With decorating, baking, gifting, and gathering all on the calendar, we took a closer look at the traditions that bring families together and the role creativity plays in them. We surveyed over 1,000 parents of children ages 5-14 about the holiday activities their families enjoy, the hands-on moments they make time for, and what gets in the way. We also surveyed over 2,400 adults across the U.S. about the traditions, gifts, and handmade décor that shape their holiday seasons.
The findings show that families are making room for both old favorites and new creations. From decorating the tree and baking treats to keeping handmade ornaments for years to come, here’s what parents said makes the season memorable.
The holiday highlights
89% of parents are likely to do hands-on activities with their children this holiday season.
Parents most look forward to decorating a tree (43%), watching holiday movies (41%), and decorating their home (33%) with their kids.
59% of Americans would prefer a handmade holiday gift from a loved one over a store-bought one.
86% of Americans typically put a Christmas tree up for the holidays. 23% of the ornaments on them are handmade.
How parents are making holiday memories with their kids
The holiday season is full of the little moments kids look forward to all year: pulling ornaments from the box, sprinkling cookie toppings everywhere, and settling in for a favorite movie. For parents, those moments matter just as much. Many families are planning to make, decorate, and spend quality time together this holiday season.
The season’s favorite moments are often the simplest ones
When parents think about the parts of the holiday season they’re most excited to share with their kids, decorating and cozy time together rise to the top.
43% look forward most to decorating a tree or another holiday display.
41% are excited to watch holiday movies or specials.
33% look forward to decorating their home.
33% are excited to cook or bake together.
For parents of children ages 5–8, creative traditions have an especially strong pull. More than one in four said making holiday crafts or ornaments is among the things they’re looking forward to most.
Of course, not every holiday task sparks the same excitement. Parents would be happiest to skip taking down decorations once the season ends (42%), coordinating family schedules (20%), and shopping for or wrapping gifts (18%).
Families are planning plenty of time to create together
Many parents already have hands-on fun on the calendar. The top activities families expect to do together this year are decorating the home (73%), watching holiday movies or specials (73%), and baking or decorating treats (70%).
Younger kids are likely to get in on the action, too. More than half of parents with children ages 5-8 expect to play board games, puzzles, or other hands-on games with them, while 51% expect to make ornaments, cards, or decorations together.
That enthusiasm carries beyond a single craft session or batch of cookies.
89% of parents say they’re likely to do hands-on activities, such as crafting, with their children this holiday season.
71% say their children often or very often take part in making something for the holidays, like crafts, decorations, or gifts.
59% say the biggest reason their family does hands-on holiday activities together is to create memories. Continuing family traditions (13%) and encouraging creativity and learning (11%) followed.
For many families, that creating can begin with the countdown itself, as a daily hands-on holiday project becomes one more small tradition to share.
The things kids make become part of the tradition
A handmade ornament can easily become the one that always gets a spot near the front of the tree.
Parents said they display, reuse, or save many of the things their children make from one holiday season to the next, including:
Ornaments (81%)
Other decorations displayed around the home (63%)
Handmade gifts (56%)
The holiday activities that stick with families tend to be the ones that leave room for kids to make something their own. But what helps an activity earn a place in a busy family’s holiday routine? Next, we’ll look at what parents want most from their time together during the season.
| “Some of the most meaningful holiday traditions are the ones that give kids a real role in the celebration,” said Julie Walling, Senior Director of Marketing at KiwiCo. “When they’re making an ornament or decorating cookies, they get to share their own ideas. Families also get a keepsake, something to remind them of the memories they made together.” |
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What parents want from holiday time together
A family holiday activity doesn’t need to be complicated to be meaningful. But between shopping trips, travel plans, and a house that somehow gets messy the second the decorations come out, even a simple craft can feel like one more thing to coordinate.
Parents want hands-on holiday time with their kids. They just need activities that fit into real family life.
The best holiday activities work for the whole family
Cost is the biggest barrier parents face when it comes to doing hands-on holiday activities with their children. Nearly one in three parents cited the cost of supplies or activities.
Other challenges include:
Cleaning up afterward (30%)
Not having enough time (25%)
Finding an activity that works for children of different ages (23%)
Not knowing what to make or do (19%)
So, what would make parents more likely to add a hands-on activity to their holiday routine? They’re looking for ideas that bring everyone in without creating more stress.
47% want an activity the whole family can do together.
38% want an activity that becomes a keepsake or decoration.
32% want an activity that doesn’t create a big mess.
