Each year, my husband and I fill a big box for our children to open on Christmas Eve. It’s a nice way for them to get to open presents on Christmas Eve night before Santa comes.
Giving our children Christmas Eve Boxes is now one of our favorite Christmas Eve traditions.
This box changes slightly every year so they never expect to receive the exact same small gifts from us.
If you want to add new family traditions to your holiday season, the Christmas Eve Box is a great way to give early gifts to kids of all ages.
You can find a great idea for your entire family that will sure put everyone in the festive spirit.
Check out a list of some of the best Christmas Eve Box Ideas so you can make your Christmas Eve Box special for your children.
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What is a Christmas Eve Box?
A Christmas Eve Box is decorated box filled with gifts that your children can open on Christmas Eve night. It can include items you want your children to wear on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and Christmas activities you want to do together. It can help distract your children from wanting to open all their presents the night before Christmas.
My house rule is that no unopened presents are allowed to be put underneath the Christmas tree until after the kids are in bed on Christmas Eve night. The Christmas Eve Box is the only present allowed under the Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve while the kids are still awake. They love to see something under the tree before Santa comes.
Where do you get a Christmas Eve Box?
You can purchase your Christmas boxes or make it yourself and make it personalized for your family.
I use a large Christmas eve box I bought from one of the local craft stores a few years ago. Then when Christmas is over, I can use the box to store Christmas decorations in. They also have many different options to choose from on Amazon.
You could go with a simple Christmas Eve Box like the one below and it won’t break your Christmas budget.
If you want to make your Christmas Eve Box more personalized, you can order this Wooden Keepsake Christmas Eve Box with your child’s name on it.
Many people like to use wooden crates for their Christmas Eve Box. These can be personalized as well, and they look like they were sent here from Santa in the North Pole.
You can also get creative and make your own Christmas Eve Box out of a cardboard box for your family members. The ideas are endless!
I considered getting my children both their own boxes, which you can do, but opted for putting all their gifts in one large box instead. This may change in the future as they get older, but for now, this will work best for us.
What should I put in the Christmas Eve Box?
I have included a list of some of the best Christmas Eve Box fillers, so you can make your own Christmas Eve Box tradition special for your children.
1. Christmas Pajamas
When my son was born, I decided to get our whole family matching Christmas Pajamas. It is now one of my favorite Christmas Eve box ideas. I put their cute Pajamas in the box for them to open and wear Christmas Eve night. Christmas time is one of the only times I can get the whole family to wear matching outfits. If you decide to do this, make sure to open and wash the Christmas pajamas first so they are ready for your child to put on.
Once everyone is wearing their matching pajamas, it's the perfect time to take those cute holiday pictures. They also look great in photos the next day while opening presents. I hope this memorable tradition will last for a couple of years!
Head on over to Amazon to find the best Christmas Pajamas for your whole family.
2. Christmas Children’s Book
There are so many Christmas books out there that you could never run out of books. Our Christmas book collection is getting quite large, so we can read Christmas books every day during the month of December. The new Christmas book our children receive on Christmas Eve we will read that night to them. This is one of the best Christmas Eve box ideas for a baby's first Christmas Eve box since it can start their Christmas book collection. You could purchase chapter books or novels about Christmas for older kids if they would be interested in reading them.
Check out our post of the Top 15 Favorite Children’s Christmas Books to get more Christmas book ideas for your child's Christmas Eve box.
3. Christmas Movie
It is rare for people to purchase DVD’s so if you only buy digital copies of movies, you could always put a card or note in the box that says what movie you purchased. Another suggestion is to print out a picture of the movie and put that in the box. We do still buy DVD’s and we have put a few Christmas movies in the box in past years.
You can also get movies on Amazon Prime Video. Click the link below to start your free trial now.
Some great Christmas movies to look for include The Santa Clause, Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and or even some classic Christmas movies.
If you're looking for more Christmas Movie ideas, head on over to take our Can You Name These Christmas Movies Quiz and see what other great movies are out there.
4. Personalized Christmas Tree Ornament
My future goal is to have a small Christmas Tree with only special ornaments that we receive. This tree would be separate from our regular Christmas Tree that we put the presents under. My husband and I have been together for over 12 years, and we have an ornament that goes with each year we have been together with the milestone from that year.
Our children now have ornaments from when they were born to hang on the tree as their special ornaments. It's such a fun tradition in include the children in and giving them their ornament on Christmas Eve lets them use it the Christmas they receive it.
This is where I purchase my favorite Christmas Tree Ornaments every year from Amazon. Personalizing your own ornaments are the perfect addition to your Christmas Even box.
5. Yearly Christmas Stuffed Animal
There is always a bear or some other stuffed animal with the year stamped on its foot in the Christmas Eve box. My daughter loves stuffed animals, and these are a great addition to her collection. By having a family box for your children to share, you can limit the number of stuffed animals you buy. If your children are not interested in stuffed animals, adding small toys or a mini board game is a fun way to add to the Christmas fun. Just remember not to give them any of the toys they included in their Santa letter or on their Christmas lists before the big day.
Amazon sells some of the cutest Christmas Stuffed Animals for you to get for your children.
6. Snacks
I love to throw some of their favorite snacks in the Christmas Eve box to eat before bed while watching a Christmas Eve movie. These snacks could be popcorn, cookies, chocolate, hot chocolate bombs, a candy cane, hot cocoa, or something healthy. You can choose whatever you want. I just recommend putting nonperishable snacks in there in case they get left in the Christmas Eve box overnight. A cute new tradition could be to add some reindeer food to the Christmas Eve box so they can set out a snack for the reindeers with their cookies and milk for Santa.
If you’re looking for some snack ideas, check out these delicious snacks on Amazon.
7. Fuzzy Socks
Get your children some nice warm fuzzy socks to wear Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning. They even make Christmas prints to keep up with the festive season. My daughter loves my fuzzy sock collection and I’m constantly adding to it. She is always asking to wear my fuzzy socks, so it’s so much fun to get her fuzzy socks she can call her own. My husband knows that fuzzy socks is also one of the best gift ideas for me and in recent years, I started getting him a pair as well. If your Xmas eve boxes are for the whole family, you could throw fuzzy socks in for everyone.
Are you trying to find some Fuzzy Christmas Socks? Head on over to Amazon to find the most festive socks.
8. Christmas Coloring Book and Crayons
You could give your children their own Christmas coloring books and Crayons to go in their Christmas Eve box. I try to keep everything in the box Christmas themed to really get my kids excited for Santa to come. There are also cute Christmas sets you could purchase that have stickers and activities for your children to do as well. If you don’t want to get them a coloring book and crayons, you could purchase other Christmas themed toys and activities instead.
There are so many awesome Christmas Coloring Books to choose from on Amazon.
There are so many creative and fun Christmas Eve box ideas for the whole family.
Whether you do a large box for everyone or give the young kids each a small box, there are so many awesome Christmas Eve box ideas.
Looking for even more awesome Christmas Eve box ideas?
Head on over to my 50 Best Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Children to get some more fun ideas.
If you're doing a Christmas Eve box for the young children and young adults in your family, check out my 50 Best Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Adults.
Do you have new family Christmas traditions?
What are you going to put in your children’s Christmas Eve Box this year?
Share your ideas below!
