• 120 story ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Christmas Short Story Ideas

Press the button for three Christmas premises with their plots in three beats, from the nativity to a snowball truce.

Christmas Short Story Ideas

All 120
  1. A scribe in Jerusalem is summoned to answer a king's question.Herod asks where the Christ is to be born. The scribes say Bethlehem. He walks home uneasy.
  2. A cuckoo clock in an antique shop sounds only when one customer walks past.The owner notices. It was her family's, sold when she was small. He will not take her money.
  3. A father insists on cutting down the tree himself.It is too tall for the car. It is too tall for the room. They trim the top, then the bottom, and it is a shrub.

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Nativity and faith 20

  • A bell ringer faces her last Christmas before the bells are put on a timer. She teaches one teenager. They ring by hand on Christmas morning. The timer is never switched on.
  • A boy playing a shepherd in the church pageant brings his own dog to be the sheep. The dog will not lie down. It walks to the manger and sits. Nobody in the pews minds.
  • A child in Bethlehem watches strangers from the east stop at a neighbor's house. They carry boxes inside. They kneel. They leave by a different road from the one they came on.
  • A choir of nine sings the midnight service in a snowstorm to a congregation of four. The roads close. They sing every verse. One of the four had planned to leave town for good.
  • A clerk writes down names for the emperor's enrollment in Bethlehem. The line is long. He enters a man from Nazareth and does not look up. Days later he hears what shepherds are saying.
  • A family keeps forgetting to light the candle on its Advent wreath. The first week is missed. The second is late. By the fourth, the youngest is reminding everyone.
  • A family reads the second chapter of Luke aloud each Christmas Eve, and this year the youngest reads. She stumbles on Quirinius. Her grandfather mouths it. She reads the rest alone.
  • A girl works at the inn in Bethlehem in the week of the enrollment, when every room is taken. She turns travelers away all day. There is no room for one last couple. That night she hears of a baby laid in a feeding trough.
  • A guide hired by the wise men is told in the morning that they will go home another way. He knows only the road through Jerusalem. They will not take it. He learns a new road.
  • A neighbor wakes in the night to hear a family leaving for Egypt. A man, a woman and a young child go before dawn. They do not say why. He keeps their doorstep swept.
  • A scribe in Jerusalem is summoned to answer a king's question. Herod asks where the Christ is to be born. The scribes say Bethlehem. He walks home uneasy.
  • A servant packs for wise men who mean to follow a star. He thinks the journey foolish. He packs gold, frankincense and myrrh. He is there when the star stops.
  • A shepherd too young to leave the flock hears the others run for Bethlehem. He is told to stay. He counts sheep and watches the sky. They come back and tell him all of it.
  • A town's outdoor nativity scene needs someone to sit up with the sheep. Two teenagers take the late shift. One sheep gets out. They find it asleep in the straw by the manger.
  • A woman walking from Galilee to be enrolled keeps pace with a couple from Nazareth. The road is crowded. She loses them at the edge of Bethlehem. Later she hears the shepherds' news.
  • A woman who has not been to church in years goes to the carol service for the music. She sits at the back. She knows every word. She stays to stack the chairs.
  • The newest member of a church carol group is handed the lantern and no song sheet. She thinks she is not trusted to sing. At the last house a man asks for her choice. She sings it alone.
  • One figure is missing from the church's nativity set: the baby. The children search everywhere. The caretaker says it is not lost, only waiting. A boy carries it in at midnight.
  • One of the shepherds wonders who will believe a shepherd. They hurry into town. They find the baby in the feeding trough, as they were told. He tells everyone anyway.
  • The youngest angel in the pageant has one line and says it too early. She says "Don't be afraid" in the first scene. People smile. It is what the boy playing Joseph needed to hear.

