My kids started an amazing tradition a few years ago that has grown to be the highlight of my and my husband’s parents’ Christmas season. Our kids, seven kids ages eighteen through thirty-four, call it “The Twenty-Five Days of Christmas,” but you could easily do “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and make it just as special. If you did twelve days, you could literally start it anytime—twelve days before Christmas. Twelve days before the December 31st, etc. Also, this would make a nice outreach for an elderly neighbor or disabled person in a group home, etc.
They prepare the list below and give it to the grandparents before December first. Each day, the grandparent (s ) open the Christmas card for the day (dated—Day One, Day Two, etc.) that contains a signed card with a personal greeting from one of the grandkids (they alternate) and a verse from one of the links below (or that they create) for that day. With the card, they also open a gift that is wrapped (twenty-five of them in our case) that they choose out of a Christmas box.
My dad and step-mom are so excited about their 25 Days of Christmas they post who that day’s card was from each day on Facebook!
Gifts My Kids Give Their Grandparents:
1) 25 (or 12 in the case of 12 Days) Christmas cards marked on the outside with the date each one should be opened—December 1, December 2, etc. On these cards, a different grandchild writes a personal note about a memory, the day of the month they are on, etc. They just use boxed Christmas cards for this as the personal note is what really makes it. You could use handmade cards if that is important to you or them.
2) A verse that goes in order of the Christmas story from the Bible in the card envelopes. These are just printed off and cut out and inserted in the order that the days fall (25 or 12 of these). I will place links below of blogs that have these already made up for you!
3) 25 (or 12) small wrapped gifts. They choose which gift they want to open each day, but you could also date the gifts if you want them to have a certain gift on a certain day (for example, goodies in a certain order or nativity pieces in order or some other gifts that are date-sensitive). I will link to my blog post about The Plastic Wrap Gift Ball for you to see a list of small gifts that might be nice for this occasion. My seven kids go together and split the expenses among them—the cards, gifts, etc., for all three sets of grandparents. With the seven of them, they do not have to just get one dollar items. However, if you have younger children or fewer children going together, you could easily get the twenty-five or twelve gifts at Dollar Tree, especially in the case of candy, mint, gums, nuts, etc.
My dad and step-mom proudly and joyfully display each card and verse of the day.
This tradition is priceless. It is so much more special than a grandparent opening a gift on Christmas day. It wards off loneliness during a month that can feel very lonely, especially if the grandparent(s ) is homebound. It lets the elderly know that they are not forgotten. It gives them something to look forward to each day. And it gives them something else to do. My dad and step-mom love opening the gift and card, writing about it on Facebook, taping the cards up in a row on their door (just these by themselves with the verses in order). It truly brings them Christmas joy.
- Find Small Gift Ideas for This Project in the List Here From the Plastic Wrap Gift Ball
- Twelve Days of Christmas Nativity Printables
- Another Twelve Days of Christmas Nativity Printables
- Nativity Printables for Twelve Days for Those Who Like to Read a Lot of Text
- Twenty-Five Christmas Verses
- Twenty-Five Nativity Printables With Pictures on Each One
