Christmas Eve Family Night In Essentials

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, that day when excitement and anticipation have reached a fever pitch. Parents everywhere are trying to keep the kids as calm as humanly possible whilst trying to finish all the last-minute preparations. Needless to say, by mid-afternoon you’ll certainly have earned a chilled-out evening and what better way to spend it than cosying up at home with the family.

Christmas Eve is one of the few evenings we can guarantee everyone will be in the same place, so we try to make the most of our family time together. There are however a few essentials necessary to ensure our evening is perfect. Here are our 5 Essentials for the perfect family Christmas Eve Night-In.

Food

Its Christmas so of course food is top of the list! Our Christmas Eve kicks off with our annual buffet laden with enough party food and snacks to sink a ship. Packed with all those irresistible mini versions of delicious, mouth-watering food it’s difficult to refrain from stuffing our faces!

Despite having consumed our body weight in buffet food it wouldn’t be Christmas without the unveiling of the Celebrations chocolate tub! Along with the biggest bag of peanuts I can find, we can nibble until our hearts content, preparing ourselves for the day of feasting ahead!

New Pyjamas

Instead of Christmas Eve boxes the kids all receive a gift in the morning containing a new pair of pyjamas and usually a novelty game or item to keep them busy for a while during the day. As soon as the evening begins the kids always pop on their new pj’s ready for a cosy evening in front of the fire – plus of course the stretchy waistbands mean more room to consume a few extra sweet treats!

Christmas Tunes

All day on Christmas Eve we have our festive playlist on in the background as we make final preparations for the big day. The tunes continue long into the evening, helping ramp up the Christmas Spirit and making the perfect accompaniment to our special feast.

Board Games

As well as a Christmas Eve gift each there is always a family gift containing a new board game to get together and play in the evening. We have some old favourites of course like Monopoly* and Cluedo* that usually get dusted off too, but we also love discovering new games. One of our best Christmas discoveries yet is 5 Second Rule Game*, which is hilarious to play and a lot harder than it first appears! I’m really looking forward to this year’s game, although I won’t spoil the surprise in case the family are reading this!

Movies

Lastly, as the evening wears on we love nothing more than to grab a couple of blankets and settle down to watch a festive movie. Usually it’s one we have watched a zillion times before but who cares! It’s the perfect ending to a busy day, all snuggled in front of the fire with the family before heading to bed so that Santa doesn’t catch us awake!

What do your family do on Christmas Eve? What will you be doing tomorrow?

 Leave a comment below and let us know!

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