Duggar Family’s Holiday Traditions: How the ‘Counting On’ Alums Celebrate Christmas

The Bible Is Part of the Festivities

First thing’s first: the Bible. As religious as they are, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that instead of watching Rudolph or reading a story about Santa and his elves, the Duggars instead listen to Jim Bob as he reads the story of the first Christmas from the scriptures and recites a passage from Luke 2:11.

Interesting Angle

In easily one of the most unique examples of Duggar holiday traditions, the Duggars hang a “Happy Birthday Jesus” banner for Christmas, as seen in this photo. Not a shock, considering that Jesus is the reason for the season for Christians and all that, but definitely out of the ordinary.

Gift Bags

Every Christmas, the Duggar kids each got 19 personalized gift bags that include Pringles chips, beef jerky and jars of pickles (the Duggars are really into pickles), according to blog Focus on the Family in 2012.

“Almost all of us like pickles, but each one likes a different kind. Same with the Pringles and the beef jerky,” Michelle explained at the time. “Christmas is the one time of year when every child gets their favorite flavor of each treat.”

Huge Family Photo

Another tradition of the Duggar family that isn’t so strange is their penchant for taking family photos around the holidays. The only weird thing about this tradition is how wide the photo has to be to fit them all!

No tree?

In the past, the Duggars apparently didn’t do a big Christmas tree. During a 2014 tour video, a tiny fake tree was present, but that was it.

However, the family has seemingly forgone this strange tradition. Anna Duggar, Jessa and more have shown off their decorated trees over the years.

Lots of Singing

Michelle explained during that same Christmas house tour that the whole family will sing “Happy Birthday, Jesus” and have a special celebration. It’s no “Frosty the Snowman,” but the Duggar matriarch said, “We look forward to it the whole month of December.”

Whatever Floats Their Boat

Hey, if that’s the type of singing the Duggars and their peers want to do during the holidays, all power to them!

Matching Clothes

The Duggar family used to always match, and they’ve passed the tradition down to their kids.

Nativity Scenes Galore

There are at least three different nativity scenes throughout the Duggar home for Christmas, and of particular note is the giant one pictured here.

No Santa!

That’s right — the Duggars don’t do Santa. In fact, in 2016, Derick Dillard tweeted about how Santa isn’t real. However, they’ve since loosened their policy a bit, per Jana’s video that showed Santa at their party in 2021.

They Do Presents – But Not in the Usual Way

The Duggars do in fact give each other Christmas gifts, but it’s not like everyone has to get something for everyone else in the family like many families do.

They Have a System

Instead, it used to be that the family would exchange names during Thanksgiving, with older siblings matched up with older siblings and younger siblings with younger siblings. Michelle explained that they all draw names so each of their children only has to buy one gift, but the patriarch and matriarch in the family do buy their kids additional presents.

White Elephant

In 2018, the Duggars revealed they were planning to do a white elephant gift exchange instead of (or possibly in addition to) their usual gift-giving. Jessa posted on Instagram about her family gathering on December 8, revealing they threw an ugly sweater party to commemorate the holidays with loved ones.

Christmas Cards

In a past Duggar Christmas tour video, Jana worked on sending Christmas cards with the message, “Happy Birthday Jesus!”

New Traditions

As the Duggar kids have grown up and moved out of the house, they’ve started some traditions in their own homes. Jessa, for instance, seems to do stockings and other decorations that aren’t normally seen in the main Duggar home.

Family Outings

The Duggars also seem to check out holiday lights together, which is another fairly regular family tradition.

Pregnancy Pose

It’s common for multiple Duggar women to be pregnant at the same time. Jill wrapped a bow around her belly while expecting her oldest, Israel, in 2014.

Pancake Breakfast

Jill cooked up some holiday-themed pancakes for her three boys, Samuel, Israel and Frederick, revealing she added “Christmas sprinkles” for an extra-special treat.

Winter Wonderland

Jinger and her husband, Jeremy, took daughters Felicity and Evangeline to Wakefield Winter Wonderland in Santa Clarita, California, in December 2022. “I love how the entire neighborhood comes together to make this happen,” she wrote of the famous Southern California neighborhood Christmas lights display. “Well done!”