Mystery and gentle ghosts 25

  • A carol is heard from the empty house at the end of the road. Three children creep up to the porch. A radio on a timer plays to nobody. They decide to leave it on.
  • A cuckoo clock in an antique shop sounds only when one customer walks past. The owner notices. It was her family's, sold when she was small. He will not take her money.
  • A ghost in an old house winds the hall clock every Christmas Eve. The new owners hear the key turn. They leave the case unlocked. By morning the clock is right.
  • A letter to Santa is answered in handwriting the mother knows. She compares it to an old recipe card. It is her own mother's. Grandma answers letters at the post office.
  • A light burns in the closed mountain lodge on Christmas Eve. Skiers see it from the road. The rescue team goes up. A fire is laid and a table set, and nobody is there.
  • A present with no tag is under the tree, and it was not there last night. Everyone suspects everyone. Inside is a watch lost years ago. The furnace repairman found it.
  • A second set of sleigh bells answers the ones on the horse. The driver hears it every year at the same bridge. He tells the riders it is an echo. He tips his hat anyway.
  • A snow globe shows the house it sits in, with one window lit that is dark in the real house. A girl finds the room. A window is boarded behind the wallpaper. They open it.
  • A snowman appears in a yard where nobody admits to building it. Its scarf belongs to no one there. A name is sewn inside. The mail carrier builds one a year in secret.
  • A store's window display rearranges itself overnight. The decorator is furious. Her camera shows the night cleaner's children posing the figures. She hires them.
  • A train on Christmas Eve makes a stop that is not in the timetable. One passenger boards with a parcel. Her ticket is an old kind. The parcel is left on the seat for the conductor.
  • A wreath hangs on the door of a house that has stood empty since spring. Each neighbor thinks another hung it. They take turns clearing the walk. A new family arrives to a lit porch.
  • The big wreath goes missing from the town hall door. There are three suspects and one ladder. Pine needles lead to the school. The art class borrowed it to copy.
  • Cookies vanish from a locked tin. Three children question each other. There are crumbs in Dad's coat pocket. He confesses and bakes a new batch.
  • The donkey costume for the school play is found somewhere new each morning. The janitor is puzzled. A light is seen at night. The principal has been rehearsing the part.
  • Each year one ornament is found moved to the top branch. The family sets up a camera and sees nothing. Grandma says it was always Grandpa's job. They leave it there.
  • Every bell in town rings at midnight, and no ringer was in any tower. Each ringer blames another. Nobody solves it. Next year they agree to do it on purpose.
  • Footprints in the snow lead to the chimney and stop. A boy measures them. They match the neighbor's boots. She was fixing a loose tile before the guests came.
  • The ghost of a toymaker finishes one toy a year in a shut workshop. The landlord finds fresh shavings. He leaves out a block of pine. On Christmas morning a horse is on the bench.
  • The gingerbread house in the bakery window loses one candy a night. The baker dusts flour on the shelf. Small prints appear. She builds the mice a house of their own.
  • The lights on one house blink in a pattern. A girl who knows the code reads it. It says "need cocoa." She delivers some to a retired radio operator.
  • One guest at Christmas dinner is in every photograph, and nobody invited him. He knows all their names. He leaves early. In the old albums he is at this table in the same suit.
  • The same unsigned Christmas card arrives every year from a town nobody knows. They read the postmark. They drive there. A retired teacher once taught Grandma to read.
  • Someone leaves a wrapped present on a different doorstep each night of December. The street keeps a list. A girl sees the wrapping is always newspaper. It is the paper carrier.
  • Someone shovels every walk on the street before dawn. The children stay up to watch. They see a shovel and a cane. It is the man whose walk they shovel.

