Fun Tradition With 12 Days of Christmas Gifts

Does your family do 12 Days of Christmas gifts? Do you follow the classic song for the presents each day? My family does it every year, but probably not in the way you’re thinking. I love teaching my kids the joy of giving, especially during the Christmas season.

One of our favorite traditions is leaving anonymous 12 Days of Christmas gifts for a friend or neighbor. It’s so much fun! Keep reading for gift ideas and all the details on how we make it happen.

Starting on either December 13th or 14th (depending on whether we want to end on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day), we pick some friends or neighbors to spread a little Christmas cheer to.

On the first day of Christmas, my girls will secretly sneak up to our unsuspecting recipient’s front door, drop off a themed gift, knock or ring the bell, and try to dash away before being caught. The doorbell cameras everyone has these days are definitely making this a lot trickier, but we do our best!

Each day, we keep up this Christmas gift-giving ding-dong ditch, leaving something at their door that represents each of the 12 Days of Christmas. We did this with our neighbors in Provo and this will be our third year doing it here in Omaha. It’s a tradition that I will happily continue when we move on to our new home next year.

Ideas for 12 Days of Christmas Gifts

Need ideas for 12 Days of Christmas gifts? I’ve got a bunch of ideas listed below and even more in my 12 Days of Christmas Guide. My biggest tip—don’t overthink it! Get creative! As long as it loosely ties into the theme of the day, it works, and it’ll be fun for the recipient. The printable gift tags that we attach to the gift each day also help them to make the connection.

Day One: Partridge in a Pear Tree

• Partridge and Pear Christmas ornament
• Fresh pears
• Jar of pear preserves
• Sweet pear scented candle

Day Two: Turtle Doves

• Chocolate turtles
• Dove body cream
• Dove chocolate

Day Three: French Hens

• The Little Red Hen children’s book
• Rotisserie Chicken
• Chicken noodle soup

Day Four: Calling Birds

• Bird feeder
• Bird seed
• Bird Brains Trivia Game

Day Five: Gold Rings

• Ring Toss game
• Butterscotch Lifesavers
• Peach rings
• Doughnuts

Day Six: Geese a Laying

• Fresh Eggs
• Goose Christmas ornament
• Eggnog
• Goose socks

Day Seven: Swans a Swimming

• The Ugly Duckling children’s book
• Swan pool float
• Origami paper swans (folding instructions here)

Day Eight: Maids a Milking

• Cow cream dispenser
• Container of your favorite ice cream
• Milk frother

Day Nine: Ladies Dancing

• The Nutcracker picture book
• Pirouette cookies
• Bluetooth speaker

Day Ten: Lords a Leaping

• Jump rope
• Gummy frogs
• Popcorn

Day Eleven: Pipers Piping (almost done with the 12 days of Christmas!)

• Piper Christmas ornament
• Red Vines licorice
• Sugar cookie mix, piping bags with frosting, and Christmas sprinkles

Day Twelve: Drummers Drumming

• Drumstick ice cream cones
• The Twelve Days of Christmas picture book
• Drummer Christmas ornament

If you want links to even more gift ideas, and tags that you can print out for each day of your 12 days of Christmas gifts, click here for a link to my guide.

In addition to handing out our 12 days of Christmas gifts, some of our other favorite traditions are visiting The Giving Machine in our area, decorating the house, making gingerbread houses, and of course, our annual Christmas parties! What fun Christmas traditions does your family have?

I love this time of the year so much I even have my own Christmas playlist! It’s perfect for putting on while you’re decorating, letting it play in the background while presents are being opened, or setting the mood during a party!