The Ultimate List of Family Traditions

Read this post for the ultimate list of family traditions!

The magic of having family traditions

When I think back to my childhood, traditions are some of my most cherished memories.

It’s things like my aunt’s bread wreath recipe you can count on at every holiday gathering, sitting around the table for hours playing cards (our family plays a game called Scat), and getting handwritten cards from my parents for every occasion that now leave me with a sense of nostalgia that I am so grateful for.

And so long before I become a wife and mother, I knew I wanted to incorporated as many family traditions in our home as possible.

Traditions don’t have to be complicated or elaborate (although they can be!). Oftentimes it’s the most simple traditions that anchor a family most.

Simply put, traditions create a sense of magic that is greater than the sum of the people and they become the fabric that makes up your family and your kids’ childhoods.

I hope you are inspired by this list of family traditions to weave into any and all facets of your life!

In this post on family traditions…

• Moms share their favorite family traditions
• Meaningful family traditions to start anytime
• Family routines, rhythms, and rituals that become family traditions
• Seasonal Traditions
• Holiday Traditions

I texted some of my mom-friends and asked them to share some of their family traditions. Here’s what they shared…

“There’s a u-pick tomato patch in by our house that no one really knows about. where you weigh and leave money. It’s super overgrown and tons of tomato’s. We like to go out there and pick tomatoes in the summer. then we come home and I make a tomato salad that my mom learned how to do when she lived in France. It’s special bc there’s no written recipe you just have to put it together until you get the right texture and flavor.” – Emily

“My parents and brothers and our families have been going to see a movie and out to dinner on Christmas Eve for 35 years!” – Madeline

My friend Stephanie has tons of unique traditions that all sound so lovely (and fun! See Thanksgiving tradition):

• We watch one Harry Potter movie every weekend in Sept-October. We have the kids invite a friend, we dress-up, and have a Harry Potter themed Dessert!
• This could be for anyone who has lost someone- we write a memory of that person and every Christmas we put that memory in their stocking. We re-visit that stocking every year and read the memories out loud as a family!
• When the weather is good, we sit out by our fire pit and eat s’mores!
• Every year I make a Chatbook for my boys. They open it at Christmas and it’s a photo album of their year.
• We have a shot of tequila at Thanksgiving!

We go to Leavenworth, Washington every year. This year will be 13 years in a row!!! We also on Xmas Eve every year – get a pizza dinner then drive around LO through all the neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights and decorations while holiday music is on while we eat candy canes! – Lindsey

Another friend of mine, Ashley (we’ve been friends since we were 14!), texted me with three sweet family traditions –

• We have started for getting our Christmas tree is going to Christmas mountain. We get hot cocoa there and cut our own tree.
• A new one I’m starting is making salt dough ornaments for grandparents.
• And when we were kids, we used to have to wait until all of us were awake to go into the living room on Christmas morning. I remember waking my brother up and going downstairs and closing my eyes at the bottom and walking to the kitchen to wait for everyone. Then we would go into the living room together at the same time!

Meaningful Family Traditions To Start Anytime

• Have a set of family values.
  • This can be a wonderful conversation to have with your kids to find out what’s most important to them.
  • Family values can change with the month or the season. Write them out and refer to your family’s values regularly.
• Family do’s and dont’s.
  • I’m finding this particularly helpful with my toddler. Instead of saying, “don’t do…” I say, “in our family we don’t…”I’ve found it’s far more powerful!
• Print pictures + Make Family Photo Albums
  • You can regularly rotate pictures on your fridge or you can place unframed photos around your house, like on the bathroom mirror or another sweet, unexpected spot.
  • A sweet family tradition idea is to put printed photos in albums (or make a photo album to order) each year. You could use the week before Christmas and NYE to put it together and then start a tradition of sitting down as a family and looking at it after the new year. (Pro tip: create a folder on your phone and label it “prints and the year”. Add photos to it throughout the year so when you go to print them it’s easy peasy!)
• Write emails to your kids.
  • When both of my daughters were born, I set up emails for them. Now I regularly email them with pictures and videos attached.
  • I also shared their email with family members so their grandparents, aunts, and uncles can write them emails to read one day.
• Keep a simple journal where you write down everything from something funny that happened, a heartfelt memory, a trip, or milestone. Include special details! Over the years you can look back and read this – you’d be surprised how much you forget!

A Year of
Family Traditions

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Family Routines, Rhythms, And Rituals That Become Family Traditions

Some of these may not seem like traditions at first, but traditions can be as simple the stuff that makes up your families routines and rhythms.

And this may mean the things you do day-in and day-out that, so, when added up overtime, becomes the identity of your family.

When your kids look back on their childhood it will certainly feel like tradition! Here are some ideas:

• Have protected time that is no phone time or no phone days. From dinner to bedtime is a great place to start! A few things that may be useful to help you and your family with this:
  • This phone lock box
  • A book about breaking up with your phone
• Family dinners
  • Decide what works for your family, but aim for at least 3-4 out of 7 nights a week. Do all you can to protect this – they’re just too important!
    • If this is a particularly busy season, pick one night a week that’s a non-negotiable, where gathering for dinner together is a must. Let your kids invite their friends if they want to!
    • You only get so many dinners with your kids so out of all the parenting calls to make, dinner should be one to fight for!