For children 25

  • A bear wakes in midwinter and finds the forest decorated. Icicles, red berries, one star in a gap. He thinks it is for him. He goes back to sleep happy.
  • A boy from a warm country spends his first Christmas in snow. Mittens puzzle him. He throws a first snowball. He teaches the street a carol from home.
  • A boy is put in charge of the cookie plate for Santa and keeps testing the cookies. One to check the sugar. One to check the chocolate. He leaves the last one with a note that says sorry.
  • A boy plays the star in the school play and cannot stand still. He is told that stars do not move. He twinkles his fingers. The whole audience looks up at him.
  • A boy saves for his sister's present and comes up short. He counts his coins twice. The shopkeeper lets him sweep the step. He wraps it himself, mostly in tape.
  • A gingerbread man does not want to be eaten and does not want to run. He offers to guard the cookie jar. The children agree. He is on the shelf again every year.
  • A girl bakes her first cookies alone and uses salt for sugar. Everyone takes a polite bite. The dog will not. They bake again together, and the sugar is her job.
  • A girl is given a sled, and there is no snow. She tries the grass. She tries a cardboard hill. On Christmas night the first flakes fall.
  • A girl leaves out carrots for the reindeer and worries there are not enough. She does not know how many reindeer there are. She leaves the whole bag. In the morning there are only tops.
  • A girl mails a letter to the North Pole, and the reply asks for directions to her house. She draws a map. She adds the dog as a landmark. The map comes back with a hoofprint on it.
  • A girl makes a present for everyone and forgets one person. She counts on her fingers. It is already Christmas Eve. She gives a coupon for a walk, and it is the favorite.
  • A grandfather and granddaughter build a sled out of an old door. It is too heavy and too slow. They wax the bottom. Once, gloriously, it beats the sleds from the store.
  • A kitten meets her first Christmas tree. She climbs it. The tree leans, and the ornaments roll. The family ties it to the wall and gives her the box.
  • A mouse family decorates with what falls from the big tree. A needle, a bead, one thread of tinsel. Their tree is a twig. The cat pretends not to see.
  • A penguin at the zoo wants snow for Christmas. The keeper brings shaved ice. Then she brings a fan. Then real flakes begin to fall.
  • A reindeer too small for the harness is given the job of reading the map. He holds it upside down. They circle one roof twice. He learns north, and they finish on time.
  • A snowman wants to see what is inside the house. He leans toward the window. The children cannot bring him in. They hold up a mirror so he can see the tree.
  • A snowplow driver's child rides along on Christmas Eve. They clear the roads so people can get home. They wave at each lit house. The neighbors have shoveled theirs.
  • An elf who wraps presents cannot tie a bow. She makes knots and tangles. She uses far too much tape. She invents the gift bag.
  • The angel on top of the tree is tired of the view. She trades places with a low ornament for a night. She sees feet, a dog and wrapping paper. She goes back up and waves.
  • The class hamster goes home with a pupil for the holidays. Its wheel squeaks through the carols. It hides in a slipper. It gets one sunflower seed, wrapped.
  • One stocking is so long that nobody can find the bottom of it. An orange goes in, then the nuts. Grandma says she knitted it for a giraffe. It holds the most.
  • The smallest tree on the lot is picked last. It is too short for the big houses. A boy from a small apartment sees it. It just touches his ceiling.
  • Three cousins share one bed at Grandma's on Christmas Eve. Elbows, cold feet and a fit of giggles. A line of pillows is laid down. They are asleep in a pile by midnight.
  • Twins try to stay awake to hear the sleigh. They hang a bell on the door. They sprinkle flour on the floor. Both are asleep by nine, and the flour has prints in it.

