50+ Things to do for baby's first Christmas

Today we’re talking baby’s first Christmas! This post contains affiliate links.

First Christmas with a baby can be so magical! Or it can be just like every other day with a baby, filled with diaper changes, missed naps, and lots of traveling.

I remember coming down to the tree with our almost one year old (miraculously I can’t remember the morning sickness our newest baby was causing) and wondering at the magic. We’d changed him into his Christmas pajamas that morning before going downstairs because it was cold at my parents and he needed to sleep in his fleece pajamas. We snapped pictures before opening gifts and then it turns out he was much more interested in the wrapping paper than he was with anything inside of it.

How to Celebrate Baby’s First Christmas

Are you wondering how to celebrate or what to do for your baby’s first Christmas? Here are some great ideas on things to do at home, events to look up in your community, and traditions to start. PLEASE don’t try and do all of them. Pick a few things to try this year and one or two things you want to start as traditions to help make the holidays meaningful for your family.

Pictures to take on Baby’s First Christmas

baby in front of the Christmas tree
baby tangled up in lights
baby falling asleep on a Christmas book
baby with cookies and milk for Santa (maybe with a bottle of milk instead of a cup of milk)
baby in a wrapped present box
baby with Santa
baby surrounded by tree trimmings and ornaments
baby in a Santa hat
baby in a stocking
baby sitting in toy car with mini Christmas tree on top
baby unwrapping presents

Things to do at home for baby’s first Christmas

Create a playlist of favorite holiday music (or stream this baby Christmas music station)
Give your baby a meaningful gift you can pull out each year (like a special snow globe, a specific Christmas book, a train for around the tree)
Make or buy a personalized stocking (like one of these)
Read a Christmas Eve bedtime story (lots of baby Christmas books here)
Decorate the nursery with some Christmas cheer (Christmas lights!)
Make a handprint/footprint Christmas craft
Dress the family up in ugly Christmas sweaters (except the baby will look cute in everything, including this little reindeer sweatshirt)
Trim the tree as a family
Start a collection of holiday books (you can start with baby books or just buy one nice christmas story and add to your collection each year)
Bake Christmas cookies for Santa
Make a special plate for Santa’s cookies
Chart baby’s growth by taking an annual Christmas picture next to a festive item
Buy some Christmas bibs
Reenact the Christmas story (you have a built in baby Jesus this year!)
Decorate a gingerbread house (we love the easy kit from Trader Joes or you can order this pre-assembled one so all you have to do is decorate)
Host a white elephant exchange with your Mom friends (swap baby gifts or things for mom)
Make a first Christmas scrapbook that they can look at each year
Start a Christmas village collection, you can add a new piece each year and eventually gift it to your child
Choose one gift to open on Christmas Eve
Keep a branch of baby’s first tree (if you have a real tree) for memory book
Purchase a children’s nativity for baby to play with (my kids love plush nativities like this one)
Make or purchase a felt Christmas tree to hang and let baby play and help decorate over and over (like this one on amazon)
Get a personalized outfit to celebrate baby’s first Christmas
Watch all of your favorite Christmas movies (while snuggling a sleeping baby)
Provide some Christmas themed sensory activities for baby
Laying under the tree and looking up at the lights
Have a dance party to your favorite Christmas music
Make a special Christmas blanket
Write letters to Santa
make a board book of baby’s first Christmas or pictures of all the people who love your baby (like this personalized board book)
Create a Christmas-themed mobile for December. Use red and green pompoms, festive stuffed animals or figurines, or family pictures of Christmases past.

Traditions to start for baby’s first Christmas

Start an ornament collection, adding a special ornament each year
Get matching Christmas pajamas (open them on Christmas Eve or on December 1st to wear all month)
Make a family Christmas card (if you send them out to friends, make sure to save one for your family)
Donate a gift to children in need (document it with a picture of your child and the toy to show them as you continue this tradition as they get older)
Get an Elf on the Shelf (they’re too little to understand but they will like the stuffed animal elf and you can always tell them the elf has been with your family since their first Christmas)
Start a Christmas cookie tradition (whether it is baking your favorite family recipe or getting messy decorating christmas themed sugar cookies, your baby can enjoy the sensory experience of “helping” you bake or decorate)
Start an advent tradition, picking something to do every night of December leading up to Christmas
Decide on your family’s Santa tradition
Write a letter to your baby each Christmas as a special gift as they grow (keep these in a special place – I love writing annual letters to our kids in our Promptly Childhood Memory Books // more options available on their website here)
Participate in a Secret Santa or 12 days of Christmas gifts for another family (baby is too young to appreciate this but as they get older they can appreciate that this has been happening ever since they were little)
Start your family nativity collection and add a new piece each year (we have this five inch nativity and started with just a few pieces and have added one each year since our baby’s first Christmas!)

Places to go for baby’s first Christmas

Take a Christmas light tour (your baby will love looking at all the lights!)
Visit a Christmas tree farm
Take a trip to see Santa
Attend a holiday parade
Go caroling (everyone will love a little visit from the baby!)
Visit a Christmas church service (with low expectations of a noisy baby)
Visit a tree lighting (many city and towns have these early in December, check your local newspaper or town website)
Watch ice skaters in the park
Attend a Church play or concert (live nativities are great to go to because there isn’t an expectation of everyone sitting quietly and baby might love the animals)

Foods to introduce for baby’s first Christmas:

Depending on your baby’s age, Christmas is a fun time to introduce some festive holiday foods. The following would make a great first Christmas dinner!