Christmas in Australia is a little bit different.
While so much of the Christmas imagery we see comes from snowy European winters, our Christmases are often spent outside, in the sunshine, around a table with family and friends. There might be prawns instead of roast turkey, a backyard cricket game instead of snowball fights, and a swim on Christmas Day instead of bundling up in scarves. And I think we should embrace that. Some of the best family traditions are the ones that feel uniquely ours.
Here are some simple Australian Christmas traditions to start with your children.
1. Choose a night to look at Christmas lights
Pile everyone into the car, put on some Christmas music and go looking for the best Christmas lights in your area. It doesn’t need to be a big outing. Even a half-hour drive around the neighbourhood can become something your children look forward to every year.
2. Have a Christmas picnic
Take Christmas lunch outdoors. A picnic blanket, a basket of food and somewhere beautiful to sit can be just as special as a formal Christmas table.
It also feels wonderfully Australian.
3. Make Christmas morning breakfast a tradition
Maybe it’s pancakes. Maybe it’s croissants. Maybe it’s fresh fruit and something delicious from the bakery. Whatever you choose, make it something the children know happens every Christmas morning. Those little rituals become surprisingly important.
4. Have a Christmas Eve swim
For families lucky enough to live near the beach, a sunset swim on Christmas Eve can become a beautiful tradition. There is something lovely about beginning Christmas with a moment that feels completely Australian.
5. Write to Santa
Even though Santa might live somewhere far colder than Australia, the magic of receiving a letter addressed to your child works beautifully here. A personalised Santa letter can become part of your family’s December ritual – perhaps arriving on the first weekend of December and officially marking the beginning of Christmas.
6. Start a Christmas ornament collection
Give each child one new ornament every Christmas. Let them choose it, or choose one that reflects something they loved that year. When they’re older, they’ll have a collection that tells the story of their childhood. That’s far more meaningful to me than buying a whole new set of decorations every year.
7. Make Christmas biscuits together
They don’t need to be perfect. Let the children decorate them. Put on Christmas music. Make a complete mess of the kitchen. The finished biscuits will probably be eaten within a day, but the ritual of making them together can become a favourite part of December.
8. Create a Christmas Eve box
A Christmas Eve box can be very simple. Perhaps a new pair of pyjamas, a Christmas book, some treats and a little activity to do together. The important thing isn’t what’s inside, it’s the anticipation of opening it.
9. Leave treats for Santa
Of course, Santa still needs to be looked after in Australia. Leave out his favourite treat along with something for the reindeer. And perhaps a glass of water too – December is hot enough without sending Santa on his rounds dehydrated.
10. Create your own tradition
This is probably the most important one. Your family’s Christmas doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.
Maybe you have fish and chips on Christmas Eve. Maybe you swim before breakfast on Christmas morning. Maybe you spend Boxing Day at the beach. Maybe everyone writes one sentence about their favourite memory from the year.
The best traditions are often the ones that happen almost accidentally. You do something once. Everyone loves it. You do it again next year. Eventually, your children can’t imagine Christmas without it, and that’s how family traditions are made.
