Christian Christmas as parents with young children

01 The Advent build

For Christian families with young children, Advent (the four weeks before Christmas) offers a tangible way to build into the feast. The Advent calendar (paper or wooden, often with small windows opened daily) and the Advent wreath (a circle of greenery with four candles, one lit each Sunday) are the principal family Advent customs.

Setting up the Nativity scene at the start of Advent with the manger empty, adding the figures gradually as Advent progresses (the shepherds, the animals, sometimes the Magi placed far from the scene to journey toward it across the four weeks), and placing the Christ-child figure only on Christmas Eve gives young children a concrete way to follow the Advent arc.

02 Church with young children

Most US Christian parishes and congregations offer Christmas services accessible to families with young children. Catholic parishes commonly hold a Children's Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve (often 4 PM or 5 PM) with a children's pageant; the Mass is often shorter, more family-focused, and more interactive than the later Midnight Mass. Anglican and Lutheran traditions often hold a family Christmas Eve service with similar accessibility. Evangelical churches typically hold a Christmas Eve service or a children's candlelight service.

Very young children (infants and toddlers) often do better at home with a family Nativity reading than at any Christmas service. Older young children (ages 4 and up) typically engage with the children's Vigil or family service. The family is the source for what fits the children's actual capacity.

03 The Santa Claus question

Christian families navigate the Santa Claus / Saint Nicholas tradition variously. Some families integrate Santa Claus as a cultural figure separate from the religious meaning of the feast; some emphasize Saint Nicholas (the fourth-century bishop of Myra commemorated on December 6) as the historical Christian saint behind the Santa figure, observing Saint Nicholas Day with small gifts and saving Christmas Day for the religious focus; some Christian families keep Christmas entirely religious and minimize or omit Santa.

There is no canonical Christian position on the matter; the family decides what works for the household. Many Catholic and Orthodox families observe Saint Nicholas Day on December 6 with small gifts for children, leaving Christmas Day for the principal religious observance.

04 Gifts

Christian Christmas gift-giving reflects the gifts of the Magi to the Christ child and (in many traditions) the gifts of Saint Nicholas to the poor. Family practice varies in scale and timing. Common patterns: small daily gifts during Advent leading up to Christmas Day; a single major gift on Christmas Day; gifts on Christmas Eve in some European traditions; gifts on Epiphany (January 6) in some Hispanic and other traditions, where the Magi's gift-giving is the principal reference.

For young children, parents commonly focus on a small number of meaningful gifts rather than abundance. The relationship between gift-giving and the religious meaning of Christmas is itself a topic the family addresses as children grow.

05 Introducing the religious meaning

The Nativity scene is the most widely-used family tool for introducing Christmas to children: the figures of Mary, Joseph, the Christ child, the shepherds, the animals, and the Magi gathered around the manger make the Christmas story tangible. Children's Bible storybooks of the Nativity are widely available; reading Luke 2 (the Christmas Gospel) on Christmas Eve and the Magi story from Matthew 2 on Epiphany are classic family practices.

The pastor at the family's parish or congregation is the source for any catechetical resources the church offers. Many parishes have children's Christmas devotions, family Advent prayers, or Christmas-specific religious education materials.

06 Common questions