We all have our own little family traditions on Christmas Eve, from watching festive movies and hanging stockings to leaving out mince pies, carrots and a tipple of sherry for Santa. In recent years the joy of Christmas Eve box ideas have become one of the most popular night before Christmas traditions to add a touch of extra magic to festive celebrations.
Christmas Eve boxes are the latest craze to find their way to our shores in recent years. With everyone from the big supermarkets to independent retailers stocking Christmas Eve gifts boxes, it's never been easier to embrace this growing trend.
The newest trend among parents is to give the children their Christmas Eve boxes on the first day of advent, going against what the name would suggest. But the first day of advent ties in with the arrival of the Elf on the Shelf and also gives little ones a whole month to enjoy the treats inside.
Christmas Eve box ideas – new family traditions
The idea behind the Christmas Eve box is to create a gift set of all the things required to ensure the perfect family night before Christmas. You simply buy one of the specially design boxes and fill them with treats – from matching pyjamas sets, drinking chocolate, a festive DVD, Christmas story book, bath time treats and seasonal crockery for Santa's treats.
Where to buy: Budget Christmas Eve box
Keepsake wooden Christmas Eve box
What to put in a Christmas Eve box for 2022
1. New pyjamas
Matalan; Family Christmas PJS, from £17
A set of pyjamas for the Christmas Eve box is a classic choice, to ensure the last sleep in done in style.
For those looking to fully embrace the fun of the festivities family Christmas pyjamas have been trending in recent years! With matching sets there's a festive PJ for the whole family – to make it all the more magical!
2. Plate for Santa's treats
Get little ones excited about the arrival of Santa with a dedicated treat plate to leave the traditional offers of a mince pie, carrot and a glass of milk.
3. A cookie making kit
Enjoy some family bonding time over an afternoon of baking festive tasty treats, with a simple cake or cookie kit will do the job. You can pick up easy-to-make kits that you simply add eggs and water and then bake – quite literally a piece of cake! You could even bake in the morning and deliver your sweet treats to friends, family and neighbours – to spread the joy.
4. Hot chocolate making kit
Warm your cockles and get cosy with a steaming hot mug of drinking chocolate. Buy them a new mug, then pick up a sachet or a jar of Hot Chocolate and some mini marshmallows. Add them to the box for an easy way to make everyone's favourite bedtime drink.
A trend for last year's boxes was to make adorable hot chocolate reindeer cones...
Fill a food bag with hot chocolate mix, topped with chocolate sprinkles and mini marshmallows. Tie them up with a pretty ribbon, add a pipe cleaner as antlers and some eyes and you've got yourself a reindeer hot chocolate treat.
5. Magical snow globe
The mesmerising snow globe is a Christmas favourite. Shake things up this year with a wonderful Christmas scene to capture little imaginations. You could make an afternoon of it and make your own snow globe, simply adding the things you need to your box. Alternatively of course there are a wealth of brilliant designs to buy online...
6. Santa's good list certificate
A lovely idea to get the kids even more excited for the morning, a certificate to say they made the good list! What better night to give little ones a nice list certificate, so they know Santa will be arriving in a matter of hours with presents. It doesn't get much more exciting than that really, plus they get to keep it and be proud of being good all year.
Buy now: Nice List Certificate in Gold Foil, £18, The Laser Studio at Notonthehighstreet.com (opens in new tab)
7. Christmas storybooks
Build the excitement of Christmas each night by reading the children festive stories, filled with Christmas characters and seasonal joy.
8. Bath time treats
Whether you're opening the box early or saving for the night before Christmas, you'll need to ensure little ones are fresh and ready for the big day. Keep some bath time treat to one side to run a bubble bath of fun before the last sleep.
9. Festive movies
Sit as a family and enjoy a feel-good Christmas movie. Whether you're watching the most loveable Elf of all time find his way around New York city or Kevin causing chaos in Home Alone, laughter and feel-good vibes are guaranteed in equal measure with a much-loved movie.
With online searches reaching higher than ever before, this year is expected to be the year we all think outside (or should that be inside) the box for the Christmas countdown. We're throwing everything at making Christmas 2021 as enjoyable as possible, to make up for last year. Before you know it Christmas will be here, meaning it's time to start thinking about the goodies to fill these popular gift boxes.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas already.
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