WELLBEING

Fun ways to add some fresh jingle to your Christmas traditions

9 December, 2022 . 0

Festive cheer a little lacking this year? Here’s some novel Christmas traditions you might want to adopt to add a little extra magic to your Yuletide celebrations.

Some families have plenty of heartfelt Christmas traditions bringing them closer together year after year.

Others don’t have those warm family memories or would like to freshen up the season and infuse it with new magic.

There’s no rule dictating you must follow traditions, but they do offer an opportunity to do something different from everyday life and create new memories, University of Melbourne social and political sciences associate professor Lauren Rosewarne says.

“Much of life has a sense of repetition and sameness to it,” Assoc Prof Rosewarne says.

“Special holidays and traditions create a break from the ordinary and are a deliberate effort to create special events that are something to look forward to as well as reflect on in later years.”

You can always adopt new traditions — simply find an activity you love and look forward to it every year.

The possibilities are endless and needn’t follow any tried-and-true formula of what you are “supposed to do” for the holiday.

Here are some fun Christmas traditions that might spark your imagination.

Fun for all who are near and dear

First, there is the choice of who you would like to celebrate with.

You might indulge in a special yearly activity entirely by yourself or gather a group of friends together for some frivolity.

“For those who have fractured relations with family, or if their family live far away, creating other kinds of traditions with other people who hold importance can be a way to participate in the social aspects of the holidays,” Assoc Prof Rosewarne says.

“Events like ‘orphan’s Christmases’, for example, and ‘Friendsgiving’ are different takes on family celebrations, whereby friends are brought together for these events — particularly those who might feel at a loose end.”

An orphan’s Christmas involves inviting others you know — friends, neighbours, colleagues, acquaintances — who don’t have family nearby to spend the holiday with to attend a meal or celebration.

It can be a good way to expand your social circle and get to know people better.

You could even extend the invitation out to the wider public and hold a community picnic, advertising the event on a noticeboard or online.

Festive fun: 20 ways to spread Christmas cheer

Adopt the spirit of Christmas

Spreading out the festivities during the whole of December brings even more joy to the season.

You could challenge friends or family to do a random act of kindness every day of the month or make your own advent calendar in which every pocket contains a different activity, such as watching a Christmas movie, baking biscuits or making an ornament.

Add Christmas cheer to your decor

Changing up the way you decorate also offers fresh fun.

Perhaps you could go on an excursion to collect natural elements for decorating your home, then have a “crafternoon” at home to assemble them in magical ways.

Or consider adorning a different room — how about livening up your bedroom with tinsel, a stocking at the foot of the bed, and special Christmas linen and pyjamas?

Capture the merriment

A homemade festive photo booth can produce some hilarious and memorable moments that you can capture to laugh at for years to come.

You can then upload the pictures to social media, print them out and assemble them in an album, or use one as this year’s Christmas card picture to give friends and family a chuckle.

Fresh ideas for Christmas traditions

Other options include participating in a toy drive, borrowing the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod and relaxing with a new book and a hot cocoa on Christmas Eve, inventing a new cocktail or mocktail every year using festive ingredients such as ginger ale and peppermint flavourings, making predictions for the New Year and popping them in a jar to open next Christmas, having a make-your-own-pizza night, or organising a holiday garden gnome hunt.

Ultimately, the possibilities are limitless to find your own fun during the festive season.

“There are no tradition police inspecting celebrations or lack thereof,” Assoc Prof Rosewarne says. “How we choose to celebrate or not celebrate is up to us.”