My husband and I didn’t grow up with many family traditions. Although, we had a few meaningful ones that always bring a smile to our faces when we think about it.
In my family, we used to gather at the dinner table every night, which created the opportunity for everyone to share about their days. On New Year’s, my mom would spend the day in the kitchen, and I eventually joined her in preparing a feast that we “starving” only enjoyed at midnight.
Joe grew up watching wrestling matches. His cousins and neighborhood friends would gather at his house and watch the show together. For Christmas and Thanksgiving, all his extended family participated in a potluck filled with warmth, and the kids even put on a talent show, which made these holidays even more memorable.
These were the few traditions we recall from our childhoods. When I became pregnant, I started thinking about how I wanted to create cherished memories for our baby. So, I put together a list of what I believe to be Meaningful Family Traditions Ideas that we could start. We have been doing some of it for two years and sure is fun to collect those memories with my daughter.
Winter – for me, IT’s all about Christmas!
- Homemade Christmas cards
- Gingerbread house decorating – dare to do it from scratch?
- Listen to Christmas songs
- Watch Christmas movies marathon
- Christmas baking day – share the treats with family and friends
- Visit a U-cut tree farm – get a tree
- Make or buy an ornament relevant to the family’s year – We let Lil pick whatever she likes
- Decorate the Christmas Tree
- Open presents before breakfast
- Pancakes for breakfast
Spring
- Start a garden
- Spring cleaning
- Decorate eggs
- Egg hunting
- Spring scavenger hunt
- Go strawberry picking
- Learn, teach and identify wild flowers
- Pick flowers and decorate your home
Summer
- Road trip
- Beach days
- Picnics
- Outdoor movie nights
- Farmer’s market visits
- Backyard camping
- Lemonade stand
- Start gazing
Fall
- Visit a pumpkin patch farm
- Carve pumpkins
- Make pumpkin bread or muffins
- Decorate for Halloween
- DIY Halloween costumes
- Apple picking
- Make an apple pie
- Go trick-or-treating
all seasons
- Board game night
- Movie night
- Meals together at the table
- Cooking together
- Children’s talent show
- Outdoor adventure day
- Bake birthday cakes together
- Create a family cookbook with favorite recipes
Those are only ideas to inspire you. If it takes too much of an effort to happen, maybe try something simpler. The key is consistency. Everyone is suppose to have fun, otherwise the memories will be anything but happy. Let me know if you give it a try and how it goes. Do you have any different Family Traditions than the ones in my list? And what are you favorite family traditions memories from your childhood?
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