• Family breakfast! This can be every weekend, Saturday or Sunday, once a month, or at the beginning of each season.
• Need dinner recipes? Start here, here, here, and here.
• Friday dinners: pizza or sheet pan nacho and game night. Here are some great family games:
  • My first orchard (perfect first game for toddlers!)
  • Uno or Monopoly Deal (great games for bringing with you to restaurants too)
  • Jenga
  • Yahtzee
  • Apples to Apples Jr.
  • Exploding Kittens
  • What Do You Meme Family Edition
  • Blank Slate
  • Poetry For Neanderthals
  • Trivial Pursuit Family Edition
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Catan
• Sunday dinners
  • Make an extra cozy and nourishing meal, maybe a dessert too!
  • Ask each person to share their goals/intentions for the week.
• Struggling to make conversation around the dinner table?
  • Have everyone go around and share their rose (best) and thorn (worst) part of their day.
  • During dinner, work through TFS’s set of 30 Thoughtful Questions.
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• Get outside as much as possible!
• Hand written thank you letters
  • Have your kids get in the habit of sitting down and writing thank you letters to send in the mail.
  • After a family member or friend comes to visit, you can include printed photos from their stay.
• Host people!
  • Even if your house is a mess! Build a village! It’s good for you and good for your kids. Don’t know what to cook? Make it a potluck, or here are some simple recipes.

• When someone new moves into your neighborhood…
  • Introduce yourself!
  • Bring over a meal (in a disposable pan with disposable plates and cutlery)
  • Put together a welcome gift basket. Include items that are handy like:
    • Include a card with your number on it along with your local favorites like grocery store, coffee shops, restaurants, and any other fun place!
    • Extend an invitation over for dinner or Door Dash gift card
    • Battery daddy with some batteries
    • Roll of paper towels + cleaning spray
    • This variety pack of country spray, hand and dish soap, and room freshener
    • Dish towels
• Family jobs
  • Here’s a great podcasts episode on this topic!
  • Chores should not fall on one person/just the parents. And kids like helping!
  • Having family jobs gives everyone a sense of purpose, builds confidence, and makes them competent humans.
  • When chores are first being learned it may mean it takes longer or creates a mess, but it’s an investment!
  • One helpful tip is to break down all the daily tasks that need to be done and delegate. It may be helpful to write out a chore chart. Here are some ideas:
    • Tidy up before nap or bedtime – with littles, I’ve found it helps if i give one direction at a time. For example, “I need you to put all of your Lego Duplo back in the box.”
    • Water the plants
    • Load/Unload the dishwasher
    • Set the table (currently my toddler’s job is putting out cloth napkins on the table for each member of the family)
    • Fill water glasses
    • Chop veggies, slice bead, grate cheese, and any other food prep.
    • Help with cooking and eventually take over some of the cooking – the thing is, kids want to be involved! More often than not, all it takes is saying, “hey can you help me with X” as you pull up a chair for them to stand on, hand over the salad spinner, or delegating any other necessary task to get dinner ready.

Looking for more ideas for family jobs for every age? We’ve got you covered!

Wondering which chores make sense for your kids right now?

We’ve got you covered!

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This free digital download shares age-appropriate family duties from toddlers (yes, toddlers) to teens. And includes fillable “tasks for the day” and chore chart worksheets!

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• “Dinner candles“ (these holders are cute!)
  • The ritual of lighting a candle at the start of meal time, or while you’re cooking is a beautiful tradition to start.
  • As soon as I strike a match to light our candles, I instantly feel a sense of calm and things slow down. The soft, warm glow sends a cue that we’re entering protected meal time and anchors our family with a reliable landing spot.
  • We live in the Pacific Northwest so that means during Fall and Winter months it gets dark early and stays dark late into the morning. Lighting candles in the mornings (we call them “breakfast candles”) and for dinner helps with coziness, warmth, and ambiance.
  • Switch out colors with the seasons and holidays. And if you have toddlers, don’t worry it teaches them how to take caution around fire! Helping blowing the candles out every night is also a great toddler family job.
• Morning and bedtime routines
  • This doesn’t need to be extensive; simply a sustainable routine, like reading, singing songs, setting intentions for the next day, closing the day with rose and thorn, that you consistently do.

• Books, books, books! (our toddler is currently obsessed with this series)
  • Morning reading time
  • Books on the go – in the car and when you’re out
  • Books before bed
  • We’ve started keeping a couple books at the table and our daughter will read while we’re cooking and cleaning in the kitchen.