Parents don’t need a picture-perfect plan; what they want is an easy, enjoyable way to make time together feel special.
Hands-on time can add something different to a screen-filled day
Holiday breaks can mean a little more downtime and, for many families, a little more screen time. 40% of parents allow their children 3-4 hours of screen time on holidays, while 30% allow 1-2 hours and 27% allow 5 or more hours. Just 3% limit holiday screen time to less than an hour.
Every minute doesn’t need to be scheduled or screen-free, but a craft, project, or game can offer a welcome change of pace.
The memories parents hope will last
When parents think ahead to the holiday traditions they want their children to remember, togetherness comes first. 66% want their kids to remember time spent with family and friends.
The traditions parents most want to stick with their children also include:
Cooking or baking together (45%)
Decorating together (41%)
Making crafts, ornaments, or gifts together (30%)
The holidays may come with full calendars and a few inevitable messes, but the moments kids are most likely to carry with them are often the hands-on ones: frosting cookies, hanging a homemade ornament, or creating something side by side.
Those small, creative traditions aren’t limited to one kind of family celebration. Next, we’ll zoom out to see how people across the country approach handmade gifts, décor, and the traditions that make the season feel special.
How handmade traditions show up across the country
A handmade ornament may be small, but it can hold a lot: a child’s first attempts at glitter, a favorite family joke, or a memory from years ago that still earns a spot on the tree. Across the country, many households make room for those personal touches, whether they show up in the gifts people give, the decorations they display, or the traditions they return to each year.
Handmade gifts have plenty of fans
More than half of Americans (59%) said they’d generally prefer to receive a handmade holiday gift from a loved one rather than a store-bought one. That preference was strongest in several states:
Ohio (74%)
Arkansas (71%)
Vermont (69%)
North Dakota (69%)
Colorado (68%)
Indiana (68%)
In some states, respondents were more likely to prefer a store-bought gift:
Oregon (56%)
Tennessee (54%)
Oklahoma (53%)
South Dakota (53%)
Hawaii (52%)
Michigan (52%)
That preference for handmade gifts highlights a meaningful trend. For kids, a hands-on gift encourages active engagement: rather than simply receiving something, they get to build, experiment, and make it their own.
That preference for handmade gifts points to something bigger than the item itself. For kids, a hands-on gift can take that meaning a step further: rather than simply receiving something, they get to build, experiment, and make it their own.
The tree remains a favorite place for family-made décor
For many families, the holiday tree is where years of traditions come together. 86% of Americans typically put up a Christmas tree, and among those who do, handmade ornaments make up an average of one-fourth of the decorations on it.
Handmade holiday décor also reaches well beyond the tree. About three in four Americans said they display handmade decorations for fall or winter holidays. From ornaments and garlands to place cards and other festive creations, these items give families a chance to add their own personality to the season.
Togetherness still comes first
When Americans named the traditions that matter most to their households, spending time with family and friends led by a wide margin at 64%. Decorating a tree or other seasonal display followed at 34%, while exchanging gifts came in at 31%.
That balance says a lot about the season. Gifts and decorations help set the scene, but the real tradition is sharing time with the people who make it feel like home.
The memories are in the making
From decorating the tree and baking treats to saving handmade ornaments year after year, the holiday traditions families value most are rooted in time together. Parents want hands-on activities that are easy to enjoy, meaningful to their kids, and worth remembering long after the season ends.
KiwiCo makes it easy to bring more of those creative moments home. Explore hands-on projects designed to spark curiosity, give kids something they can proudly make, and help your family create new traditions during the holidays and all year long.
Methodology
To explore how holiday traditions vary across the U.S., we conducted 2 surveys: a state-by-state survey of more than 2,400 adults and a separate survey of more than 1,000 parents of children aged 5–14.
The state survey included respondents from 48 states and examined the traditions Americans consider most important across Thanksgiving, the winter holidays and New Year’s. Participants were also asked about the role handmade decorations, crafts and gifts play in their household celebrations. For this research, “winter holidays” includes Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other seasonal celebrations.
The parent survey explored the holiday activities families look forward to, the role of hands-on traditions such as baking and making decorations, and how parents balance quality family time with the demands of the busy holiday season.
The surveys ran over two weeks in September 2026. All results are reported in aggregate.
Fair Use
This data is available for public use; we just ask that you cite KiwiCo and link to this page for your initial reference to it. For example:
According to recent research from KiwiCo, a company that creates hands-on learning projects designed to inspire curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving in kids …
Data is provided by KiwiCo, a maker of hands-on learning crates for kids.
