Let all the Christmas traditions begin!!!
Last week I shared over 30 Christmas traditions to start with your family and today I wanted to dedicate an entire post to one of my very favorite traditions (can I even pick a favorite, it’s too hard to choose) the 12 Days of Books for Christmas!
If you aren’t familiar with the 12 days of books for Christmas tradition I hope to clear the confusion and answer all of your questions, even though you could probably figure it out 🙂 and let you in on one of our favorite traditions we began last year.
HAVE YOU SEEN MY OTHER GIFT GUIDES THIS YEAR — CHECK THEM ALL OUT HERE
1. HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR TODDLERS 1-3 YRS
2. HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR KIDS 4-6 YRS
3. HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR PARENTS AND IN-LAWS
5. HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR WOMEN
12 DAYS OF BOOKS
WHAT IS 12 DAYS OF BOOKS??
Starting on either the 13th or 14th of December depending on whether or not you want to end on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. Each evening leave a wrapped book on your doorstep, ring the doorbell, and let your kids be surprised with a new book for the next 12 days and something fun and new to read together as a family every night before bed. I have also heard of others leaving it under the Christmas tree each night. For us, we love being able to see the excitement each time the doorbell rings for the next 12 days! (I remember last year, even in the middle of the day when the doorbell would ring, Edison would run to the door screaming “there’s a present”!)
In our family, we tell our kids our elf friends drop off the books from Santa himself!
WHAT BOOKS SHOULD I USE FOR THE 12 DAYS OF BOOKS??
–That is totally something up to you! For us, we are still building out our book collection since both of our kids are still young. So we have purchased 12 brand new books this year and last year to give to them. I picked 6 that are age appropriate for Edison and another 6 age appropriate for Lucy.
— Probably in next couple years I will slowly convert to only Christmas books. Once we get a collection of 12 Christmas books, we would simply reuse those books year after year. Bringing out all the Christmas books from storage to read all month long. Wrap them up and deliver the same way each night.
–Another option if you are wanting to start the tradition but are tight on money this year, no stress!! Simply find 12 books that your kids haven’t read in awhile and wrap them up. Anything wrapped is such an excitement for kids.
OTHER FUN IDEAS:
— If you have older kids, I think this idea would be so much fun to do each night for a family/friend or neighbor. Then on the last day go and deliver the last book in person as a fun surprise letting them know it was your family all along! You could even up-cycle 12 of your books that your family no longer reads that way you can save on costs
— Set an alarm on your phone each night, if you do the doorbell ditch, that way you never forget!
SHOP ALL OF OUR 12 DAYS OF BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS
1// Grumpy Monkey
2// Scribble Stones
3// The Gruffalo
4// Silly Jokes For Kids
5// Never Let A Unicorn Wear A Tutu
6// It’s Not Easy Being A Bunny
7// Poke A Dot: The Wheels on the Bus Wild Safari
8// Awesome Science Experiments for Kids
9// The Snail and the Whale
Shop These 12 Days of Books Here
CHRISTMAS THEMED 12 DAYS OF BOOKS
10 // The Snowman’s Song
11 // How to Catch an Elf
12 // Bear Stays Up for Christmas
13 // Little Blue Truck’s Christmas
14 // The Legend of the Candy Cane
15 // Dasher
16 // The Night Before Christmas
17 // The Sweet Smell of Christmas
18 // God Gave Us Christmas
19 // The Polar Express
20 // The Littlest Reindeer
21 // The Jolly Christmas Postman
22 // Little Red Sleigh
23 // 5 More Sleeps ’till Christmas
Shop these Christmas Themed 12 Days of Books Here
SHOP THESE 12 BOOKS OF CHRISTMAS HERE
Do you do the 12 days of books tradition? Let me know in a comment below!