Funny 25

  • A boy writes Santa a letter that reads like a contract. It has clauses. It has a penalty for socks. The reply says: "Noted. Socks."
  • A choir director loses her voice on the day of the concert. She conducts with thumbs and eyebrows. The choir misreads one sign and adds a verse. It gets a standing ovation.
  • A dog eats the gingerbread house and frames the cat. Crumbs are on the cat's bed. Icing is on the dog's ear. The cat is paid damages in turkey.
  • A family drives four hours to Grandma's, and Grandma has driven four hours to them. They phone from each other's porches. They meet halfway at a diner. Dinner is pie.
  • A family hides one ornament for the others to find, and the game gets out of hand. It turns up in the mailbox. It turns up in the freezer. The dog finds it first every time.
  • A father falls asleep in the Santa suit before the presents are out. The children find him at five. They cover him with a blanket. They set out the presents themselves.
  • A father insists on cutting down the tree himself. It is too tall for the car. It is too tall for the room. They trim the top, then the bottom, and it is a shrub.
  • A group of carolers knows only the first verse of everything. The first house goes well. The second house asks for verse two. They hum it with confidence.
  • A man builds a bicycle at midnight from instructions in the wrong language. Three parts are left over. The bike rides fine. The parts belonged to the chair he is sitting on.
  • A snowball fight between two houses turns into peace talks. Borders are drawn. A sled is held hostage. A treaty is signed over cocoa and lasts until the next snow.
  • A teenager is put in charge of the Christmas music. One song plays for nine hours. The adults complain. It turns out Grandpa keeps asking for it.
  • A woman hides the presents so well that she cannot find them. She checks the attic. She checks the trunk of the car. She finds them in July and wraps them anyway.
  • An aunt knits a sweater with three sleeves. She watches to see if he will wear it. He does. The third sleeve holds a plate of cookies.
  • An inflatable snowman escapes its yard in a gale. It is seen at the school. It is seen at the bank. An officer walks it home on a rope.
  • An office gift exchange goes wrong when everyone brings a mug. Twelve mugs are unwrapped. The trading turns fierce. The intern, who brought cocoa, wins.
  • At the school concert every recorder plays a different carol. The teacher counts them in. It does not help. A toddler in the front row conducts, and it comes together.
  • Every string of lights works until it is on the tree. On the floor they shine. On the branches they are dark. He finds the one bad bulb at two in the morning.
  • The family photograph takes forty-one tries. Someone blinks. Someone sneezes. The keeper is the last one, when the photographer falls over.
  • Grandma's fruitcake has been passed around the family for eleven years. It comes back to her. She knows the tin. She adds a ribbon and sends it out again.
  • The oven breaks on Christmas morning with the roast still raw. They try the grill. They try the neighbors. Dinner is pancakes, and it becomes the tradition.
  • The store's Santa helper is terrified of children. He hides behind the camera. A shy girl spots a fellow sufferer. They take the photo together, neither one smiling.
  • The town's Santa gets stuck in traffic, in a revolving door and in the suit. The parade waits. Children pull on his boot. He arrives late on a fire engine.
  • Two grandmothers bring the same famous pie and wait for a verdict. The family eats in silence. A child says they taste the same. They got the recipe from the same neighbor.
  • Two neighbors compete over Christmas lights until the street goes dark. One adds a reindeer. The other adds a train. They end up sharing one extension cord.
  • The wrapping paper runs out at eleven on Christmas Eve. They use newspaper. They use a road map. The child reads the map before opening the present.

