We Asked Teens to Share the Holiday Traditions They Actually Care About (& They’re Surprisingly Low-Effort)

Which holiday traditions do teens actually care about, and which are just spinning parents into a tizzy for no reason? 

Well, at 22, I’ve taken on the (very fun!) challenge of being an intermediary between teens and parents. Recently, I grabbed my SheKnows microphone and took to New York City’s Winter Village in Bryant Park to ask teens about their absolute favorite holiday traditions.

Spoiler alert: not once did I hear, “My favorite thing in the world is when my mom spends hours staging an elaborate break-in through our living room window and tells us it was Santa,” or “when she bakes multiple gourmet pies involving specialty ingredients from hard-to-get-to grocery stores.” 

The key to the perfect (not that there is such a thing) holiday celebration can be summed up in three words: Less is more. I heard this straight from the teens themselves.

So what are their favorite holiday traditions? Coming in first place is decorating the tree. Almost every teen I interviewed (including Jack, 16, Peter, 18, and Yara, 17) named this activity first. In my family, we put on a Spotify holiday playlist, whip out the hot chocolate, and bring down the boxes of ornaments from the attic. It takes about an hour and is a total teamwork-makes-the-dreamwork situation. So much fun.

The second favorite activity of teens turns out to be watching holiday movies. The teens I talked to in the Winter Village, including Maddie, 18, Gabrielle, 15, and Harrison, 17, told me their family favorites are Elf,National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and Home Alone. I can concur: a Christmas comedy never gets old.

The third most-loved tradition is decorating cookies. Again, almost every teen named this timeless activity, including Zoe, 18, and Riley, 17. Personally, I love the little cookie cutters where you can make the dough into the shape of a candy cane or a snowman. The best part though (and my 16-year-old sister agrees) is icing them. Make sure to have lots of different icing colors (and sprinkles!) on hand. (Do I smell a friendly cookie decorating competition…?)

Finally, it’s worth giving an honorable mention to the following activities that teens shouted out to me: caroling, decorating gingerbread houses, and dressing in pajamas on Christmas Eve. 

As it turns out, teens don’t need expensive nights out or elaborate schemes in order to have fun this holiday season. All they want for Christmas is to relax and spend low-maintenance time with parents, siblings, and the simple and happy traditions they grew up on.

Watch the full video for more!