2020 was a long and difficult year, and our family experienced an especially hard winter season. Uncertainty lurked in the shadows, while weariness began to take root.

God brought a book about Advent into our lives that November, and we had an incredible time navigating the adventure together. (I highly recommend Tsh Oxenreider’s book, Shadow & Light! We are currently going through it again and it is amazing!)

One thing we learned from Tsh is that the 12 Days of Christmas actually begin on Christmas Day; the feasting continues into the first week of January. (I always thought the 12 Days of Christmas started on December 13th as a countdown to Christmas Day!)

My family tends to usher in the holiday season early by setting up our Christmas decor before Thanksgiving. If this makes you cringe, please trust that we’ve gotten better over the years – we used to decorate for Christmas on Halloween after trick-or-treating; now we patiently wait until Veteran’s Day. Growth. Since we set up early, I’m typically ready to take it all down the day after Christmas.

Until last year. This newly discovered knowledge helped me focus on Advent leading up to Christmas, and postpone some of our favorite family activities – including Christmas movies. We decided to watch one on Fridays in December for our typical family movie night, but we’d wait to watch most of them until Christmas Day or after.

And then a most unusual question from my teenage daughter sparked the beginning of a new favorite tradition of ours: “Can we try the spaghetti that Buddy has in Elf?”

First of all… EWWWW! But also, we’ve got nothing better to do with our time… sure! We decided to forego the spaghetti sauce and stick to 2 of the elves’ 4 main food groups: candy and syrup.

This began a serious brainstorm session for what other snacks we could have while watching our favorite Christmas movies. With extra time on our hands and nowhere to go, we began making the preparations for what we now call, “The 12 Days of Christmas Movies” ❤️

My #oneword in 2020 was “savor” and this at-home, hands-on project really helped me be present with my family and savor Christmas with them.

My hope in sharing this with you is that you’ll be inspired to make memories with your loved ones. We’ve kept our original list of 12 movies and added some extra activity and snack ideas. We’ve also included some alternative movies for younger kids and older kids.

Some of the movies have language or other sensitive content, so I’m not endorsing or promoting them. (There are some here I won’t let my kids watch that I watched as a child!) Also, I grew up watching the edited versions on TV! As parents, you get to decide (for the most part) what movies your kids watch. Common Sense Media is my go-to resource for pre-screening movies (and books).

A note about the food: we are gluten-free, so sometimes we have to get creative or order things online ahead of time. We also try to choose organic and dye-free when we can, but we definitely splurge a little more during these 12 Days of celebrating. (No, we don’t eat like this everyday. And yes, we fast from sugar/treats for 21 days in January.)

Let the list below be a starting place, a launching pad – not something to be overwhelmed by. Take it or leave it; pick 2 or choose 20. Have a movie marathon, or watch one on the weekends. Whatever you do, have fun together. Enjoy. Savor. And take pictures!

The 12 Days of Christmas Movies:

1. A Christmas Story

• Draw a Leg Lamp
• Homemade Fudge (We use my Great Grandma’s recipe)

2. Home Alone 1 & 2 (optional: Home Sweet Home Alone)

• Play Mousetrap. Find your home’s blueprints or make a map of your house; plan booby traps for April Fool’s Day. Look up Rube Goldberg machines online.
• Plain cheese pizza, Pepsi, ice cream sundaes with extra toppings

3. Polar Express

• Print tickets and have a hole punch handy! Wear your PJ’s and robes, and check out these color pages.
• Hot chocolate with toppings, store-bought cookies

4. The Grinch (2018) and/or Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

• Pin the Grinch on Mount Crumpit, or decorate a “Who” inspired tree
• Grinch Kabobs! I also found a recipe to try for Who Hash! Last year my best friend brought these amazing creations to go with the theme: green grilled cheese (green food coloring in the butter), green smoothies, & Grinch heart Rice Krispies treats.

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and A Charlie Brown Christmas

• Sing-Along with these classic songs! Another idea: rescue/adopt a dog (If you know me, you know I’m kidding! But if you’re considering it, why not tie it into The 12 Days of Christmas Movies!)
• Puppy Chow for Max & Snoopy (aka Muddy Buddies)

6. Elf

• Wear ugly Christmas sweaters; have a snowball fight (or snowball toss if you don’t have real snow nearby)
• Spaghetti with syrup and sprinkles. Spaghetti sauce and Pop-Tarts are optional.

7. The Christmas Chronicles 1 & 2

• Drive around and look at Christmas lights!
• Charcuterie or Fondue (since this movie falls on New Year’s Eve, we try to have one of our favorite NYE meals)

8. Noelle

• Christmas Bingo during movie
• Strawberry Santa Hats

9. Miracle on 34th Street (old and/or new)

• Christmas Mad Libs
• Since we’re watching the movie two ways, we have popcorn two ways: butter and caramel

10. The Muppet Christmas Carol

• Build/decorate a gingerbread house/village.
• Eat the gingerbread house/village.

11. Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

• Snowman Stack and Reindeer ring toss
• Snowmen Caprese and Reindeer Brownies

12. The Nutcracker and/or The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

• Choreograph a dance to a song from the ballet
• Build your own Trail Mix

Alternative Movies:

The Star

• Visit a Petting Zoo or Live Nativity
• Star-shaped Jell-O; Cinnamon Stars; Mini Festive Star Cookies

Mickey’s Once/Twice Upon a Christmas and/or Mickey’s Christmas Carol

• Christmas puzzle
• Mickey Mouse Goldfish, Mickey ears with Oreos

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas

• Painting
• Pull-apart Monkey Bread

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas!

• Research Christmas traditions
• Cat in the Hat: Strawberries, Bananas, Marshmallows

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

• Build a toy
• Trader Joe’s Jingle Jangle Mix

The Santa Clause 1 & 2

• Make a snow globe
• Cocoa and chocolate chip cookies; “stuck in the chimney” pudding

Jack Frost

• Build a snowman (or make snowman art for those without snow)
• Chocolate bark

It’s a Wonderful Life

• Would You Rather? Game (Christmas edition)
• Bake a Pie

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

• Sledding
• Eggnog in moose mug; Eggnog crinkle cookies; Aunt Bethany’s Jell-O mold

Die Hard (still unsure if this is really a Christmas movie)

• Build Nakatomi Plaza with LEGOs
• Make John McClane gingerbread men

That’s all (for now)! I’d love to hear your favorite Christmas movie in the comments. Also, check out this Traditions blog for more holiday inspiration!