It’s that time of year once again – time to write those annual family Christmas letters! Are you looking for something different this time around? Do you long for a creative way to share the news of momentous occasions of 2019 with friends and family? We’ve got a few suggestions for different ways to do your letter that are a little outside the box but should prove to be fun and just different enough that your letter is more likely to be read than set aside.
- Write from the youngest child’s perspective. This is a great way to see things differently. You can interview your youngest about the events of the past year and record his or her response, or if he/ she is old enough to write, give them a piece of Christmas stationery and a pencil and let them go for it. These can be some of the most adorable, and hilarious, letters!
- Make an acrostic using “Christmas” or your family’s last name. This is a wonderful way to get that letter written, be a little creative, and still convey what happened in 2019. For instance, if you choose the word Christmas, C could be something like “Can’t believe Susie graduated from kindergarten to first grade at the top of her class and won the Best Reader Award.
- Tell a story with pictures and captions. Instead of telling about the new puppy you got, simply take a picture of the precious pup and caption it with “Newest member of the Smith clan” – story told!
- Use multiple choice quiz questions. Sum up your year with a fun quiz and see how much people know about your family. Questions and answers can be silly and engaging, such as Q: Dave is really enjoying his new job as a.) President of the United States, b.) Victoria’s Secret’s first male model, c.) Underarm deodorant tester, d.) Sales Manager
- Write a Top 10 list. This is a quick and easy year in review format that won’t take long to write or read. Choose from the highlights of the year and write one sentence for each item (or make it a Top 12 list and choose something from each month of the year).
- Your year in numbers. This method involves assigning a real or imagined number to significant or silly household happenings, like “Tabby gave us 9 cute kittens in January; The kittens gave out 212 licks per day to any family member within reach in February; March brought lots of snow and 57 trips down the hill on the family toboggan; April was celebrated with 20 A’s, 5 B’s and 1 report card we’re not talking about”.
- Write a poem. If you’re good at poetry, write in the style of “The Night Before Christmas” and if you’re not so great at writing, do a simple Haiku for each family member. The format for Haikus is three lines of prose with the first line being five syllables, the second line seven syllables, and the third line five syllables again. For instance:
- David got a job
- making pizzas after school
- greasy stains abound
- Do a “Wanted” poster with mug shots of each family member. This is a cute way to do a different kind of Christmas letter. For the kids, say something like “Sarah Jane Watkins: Wanted for superb hairstyling skills and uncanny ability to rhyme on cue. Known Aliases include SJ, Sissy, That Really Cute Redheaded Girl. Approach with caution; suspect is reported to divert attention away from undone chores via bribery with scrumptious homemade chocolate chip cookies.
- Hand out yearbook style awards. Even quicker than #5, this is an excellent way to put every family member in a positive light by handing out awards, like Best Leaf Raker, Highest Number of Chores Done Without Prompting, Most Likely to Perform Random Acts of Kindness, etc.
- Funniest family facts. Get the whole family involved by having each member write a short paragraph in their own words about the funniest thing that happened to them during the year. This just leaves you with the task of writing a short opening and closing statement and voila – your Christmas missive is done!
We hope these 10 ideas for how to write your 2019 Christmas letters have sparked your creative juices and will help you enjoy writing down all the fun and interesting things that your friends and family near and far will want to know. Have a Merry Christmas!
