Your regular custody schedule handles the ordinary weeks. Holidays are where things get complicated. Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday that may belong to either parent, winter break stretches across two calendar years, and spring break dates change every year depending on your school district.

A clear holiday custody schedule takes the guesswork out of all of this. Here's how most co-parents structure one, the most common ways to split each major holiday, and the details worth writing down before the season arrives.

Rule number one: holidays override the regular schedule

In most parenting plans, the holiday schedule takes priority over the regular weekly rotation. If it's your week under a week-on/week-off schedule but Thanksgiving belongs to your co-parent this year, the kids spend Thanksgiving with your co-parent. After the holiday, the regular schedule picks up where it would have been.

Your plan should say this explicitly, and it should say whether missed regular time is "made up" or simply skipped. Many families skip it to keep things simple, but whatever you choose, write it down.

The three main ways to split a holiday

1. Alternate by even and odd years

One parent has the holiday in even years, the other in odd years. It's the most common approach for major holidays because it's easy to remember and fair over time.

Example:

Parent A: Thanksgiving in even years, Christmas in odd years
Parent B: Thanksgiving in odd years, Christmas in even years

Pairing holidays this way means neither parent goes a whole year without a major holiday.

2. Split the holiday itself

The children spend part of the day or break with each parent. For example, Christmas Eve with one parent and Christmas Day with the other, or the first half of winter break with one parent and the second half with the other. Splits work best when homes are close and kids won't spend the holiday in the car.

3. Assign fixed holidays

Some holidays naturally belong to one parent every year: Mother's Day with mom, Father's Day with dad. Some families also assign a holiday that matters more to one side, like a religious or cultural celebration, to the same parent every year.

How to split the big ones

Thanksgiving

Common options:

Alternate the full break by year, typically Wednesday after school through Sunday evening.
Split the day: one parent has Thursday until mid-afternoon, the other has the evening and the rest of the weekend.
Thursday/Friday split: one parent has Thanksgiving Day, the other has Friday through Sunday.

Be precise about when the holiday period starts and ends. "Thanksgiving" can mean one day or a five-day weekend depending on who you ask.

Christmas and winter break

Winter break is usually the longest break of the school year outside summer, so families often split it in two:

First half / second half, with the halves alternating by year. For example, Parent A has the first half (including Christmas) in even years, and the second half (including New Year's) in odd years.
Christmas Eve / Christmas Day split, with the rest of the break divided separately.
Alternate the whole break, which works best when the other parent has significant time elsewhere in the year.

One detail trips people up: winter break spans two calendar years. If the break starts in December 2026 and ends in January 2027, is it an "even" or "odd" year break? Decide in advance. A common convention is to use the year the break begins.

Spring break

Spring break dates vary by school district and change every year, so check the district calendar each year. Families typically:

Alternate the full week by year, or
Split it in half, often with the handoff on the middle weekend.

If your regular schedule is every other weekend, alternating the full week can give the weekend parent a meaningful block of time.

Summer break

Summer usually gets its own section in a parenting plan: vacation weeks, deadlines for choosing them, and how the regular schedule applies the rest of the summer. We cover it in depth in our summer custody schedule ideas.

Other days to think about

Don't forget the smaller holidays and special dates:

Three-day weekends (Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day): does the Monday follow the weekend, or the regular schedule?
Halloween: often split by evening, or alternated by year.
Fourth of July: alternated by year or split around fireworks.
Children's birthdays: some families split the day, others alternate, others let the child celebrate twice.
Parents' birthdays and religious or cultural holidays that matter to your family.

Tips for a holiday schedule that actually works

Define start and end times for every holiday, not just the date.
Say which year is which. "Even years" is only clear if you've written down which parent has even years.
Plan travel early. If one parent wants to travel during their holiday time, agree on how much notice is needed and what information (itinerary, contact number) is shared.
Put it on a calendar years ahead. Most disagreements happen when someone assumed differently. Seeing next year's Thanksgiving now avoids that.
Keep the kids' experience in mind. Courts decide based on the best interests of the child, and a schedule that's fair on paper but exhausting for the children isn't really working.

This article is for informational purposes and isn't legal advice. Custody rules vary by state—talk to a family law attorney or mediator.

Set the rule once, see every holiday for years

With Alternly, you set your holiday rule once, and major holidays alternate automatically by even and odd year. Federal holidays appear on the calendar without any setup, you add your district's school breaks (winter, spring, summer) and choose to split each in half or alternate it in full, and winter break that crosses into January is handled by the year it begins. Create your free calendar and see who has Thanksgiving next year, and the year after.

Holiday Custody Schedule: How to Split Every Holiday