Green Bean Christmas Eve Box

How to Make a Christmas Eve Box
Christmas is an exciting time for children to look forward to. Many families are creating the tradition of giving their children a Christmas Eve Box filled with festive gifts to enhance the magic and anticipation of Christmas Day, but also to encourage over-excited children to want to go to bed on Christmas Eve. 

Giving a Christmas Eve Box is thought to have stemmed from the Germanic tradition of gift-giving on the 24th December, but it is becoming increasingly popular across the UK. If you’re wondering how to make a Christmas Eve Box and what sorts of things to put inside, we’ve put together some useful tips to make it hassle-free and something your children will love!

What box should I use for a Christmas Eve Box?

Firstly, to make a Christmas Eve Box you will need a box (it’s in the name!). This can be a ready-made box that is already decorated and can be purchased in shops or online, however you can be savvy with your spending and create your own by using an old shoe box, or any left over cardboard boxes you may have lying around!

If you’re making your own box, you can decorate it with festive wrapping paper, coloured tissue paper, stickers, glitter, or any other arts and crafts materials you wish to use.

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Green Bean™ loves to encourage children to develop a love of reading and learning from early childhood. This plush toy is ideal for playing with alongside reading the books from the Green Bean Collection®, enhancing children’s experience of the stories and inspiring their creativity through the art of storytelling.

What sort of things do you put in a Christmas Eve Box?

Inside your Christmas Eve Box you can include anything you like, but the aim is to get children feeling excited, sparking that wonder of Christmas in their imaginations, and to also cleverly encourage them to want to settle down at bedtime and go to sleep. Some ideas for what to put in a Christmas Eve Box are:

• Festive activities - Christmas-themed activity books, magazines, or sticker books are a good choice to add to your box, for some quiet and calm time to wind down before bedtime. Many parents have included the Green Bean Festive Magazine in their Christmas Eve Boxes which have gone down a treat with the kids, with fun activities, a new festive story, and puzzles with their favourite characters from the Green Bean Collection!
  
• Fun family games - including a couple of simple and quick-to-play games in your Christmas Eve Box can be a nice way to spend some family fun time together. Things like card games and dominos are a classic option. Our 7-in-1 Card Games are perfect as they come in a compact box and include many fun games that are short and easy to play.
  
• Christmas books - Christmas books are a great way to spend some quiet family time together and enhance the magic of Christmas. From traditional family favourites, to exciting new stories, include a few different reading options that will encourage children to get cuddled up in bed and ready for a peaceful sleep. The Green Bean Christmas Board Book is a beautiful book to enhance the wonder of Christmas, with a bright red ribbon tie and lift-the-flap feature that children love!
  
• Cosy clothing - snuggly pyjamas, festive slippers, fluffy dressing gowns or soft bed socks are a lovely addition to a Christmas Eve Box. Children will be excited to get cosy and ready for bed! Alternatively, you could include a new Christmas outfit or jumper to wear on Christmas day - so the kids will look forward to getting changed into them in the morning.
  
• Christmas decoration - a new christmas decoration for your children to hang on the tree or somewhere in their room on Christmas Eve is another exciting option that children will enjoy taking ownership of and joining in by adding their own decoration to the home!
  
• Soft toys - a soft toy in their Christmas Eve Box will help children to feel happy, content, and drift off to sleep peacefully! Our gorgeous Green Bean and Mr Bear soft toys make the ideal cuddly friends for children.
  
• A festive treat - Christmas is the perfect time to enjoy a little festive treat - a warm, milky mug of hot chocolate will get the children feeling sleepy before bedtime! Include some hot chocolate or a hot chocolate ‘spoon’ which melts into warm milk as a soothing way to settle down in the evening.
  

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We hope these tips will inspire you to make your own Christmas Eve Box and bring even more magic and joy to the festivities for your family. These are just a few ideas for what to include in your Christmas Eve Box, but you can really make it your own and create your own wonderful family traditions that your children will remember for years to come! 

Look out for Melissa's latest articles on Anita Frost's author website, where she'll talk about topics including business and publishing, author news and events, and giving back to communities. You can find her in-depth monthly feature on the News & Media page of the Green Bean Collection website, discussing children's books and reading, early years education, living a greener lifestyle and all things Green Bean! ​