little.
Learn about other countries: Learning about different traditions from around the world and trying out a few.
Ugly Christmas Sweater Run: Ugly Christmas sweater events have become so popular in the past decade and it’s because they really are so fun and funny. People are so creative with what sweaters they will make or wear. I love this idea!
Vote on the Most Awkward Holiday Card we receive: This one made me laugh out loud and also pray that I never get the award!
Cousin Dinner: Being a teen means a bit more independence. Going out to grab a bite to eat with cousins, sans adults, sounds like something my teenage self would have loved and that my current teenager would love!
What other fun family traditions have worked with the teens in your home? I’d love to hear!
So many fun ideas! Thanks for sharing!