The purpose of a holiday newsletter is to keep friends and family updated on the events in your family’s life and share holiday greetings across the miles. The holidays are a good time to tell about your experiences from the past year, and express warm wishes for the year to come.
When you send a holiday newsletter, you can let each member of the family write their own articles or stories. You can also include family portraits, or photographs from family vacations. Think about what you would tell your family and friends if you could see them.
Writing a family newsletter can also be a fun activity to do together as a family. You can make everyone feel included and special as you take stock of the events in your life together.
First, sit down and talk about the most important things that have happened in the past year. What special memories do you share? What have you learned or come to understand? Has anyone in your family achieved any accomplishments (like graduation from high school or winning a special prize) or reached a major milestone, like retiring or moving into a new home? Also, think about who will be reading your family newsletter. What would your friends or distant family members most like to hear about?

Would they enjoy seeing photographs from your vacations, or hearing about your family’s education or career? Do they have any special interests that your family shares?
After you list the things you want to write about, organize your list into categories, like Introduction, Dad’s News, Mom’s News, Kids’ News, Special Messages, and Final Thoughts. If your children are old enough, consider asking them to write their own sections.
You might want to include new or updated contact information, like a new address, phone number, e-mail address, or family Web site address. Make a note to yourself so you don’t forget to include that information.

Christmas 2004
Your Family’s Name

Photo caption here
Special events in our family’s life: