With Christmas just around the corner, many of the traditions that come with the holiday are back as well.
My family has many traditions that get us together and celebrate the holidays.
Holidays are all about spending time with loved ones, and what better way to do so than to have a gingerbread competition with friends and family?
There’s so many memories that come along with gingerbread house building, from laughing because the icing isn’t holding up the house to sneakily eating the candy decorations.
My family has been building gingerbread houses for three years now. Every Christmas Eve we have dinner together and then stay up till midnight waiting for it to be Christmas.
During that time we play some fun Christmas games, which include gingerbread house competitions, Secret Santa, and Christmas family feud.
As we begin the competition, we get in teams of two and have 30 minutes to build the houses.
Usually my family buys the gingerbread houses, but last year we weren’t able to get some on time, so we resorted to Plan B.
To improvise, we built our houses out of graham crackers, icing, and different varieties of candy. This was filled with excitement and lots of creativity.
Since we were using graham crackers rather than pre-made gingerbread houses, this led to everyone’s houses looking very different. Some teams built huge houses with two-three stories (they barely held up), while others made their house a little smaller but with lots of decorations.
No matter who wins or loses, it’s always fun to work together and create something (somewhat) beautiful in this friendly competition.
This is why gingerbread house competitions are the best Christmas tradition. I am able to look back on all the memories that come with it (even though I lost) and smile about how thrilling it was.
Building gingerbread houses isn’t the only fun Christmas tradition. Another one is Secret Santa. Every year my family has a Secret Santa, with a little twist.
Each family member is assigned a person’s stocking to fill. Everyone fills it with gifts they think the other will enjoy, and on Christmas we open them.
Secret Santa is one of the best traditions because it adds an element of surprise and fun to gift giving. It’s like a mini-mystery trying to figure out who picked you. Plus, it’s exciting to see what creative presents people come up with.
Finally, decorating a Christmas tree is such a fun tradition because it brings everyone together to create something beautiful.
In my family, everyone gets a new ornament each year that we like, and we put it on the tree. I decorate my tree with a color scheme every year, which is usually red and gold.
This year, I set up the tree with my family and my sister’s boyfriend. We came up with a silver and white color scheme.
Building gingerbread houses, Secret Santa, and decorating the tree are the best Christmas traditions because they all create fun and memorable moments with friends and family.