Seasonal Traditions

• Fall
  • Take an outing to an apple orchard.
  • Have your kids help pick out soups to cook and some Fall-themed goodies to bake together.
  • Make sourdough bread (and sourdough everything while you’re at it!).
  • Spend the Fall making gifts to give to people for Christmas. This book is my favorite for ideas and inspiration.
  • Family deep-clean and donate weekend.
    • Deep-clean your home.
    • Everyone goes through their clothes, toys, and other belongings and donates/gives to consignment.
  • Host a Friendsgiving. Provide a cozy meal or make it a potluck. Include a craft project if you’d like.
• Winter
  • Go sledding or ice skating.
  • Organize indoor activities like legos, games, puzzles, or crafts.
  • Make garland with dried, orange slices, wooden beads, salt dough, cinnamon sticks, rosemary, and cranberries.
  • Host a Winter gathering. Provide a cozy meal or make it a potluck. Include a craft project if you’d like.
  • Organize a cookie swap.
  • Rent a cabin in the mountains – go sledding, play boardgames by the fire, drink hot cocoa!

• Spring
  • Family Spring cleaning kickoff ritual.
    • Donate toys or clothes together.
    • Each family member fills at least one bag.
    • Celebrate with a treat or outing afterward.
  • Plant flower or a garden.
  • Go on a nature walk or hike.
  • Start going to Farmer’s Market as a family.
  • Host a Spring gathering with a meal outside.

• Summer
  • Pick berries. Enjoy fresh, or can or make baked goods with them like muffins, scones, or shortcake.
  • Take trips to the Farmer’s Market and other festivals.
  • Make homemade popsicles and put out a sprinkler. Invite friends over!
  • Have pizza night and S’mores. Include a campfire if you can!
  • Go to the same place for a day trip or vacation.
    • Or take a road trip but make everyone put away their phones.
  • Rock painting.
  • Host a Summer gathering.

Holiday Traditions

• Birthdays
  • Record heights on a growth chart.
  • Have everyone write a card to the person having a birthday, sharing what they love about them.
  • Click here for 9 simple but meaningful birthday traditions your family will love
• New Years
  • Share these three questions:
    • 1. What’s one thing you want to bring with you into the new year?
    • 2. What’s one thing you want to leave behind?
    • 3. What’s something new you want to welcome/start?
  • Watch a countdown.
  • Make the same festive meal (like a charcuterie board) and dessert.
  • Have a kid-friendly toast.
  • Light sparklers.
  • Take a trip and rent a house or cabin to ring in the New Year! Invite another family.

• Valentine’s Day
  • Everyone writes a card to each family member and shares 14 things they love about them.
  • Make heart-shaped homemade pizza.
  • Make homemade Valentine’s to give away.
  • Get heart-shaped pjs.
• Easter
  • Create a scavenger hunt for kids to find their easter baskets.
  • Invite family and friends over for a special meal and have an egg spoon race.
  • Read Easter-themed books, like Peter Rabbit, You’re My Little Honey Bunny, The Berenstain Bears: and the Real Easter Eggs.
  • Do an Easter craft.
• Mother’s/Father’s Day
  • Cook breakfast (coffee too!).
  • Make a photo wall (see #2).
  • Shower with gifts and a hand-written letter or card from each family member. A prompt you can answer is: reasons why I love you…
  • Designate it a no-phone day and plan an activity to go out or stay home to do. Think: what is there favorite thing to do or when are they happiest? This can be simple!
• Fourth of July
  • Go to a parade, and take a family photo in the same spot each year.
  • Host a BBQ potluck or organize a block party.
  • Go see fireworks!
• Halloween
  • Watch a movie like, Hocus Pocus.
  • Go to a pumpkin patch an corn maze.
  • Paint or carve pumpkins.
  • Have pumpkin-themed meal with pumpkin bread for dessert.
  • Do a Halloween craft.
• Thanksgiving
  • Create your Thanksgiving menu together as a family.
  • Start a gratitude jar at the beginning of November where everyone writes down 3 things they are grateful once a week (for example, during dinner one night per week). On Thanksgiving, open and read together as a family.

• Christmas
  • The weekend after Thanksgiving…
    • Go to a Christmas tree farm and then decorate the tree as a family while listening to Christmas music. Pick up dinner from a local restaurant too!
    • Buy matching Christmas pajamas, and create a scavenger hunt to send your kids on to find them.
  • Use an Advent calendar – I love this one!
  • Start a collection of Christmas villages, nutcrackers, or snow globes.
  • Each year pick out a new Christmas ornament to add to the tree.
  • Spend a day making and decorate cookies.
  • Spend a couple of days making an assortment treats and deliver to friends, family, and neighbors.
  • Host a cookie swap.
  • Make a Christmas craft each year with your kids (invite their friends too!)
  • Have a game or puzzle day.
  • Read Christmas-themed books, Christmas Songs Books, or at the very least The Night Before Christmas!
  • Watch Christmas movies together.
    • My husband and I like to watch a few together after our girls are in bed too.
  • Go see a local production of The Nutcracker.
  • Look up what other local activities and festivals are happening in your area.
  • Put homemade hot chocolate in to-go cups and drive around looking at Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music.
  • Have your friends pick a homemade gift to give.
  • Take a family picture in front of the Christmas tree each year.
  • Throw a White Elephant Party or a Favorite Things Party.
  • Do a Christmas Gift drawing and exchange where everyone draws one family member’s name to buy a gift for.
  • Go sledding, ice skating, or for a family walk Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
  • Go stay somewhere for a couple of days the week between Christmas and New Years

What are your family traditions or ones you’d like to start?

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