Heartwarming 25

  • A baker stays open late for the one customer who always comes at closing. Tonight he does not come. She takes the loaf to his door. He had dozed off, and they share it.
  • A boy overhears that the school janitor has nowhere to go for dinner. He tells his mother. A place is set. The janitor brings a pie and fixes the squeaky door.
  • A bus driver works Christmas Day and decorates the bus. The riders are a cook, a night guard and a boy visiting his dad. They sing at red lights. Someone leaves him a thermos.
  • A choir visits a home for old people, and one resident knows a verse that nobody else does. She sings it alone. The director writes it down. Next year it is printed with her name.
  • A family new to the country cooks the dishes of two countries in one oven. The timing goes wrong. The smoke alarm goes off. Neighbors bring tables, and both menus are served.
  • A family with no money for presents gives each other one true story each. Dad tells the day each child was born. The children tell one he never knew. They do it every year after.
  • A father works at sea over Christmas, so the family moves Christmas. The calendar is redrawn. The tree stays up into January. The neighbors understand when the taxi pulls up.
  • A girl gives her only doll to a neighbor who has just arrived with nothing. By night she regrets it. The new girl brings it over to play. They share it every day.
  • A girl new in town has nobody to give her handmade cards to. She gives them to the crossing guard, the librarian and the bus driver. On Christmas morning there are three knocks.
  • A grandfather far away learns to make a video call so he can read the children a story. First they see his forehead. Then the ceiling. He reads on after they have fallen asleep.
  • A grandmother teaches her grandson the family recipe, and he writes it down for the first time. She says "a handful." They measure her hand. The card is framed.
  • A house is too small for all the relatives, so dinner is served on the stairs. One step each. Dishes go up and down. The youngest, at the top, gives the toast.
  • A lighthouse family rows a Christmas tree out from the mainland. The crossing is rough, and the tree goes overboard. They hang shells on the lamp rail. Passing ships sound their horns.
  • A mail carrier finds a letter to Santa that asks only for a visitor for Grandpa. She goes on her day off. He beats her at checkers. She comes back every Sunday.
  • A man finds a wallet in the snow on Christmas Eve. The address is across town, and the buses have stopped. He walks. The wallet held the rent, and they feed him.
  • A piano nobody plays is tuned as a surprise for a grandmother who once did. Her hands are stiff. She plays one carol slowly. Her grandchild turns the pages.
  • A shelter dog is taken in just for the holidays. On the first day he chews a slipper. By the third he sleeps on their feet. In January the paperwork is changed.
  • A sister comes home from far away a day early and hides in a refrigerator box. The box is dragged to the tree. The dog will not leave it alone. It opens from the inside.
  • A teenager working at the tree lot delivers the last tree for nothing. An old woman cannot carry it. He sets it up for her. She hands him ornaments older than his parents.
  • A truck driver stuck in the snow spends Christmas Eve at a truck stop with strangers. The cook stays open. Someone has a guitar. A stranded child gets a present from every cab.
  • An old man puts up the tree alone for the first time and cannot get the star straight. A child next door sees through the window. She knocks. She holds the ladder.
  • The children on a street shovel a path to the door of the man who shouts at them. He watches from behind the curtain. He says nothing. Next morning there are cookies on every step.
  • The last toy shop in town is due to close for good on Christmas Eve. A line forms at four. Every adult in it bought a first toy here. The owner decides to open in January.
  • Neighbors who only nod to each other are stuck in the building's elevator on Christmas Eve. Six people share one fruit basket. They trade names. Next year they plan dinner together.
  • Two brothers who have not spoken in years are seated side by side by a niece who does not know. She asks them to pass the potatoes. They do. She asks why Grandpa is crying.

How it works

These Christmas short story ideas are 120 premises, each one sentence with its plot in three beats underneath. They are sorted into five kinds, so a writer can ask for the funny ones or the faith ones alone.

Read the full guide

Christmas story plot ideas by kind

A list under the button holds Nativity and faith, Mystery and gentle ghosts, For children, Funny and Heartwarming. The mysteries have ordinary answers and the ghosts mean no harm: one winds a clock. For children has reindeer, snowmen and a class hamster, and nothing sad.

The nativity group and its sources

Some premises are set inside the accounts of the birth of Jesus, each seen by an invented bystander. The shepherds, the inn and the feeding trough are Luke's. The wise men, the star and the gifts are Matthew's. No premise mixes the two. The rest are about keeping the festival today.

  • Keep the first two beats and write a third of your own.
  • A premise from Funny, told slowly, becomes Heartwarming. Try one both ways.

Questions and answers

What are some ideas for Christmas stories to write?

Start with a small thing going wrong on a day when everyone wants it right: the oven breaks, the wreath is missing, the wrapping paper runs out. Many premises here begin that way and settle it in three beats.

Are there religious Christmas story ideas here?

Yes, in the group Nativity and faith. Some are set at the nativity and were checked against Luke 2 and Matthew 2 in the World English Bible. The others are about church pageants, carol services and Advent today. This page speaks for no church.

Which are the children's Christmas story ideas?

The group For children. Nothing in it is sad or frightening: a kitten meets her first tree, a penguin wants snow, and twins fall asleep before the sleigh comes. The beats are short enough to read aloud.

Are the ghosts scary?

No. One ghost winds the hall clock each Christmas Eve, and a toymaker's ghost finishes one toy a year. Nobody is harmed. The strangest thing in the group is a dinner guest who also appears in very old photographs.

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