The decorations!

Whether it's tinsel shimmering on a tree or candles flickering on a menorah or Kwanza kinara, the glow and twinkle of holiday decorations can mesmerize any child.

Then there's the novelty factor. Kids are hyperalert to anything new in their environment. (Just try rearranging the furniture or buying a different breakfast cereal.) The day a wreath appears on your door or lights blink on city streets is downright magical. In Joanne Hovis's Bethesda, Maryland, home, her family's large collection of menorahs becomes the focal point. "The kids love looking at each one and hearing where it came from," she says. "Then we each pick one to light every night  -- though we do steer the kids to the sturdiest ones!"

The Christmas setup at our house ranks almost as high on the excite-o-meter in our family as the holy day itself. My husband and the kids go to pick out the most perfect tree on the lot (or, sometimes, chop a fresh one). Then we unwrap a family history's worth of ornaments and arrange the Nativity-set figurines while we sip hot chocolate and vote whether to top this year's tree with an angel or a star.

The food!
When my son Henry was 3, I decided he was ready to tackle the ritual of baking Christmas cookies. We mixed the dough, rolled it out, and brandished flour-dipped cookie cutters to make stars and snowmen.

"What are you making?" Daddy asked as red and green jimmies were being rather liberally sprinkled over the buttercream icing. "We are making a big mess!" Henry answered with glee.

You can bet we've made a big mess every year since.

Almost every family has some special dish that's only bought or bothered with once a year, thus making it something to savor. For Heather Harris's family in Northbrook, Illinois, it's all about the Hanukkah latkes, the traditional potato pancakes. The men in her family (her dad and, starting last year, her husband) are the chefs, and everyone, down to her daughter, Elle, now 2, enjoys their handiwork.

The traditions!
Having a family ritual gives a special rhythm to the seasons. For Janai Nelson, the Brooklyn mom of Kimathi, 2, and Nandi, 3 months, who hosts a big Kwanza celebration, they're a way of making the seven principles of the holiday real to the kids (not to mention the grown-ups). One way her family shows its support for the community is to acknowledge the oldest and youngest guests present. Last year, Kimathi was the baby; this year, he'll join the others in welcoming his new sibling.

Every year since they were born, Meredith and Miles Rickey, ages 4 and 2, have received new holiday pajamas from Santa's elves just before the big day. Last year, the doorbell rang Christmas Eve and there they were, in gift bags on their Russellville, Ohio, front porch. "This gives them something to look forward to, and they think it's just fabulous," says their mom, Melissa. "Plus, it helps the Christmas-morning pictures look festive  -- except we still have messy hair!"

For starting a tradition of your own, anything fun can be fodder: You can try creating your own gift themes for each night of Hanukkah, collecting food for charity, ice skating with bells on, or building a snowman. You'll be surprised how little things are remembered and re-created by your kids, and how new traditions develop a life of their own as the years go by.

The wrapping paper!
It's true: The littlest gift recipients don't care much about what's inside; they'd rather have the wrapping. Holiday paper tends to be shiny and colorful. It makes interesting noises. Boxes have lids to take off and replace.

When my daughter, Page, was 16 months old, I briefly lost track of her in the Christmas-morning ruckus. A quick "stop everything" search turned her up under a side table, happily sitting in a sea of wrapping paper and wadding and then tossing piece after piece with maniacal delight.

Amy Brown learned the unbeatable lure of packaging last year when she surprised her daughter, Tiffany, 3, with a grand gesture: a toy BMW to ride in. "But when her grandfather showed her that she could turn the box that the car came in into a spaceship, forget it," says Brown who lives in New York City. "She played with the spaceship, danced around the room inside the box, and even wanted to sleep in it  -- and forgot all about the car."

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