Holiday Magic Made Simple: Ideas for Parents of Stroller-Aged Kids

If you have a stroller-aged little one, the holidays can feel like a swirl of excitement and logistics. The good news: creating meaningful moments does not require a color-coded calendar or a perfectly curated countdown. Small, simple choices add up—and often become the memories your family cherishes.

Here are some lower-lift ideas from the parents on our team to help you enjoy the season without adding to the mental load.

Reminder: It might seem obvious, but ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. If it’s not meaningful to you or your family, you may not need it. In a season that can get busy quickly, don’t feel the need to fill your days because you see others doing it. Find what works for your family.

Traditions

Holiday traditions don’t have to be elaborate to be special. Keep ‘em simple and just repeat what works for your family. Consistency (not complexity) is what makes something a tradition.

To Create a Season of Giving

• Leading up to holidays - set a basket out for donations, make a family goal of filling the basket. It helps us start the season out with a mindset of giving.
• Send a short video text to a friend or family member you love, letting them know you’re thinking of them each day of December.
• Create mini bags of “holiday cheer” for your little to give to people you both see out and about. Think: a small bag filled with a candy cane, some chocolates, or a packet of hot cocoa, along with an encouraging note. It helps our minds focus on loving others!  
• Decorate ornaments to use as gift tags. It's a fun screen-free activity, and makes for a personalized gift tag! You can find the little wooden cutouts at the dollar store, or you can use ornament dough and cookie cutters.
  

To Maximize Family Fun

• Pop the kids in the stroller and walk around your neighborhood or the city, looking at Christmas lights & displays in the bottom of office buildings.
• Make cookies in the living room while you watch a Christmas movie! This one is messy and takes a little more parent effort because you pre-measure everything into bowls and transfer it to the coffee table in the living room, but it is somehow so much more fun doing it while watching a movie
• On Thanksgiving night, open matching Christmas PJs and watch a Christmas movie to kick off the season
• Christmas scavenger hunt: when on card rides or neighborhood strolls, play an easy ‘game’ of spotting Christmas decorations
• Bake cookies together for close friends or family nearby, then deliver them to their door with a little side of Christmas caroling (I can picture the laughs now, but I promise: the worse the singing, the more the fun)
• The night before Christmas (or the holiday celebrated in your home) wrap the opening to the room that has gifts so the kids can bust through
  
• Invite your friends over after kid-bedtime for a wrapping party! Pop on a holiday movie, bring snacks, and turn a chore into a fun hangout – wine optional. As a bonus, if you’re wrapping Santa gifts, you can swap paper to keep the magic alive.
• Experiential Advent calendars using a wall hanger like this, so each day can be filled with small moments. This one requires a bit more prep work, but the daily moments can be small and then your holiday season is all planned in advance. Think: candy canes and hot cocoa packets.