Christmas with kids 2026 – Advent, Christmas markets and Christmas out in nature

For families with children, Christmas really begins on the first Sunday of Advent. That is when the first candle is lit, the Christmas markets open and the countdown becomes real. Four weeks later comes Christmas Eve – followed by Christmas holidays that can be either wonderful or long, depending on how they are planned.

This guide gathers everything for Christmas 2026: the dates with weekdays, the Christmas markets that suit children, ideas for Advent that last four weeks, and the Christmas we like best – the one that largely happens outdoors, with glögg in the flask and porridge in the pot over the fire.

Christmas 2026 in the calendar

In 2026 Christmas falls in a way that gives many people a long break. The first Sunday of Advent is on 29 November, and Lucia falls on a Sunday, the same day as the third Sunday of Advent. Lucia processions at preschools and schools are therefore often held on Friday 11 December.

Christmas Eve is a Thursday, Christmas Day a Friday and Boxing Day a Saturday – three public holidays in a row followed by a Sunday. New Year's Eve is also a Thursday, and Epiphany a Wednesday. In most municipalities the Christmas holidays start around 18 December and last until just after Epiphany. The table above shows all the dates, and what is open during the holidays in the two largest cities is in Christmas holidays in Gothenburg and Christmas holidays in Stockholm.

Advent with kids – four weeks of anticipation

Advent is easier to enjoy with one thing to look forward to each weekend rather than a long list. A simple plan:

• First Sunday of Advent: light the first candle, bring out the Advent candlestick and the Christmas curtains, and have saffron buns or gingerbread biscuits for breakfast.
• Second Sunday of Advent: bake gingerbread biscuits, make knäck toffee and do crafts – a star made of sticks, Christmas cards or garlands to hang in the window.
• Third Sunday of Advent and Lucia: a Lucia procession at home in pyjamas with freshly baked lussekatter, and a Christmas market in the afternoon.
• Fourth Sunday of Advent: go to the forest. Bring glögg, gingerbread biscuits and a sit mat, and let the children look for a beautiful spruce or twigs for the door wreath – under the Right of Public Access you may take what is lying on the ground.

An Advent calendar with a note a day can also be activities instead of sweets: “Go for a forest walk with a flashlight”, “Call Grandma”, “Grill sausages in the snow”.

Christmas markets that suit children

Christmas markets can be magical for children – or crowded and boring if there are only stalls with elves and candles. Choose markets where there is more to do:

• Skansen in Stockholm has had a Christmas market since 1903. There are the animals, the old houses with Christmas baking and folk dancing around the tree. In 2026 the Christmas market is open Friday to Sunday from 27 November to 20 December.
• Christmas at Liseberg in Gothenburg usually opens in mid-November and has rides, hundreds of thousands of lights and Christmas market stalls. It is often called Scandinavia's largest Christmas market and is a good alternative for children who think ordinary markets are boring.
• Castles and manor houses often have a Christmas market on a few Advent weekends, in a park where the children can run around. Tjolöholm Castle in Halland is one example – more about the castle and the park in Tjolöholm.

More Christmas markets – Stortorget, Jamtli, Gamla Linköping, Huseby and Astrid Lindgren's Näs – and when they are usually open are collected in Christmas markets in Sweden 2026.

Go early in the day, bring something warm to drink and decide in advance how much may be bought. Always check the opening hours before you go – they vary from year to year.

Christmas outdoors – glögg, porridge and fire in the snow

For many children the best Christmas memory is not the presents but the moment outdoors: fire in the snow, glowing cheeks and something warm in the cup. If you want to take the whole Christmas dinner outside, the menu and timetable are in Christmas dinner outdoors. A few ideas:

• Glögg by the fire. A pan of glögg over an open fire with a children's glögg made from cordial, so that everyone gets a cup.
• Christmas porridge in the pot. Rice porridge over an open fire that simmers slowly – with an almond in the pot.
• Cinnamon buns in the pan. Fire-baked cinnamon buns smell of Christmas even out in the forest.
• Smoked Christmas ham. Bake the ham in the oven, then smoke and glaze it in the smoker box – Christmas ham in a smoker box.
• Christmas sausage on skewers. Pre-cooked at home, grilled with apple and red onion over the embers – Christmas sausage on skewers.
• Roasted chestnuts. A pan of chestnuts over the embers – peel them warm in a tea towel.
• Hot chocolate. A flask of hot chocolate with whipped cream after the sledging hill.

If there is snow, Christmas Day can be a day of sledging, skiing and skating – and in the evening a snow lantern in the garden. If it is cold, the children can freeze ice ornaments of berries and twigs to hang in the trees. And don't forget the small birds – hang up bird biscuits in the tree when the ground freezes. You will find more about cooking outdoors in winter among the recipes in EldMat.

Christmas in the mountains

If you are celebrating New Year in the mountains, torchlight skiing, early midnights and clothes for midnight are covered in New Year in the mountains. For many families, Christmas in a mountain cabin is the best Christmas of all: snow is almost guaranteed, the Christmas buffet is served at the restaurant and Christmas Day can begin on the slopes. The Christmas and New Year weeks are peak season, so accommodation and ski school need to be booked early. We go through which resorts suit families best in ski trips in Sweden, and if you plan to travel to the Alps over Christmas, the budget guide for the ski trip is a good start.

A candlelit Christmas without accidents

December is the month with the most fires caused by candles. According to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), about four in ten candle fires happen in December, with peaks around the Advent Sundays. A few simple habits:

• Place candles steadily on something that does not burn, away from curtains and spruce twigs.
• Always blow them out when you leave the room – even for a short while.
• Choose LED candles in windows, Advent candlesticks and anywhere children and pets can reach.
• Water the tree every day – a dry Christmas tree burns very quickly.
• Check the smoke alarm on the first Sunday of Advent. It is an easy day to remember.

A calmer Christmas

Christmas is rarely like the adverts, and that is perfectly fine. Many families feel better for dropping a few must-dos: fewer Christmas cards, one Christmas dish fewer, a shorter present list. Let the children choose one or two traditions each that they like most, and do them properly.

And get outside. An hour in the forest every day during the Christmas holidays – with a fire, glögg and gingerbread biscuits – gives both children and adults more Christmas spirit than yet another day at the shopping centre.