The holiday season offers families a unique opportunity to come together and share narratives that reflect their personal histories and customs. Storytelling serves as a powerful way to preserve cultural values and help children connect with their roots, all while strengthening family bonds. But beyond retelling the same tales year after year, families can create new ones that become a meaningful part of their holiday festivities for future generations.
These fresh narratives don’t have to focus on the family itself; they can be imaginative, festive adventures. Children can invent their own holiday stories, featuring funny, compassionate, or even extraordinary characters. These characters might possess special abilities, face exciting challenges, or embody the kindness and empathy often associated with the season. They could have dreams, ambitions, and unique qualities that resonate with the holiday spirit.
Families can collect these creative works in a "holiday box" or time capsule, to be enjoyed and revisited at future celebrations. Over time, these original creations can become cherished family keepsakes, woven into the fabric of seasonal gatherings.
For younger children, combining storytelling with art projects can make the process even more engaging. They can bring their fictional worlds to life through drawings, crafts, or sculptures, enhancing the stories they create. These artistic contributions add an interactive, hands-on element to the celebration, blending creativity with family bonding in a way that makes each holiday season memorable.
In this way, each generation contributes something new and personal to the family’s evolving holiday traditions, ensuring that the magic of storytelling endures.
Adding Art Projects to Family Storytelling
Incorporating art into holiday storytelling also encourages collaboration. Family members can work together to bring the story to life, whether it’s brainstorming ideas, illustrating scenes, or assembling craft materials. This shared activity strengthens family bonds, as children, parents, and even grandparents collaborate to build traditions that are both timeless and ever-evolving. Here are some examples of family art projects that can become a lasting part of holiday traditions:
Story Illustration Banner: After inventing a holiday story together, children can illustrate different scenes from the story on pieces of paper or fabric. These illustrations can then be strung together as a banner or hung up around the dining room or living area during the holiday gathering. Each year, a new story or continuation of the original story can be illustrated and added to the banner, allowing the family tradition to grow as the children do.
Holiday Memory Collage: Encourage children to make a collage out of magazine clippings, old photographs, or even small items they find outside (like leaves or twigs) that represent moments or themes from the holiday story they helped create. This could include scenes from the story or key elements of the holiday they find meaningful. The collage can be framed or brought out each year as a visual storytelling tradition.
DIY Storybooks: After creating a new holiday story, children can design their own handmade storybooks. Using construction paper, markers, crayons, and stickers, they can illustrate the story’s characters and events, crafting a one-of-a-kind book. These DIY books can be kept and shared during holiday dinners, with each child proudly retelling their story. Over the years, the family can build a collection of handmade storybooks that reflect each year’s unique narrative.
Holiday Ornament Stories: Children can create ornaments that represent characters or elements from a family holiday story. These ornaments could be made out of clay, painted wood, or paper-mâché, depending on their ages. As the children place these ornaments on the tree (or around the house), they can retell the holiday story, and each year they can add a new ornament to continue the tale. This adds a layer of tradition, as the ornaments themselves become part of the holiday narrative.
Family Story Quilt: Families can work together on creating a quilt where each square represents a story told during holiday gatherings. Children can help design the quilt squares by drawing or painting images that capture moments from their favorite holiday stories. The quilt can be added to over the years, growing with the family and becoming a centerpiece for future holiday storytelling.
Character Figurines or Puppets: Children can create figurines, puppets, or dolls representing characters from the holiday story, using materials like felt, paper, or clay. These characters can then be used to perform the story for the family during the holiday dinner. This project turns storytelling into an immersive experience, as children get to play out the story they've helped create, bringing it to life in front of everyone.
Creating Lasting Memories and Traditions
As children grow, the stories they write and the artwork they create become treasured mementos of family gatherings. They won’t just remember the tales they spun, but the joy of contributing to something meaningful, a collaborative effort that bridges the past, present, and future of the family.
Over time, these creative efforts could become a lasting part of the holiday season, evolving into beloved traditions passed down through generations. Imagine the delight of children, now grown, returning home and rediscovering the handmade storybooks, ornaments, or crafts from their youth. Sharing those memories and creations with their own children adds layers of nostalgia and meaning to each holiday, reinforcing the significance of storytelling and artistic expression as central to family celebrations. This enduring tradition strengthens bonds and ensures the holiday season is filled with creativity, connection, and continuity.
Eugene Roginsky is a licensed psychotherapist, writer and wellness educator who works with family in Lake County, Illinois. www.EugeneRoginsky.com
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