Christmas is the season of the gimmes. Gimme toys, gimme electronic gadgets, gimmme gift certificates. That’s not the real meaning of Christmas. It’s not about the parties or the sharing of tasty meals, either. All the holiday gift giving, all the parties, all of the shiny decorations can take over the meaning of Christmas and it can get swallowed up. Christmas books can help remind you of what it’s really all about.

The simple Christmas gatherings of yesteryear have turned into one stress after another until you can feel like you’re stuck in a maze. With the hustle and bustle of everything going on, getting off track and lost in the maze of focusing on material stuff happens.

But it doesn’t have to stay that way. You can get back on track and have the true meaning of Christmas foremost in your holiday celebrations. You can pick out Christmas books that you can read together as a family that will show the true meaning of the holiday.

These books come in different formats and aren’t difficult to get ahold of. If you have little ones at home and you want them to understand that Christmas is not about the material possessions, start a practice of sharing Christmas related stories after dinner every night or as a bedtime story. You can get under the blankets together and teach them holiday priorities that will last a lifetime. Start with ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas!

You can easily purchase these books from most retail stores or online stores that carry Christmas products. There are even some books that will share the meaning of Christmas in a way that make it come alive for your family by allowing the acting out of parts of the story.

Some books will offer you the opportunity to personal the stories by putting your child’s name in the book. Children remember the stories because of hearing their name used. And what child doesn’t laugh out loud and beg for more when his or her parents read a story about The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

What are the best books to buy that can teach the meaning of the holiday? The books that teach about giving and being thankful for even the small things in life like The Christmas Shoes.

Find books that teach about the origin of Christmas and the peaceful day that it started out as. Look for books that teach that Christmas is about being grateful for family, that it’s about not focusing on ourselves but on being there for others.

Seek to purchase books that will teach about how Christmas is shared the world over. Children are natural born learners and they soak in what they’re taught but when we get to busy during Christmas with the getting and the glittery decorating, they can learn the wrong lessons. So take the time out to share with them Christmas books that will show them the real meaning of this holiday.

Kids love everything about Christmas except waiting for the day to get here. With them taking a break from school, you’ll often hear cries of, “I don’t have anything to do.” You can keep them busy this holiday season with Christmas crafts that are easy and fun for the little ones to make.

Christmas Placemat Craft: Using recycled Christmas cards, tear off the backs where the writing is. You’ll need about three regular sized Christmas cards to make each placemat.

Have the kids glue the cards decoration side up down on colored construction paper. When the glue dries, cover the craft front and back with clear contact paper, making sure there are no open ends or gaps. Kids love setting their plats on their own special Christmas place mat.

Santa Ornament: This makes a great little gift for kids to make and give their friends or teachers too. Pick up large plastic ornaments at the craft store. These ornaments will open for you to put items inside.

Open the ornament and fill it with peppermints. Secure it closed again. Using a medium sized wooden ball, glue on jiggly eyes. Once the eyes are set, glue the wooden ball onto the top the plastic ornament.

Next, add cotton hair for the head, mustache and beard. Glue a red felt ‘hat’ on top of the hair. At the base of the ornament, glue a long piece of black felt for Santa’s belt. Glue the front bottom of the ornament to a thin wooden heart that’s been painted black. The curves in the heart will be Santa’s feet.

Christmas Countdown Chain: For this popular craft, you’ll need red and green construction paper cut into thin, even strips. The kids can decorate the paper strips with Christmas writing and glitter glue.

Form the strips into connecting circles and glue each one closed. Once the glue is dry, hang the circle within easy reach of the child. Each day that passes until Christmas, the kids get to tear off one of the links of the chain.

Candy Cane Reindeer: This craft is an oldie but a favorite among children. All you need are candy canes, jiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, mini pom-poms and glue. At the top of the candy cane, glue a pipe cleaner, twisting it into the shape of antlers. Glue jiggly eyes on either side of the reindeer ‘head’ and add the nose to the end of the candy cane.

Cookie Cutter Ornaments: To do this craft, you’ll need an assortment of cookie cutters in various holiday shapes. The ones that work the best are snowmen, Santa, trees and bell shapes.

Place each cookie cutter on colored construction paper. Trace around it. Cut it out. Have the kids decorate each cut out with glitter and mini pom-poms for Christmas balls on the tree.

For the snowmen, use mini black pom-poms for his buttons. You can use jiggly eyes on the snowmen and Santa. Once each ornament is finished, use a hole puncher to punch a hole at the top. Thread thin ribbon through the hole and let the kids hang their special ornament from the tree.