12 Family Traditions for Holidays or Regular Days
No matter what shape or form they take, or how they came to be, families are special. I believe they are a primary place where God intends for us to experience His joy in our lives. In a culture where there are so many breakdowns to the family unit, having Family Traditions is one helpful way to foster unity, create special memories and build legacy.
Sometimes traditions begin on purpose, and sometimes they grow almost by happenstance. Some are tied to holidays, and some to the regular days, to create interest or to instil values. The traditions we have created in our family have been a source of joy for us as our crew has grown and changed.
12 Family Traditions for Holidays or Regular Days
I’ve collected together 12 Family Traditions for Holidays or Regular Days that I hope you find inspiring for your family. You can use these ideas just as they are, or perhaps your family will put its own spin on some of them. Share in the comments below if you try out any of these ideas!
Birthday Pancakes
A few things were certain: the baby didn’t know it was his birthday, he wasn’t sick, and he still needed to eat! In true super-dad form, my husband Scott took one for the team and went to make breakfast. He wanted to make something special, and relatively new for our little guy, and decided upon pancakes. Long before ‘pancake art’ was even a thing, Scott made one pancake in the simple shape of a “1”, which he then served the baby, snapping a picture to keep for posterity. That was about the extent of the celebrations for that day.
When the next birthday rolled around, Scott remembered the previous year and poured a “2” with his pancake batter. Voilà, the first of our Family Traditions was born! As crazy as it seems, just this week, our oldest son will receive his 18th birthday pancake from his dad! In addition, we have served 28 others, between our second son and our daughter. It has become an enjoyable thing for each of them to look forward to on their big day. And, by virtue of our pictures heading out on the internet, we have seen the Birthday Pancake tradition spread from family to family over the years.
*If you have adopted the tradition of making birthday pancakes somewhere along the way, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
Tea Parties
When Grace was very small, I got the book Just Mom and Me Having Tea: A Fun Bible Study for Mothers and Daughters
Memory Keepers
I saw a beautiful story online recently about a 30+ year long Family Tradition born at Thanksgiving. This is not one that I’ve tried, but I love the idea enough to pass it along to you! If you know of other creative ideas for holding numerous family signatures like this one, please share in the comments below!
Take care of all your memories, for you cannot relive them. - Bob Dylan Share on X
I specifically kept the ones with cute designs (sparkles, knit pockets, “Tonka” insignia etc.), saving for several years! When I had a few garbage bags full of sweet little jeans, I connected with a dear friend, Jessica, who has a sewing and quilting Etsy Shop to enlist her help. We needed 4 quilts, one for each set of grandparents, one for an aunt who cares for our children as if they were her own, and one for us. Jessica asked us to choose a heavy felt fabric that she could use for backing and for interspersing blocks, and then she went to work. That Christmas, the beautiful quilts made their way under several Christmas trees, and proved to be very meaningful gifts. They are heavy and warm, and full of fun and playful reminders of our kiddos as they were growing.
Scavenger Hunt
I have a sister-in-law whose personal mission in life has been to be The. Most. Fun. Aunt… EVER. For all eighteen years Scott & I have been parents, our children have been lavished in her love and hilarity. (Though we have always lived hours and hours apart, many a Saturday morning was spent by our little ones “playing hide-and-seek” with Auntie Jane over the phone.)
When the kiddos were very small, AJ began creating a Christmas hunt for each child every year. Before they could read, their clues were in the form of pictures hidden around the house. As their reading skills picked up, she moved to words, and then to word problems and puzzles. With advancement in technology, clues for finding their present came in the form of QR codes and video snippets. As our oldest grew, he began to assist in the creation of the hunts for the others, which now happen in the form of iMovies (sometimes a game show, cooking show, or music video.) These scavenger hunts quickly became the highlight of Christmas morning for our family, and continue to this day, creating fun for all of us, and lengthening our day’s celebration together.
Sun and Sand
When I was nine years old, my parents called a family meeting with my sister and me. They spoke with us about purchasing a small cottage near the ocean in Nova Scotia, Canada. Approximately two hours from our home, this would be our summer getaway. Since dear friends owned the next property over, our family had already visited this spot for several summers. It had become one of my favorite places to be. With the understanding that cottage ownership would shape what our vacationing lives would look like from this point forward, we came to the decision together to purchase the quaint 3 bedroom, 1 bath cottage. My tenth summer was our first summer as official cottagers on the Gulf Shore Road.
Thirty-three summers have passed; thirty three summers of beach-combing and barbecues, sandcastles and sunsets, kites and campfires, swimming and salty skin. Somehow the air is cleaner, food tastes fresher, and everything moves more slowly at the cottage.
In my fifteenth summer at the Gulf Shore, I dipped some new little toes into the Northumberland Strait; we had brought our baby boy to the Shore for the first time.
And things shifted in an incredible way when a new generation was introduced to our family spot.
We have brought our children to the cottage for eighteen summers, and we have made new memories (doing the same things we always do) with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. Somehow time stands still, yet life grows richer at the cottage. In her helpful article about their tradition of Cousin Camp, Marcia Kemp Sterling writes about how the repetition of events even serves to build confidence in children.
We have been immensely privileged to have a family property like this one, but I don’t think cottage ownership is essential for consistent Summer and Sand memory making. If you have access to a lake or an ocean cabin to rent or borrow, maybe these 2o Best Beach Activities, or these 15 Awesome Sea Glass Crafts can help you to begin your own summer traditions.
Wall Measurements
There is a doorframe in our family summer cottage that bears numerous markings. Names and dates began crawling their way up the wood beam in 1985, the increasing sizes of one generation, and now another (which is rapidly overtaking their parents in height!) The doorpost is central in a significant family location. Having them together on the same doorframe has been a very special memory maker for grandparents, parents and grandchildren. If a wooden doorframe is not available to you, maybe you would like to begin measuring children and cousins on something like these, from 937 Designs.
Photo courtesy of 937 Designs https://www.etsy.com/shop/937Designs
Mealtime Conversation
One thing we all need to learn is how to communicate well; how to speak and how to listen to one another. Engaging in conversation is crucial to building trust, growing in maturity, and becoming well-rounded. I grew up in a family that values conversation, and saw the evening meal as an important gathering place where all members of the family could and should contribute to the conversation. Early on, Scott and I decided to prioritize in the same way, every evening meal Family Traditions for all being together, and all taking part in the conversation. Our table has hosted many guests, helping to round out the dinner conversations even more.
When the children were small, we often used a conversation starter we called Highlight/Lowlight. Going around the table, each of us would take a turn sharing something especially good from the day. Regardless what it was, if it was important to a family member to recall it to us all, then it was important enough for all of us to celebrate. We also each shared a low point in the day (a mistake we made, a place our feelings got hurt, or an injustice we witnessed.) This was to instil openness into our kiddos’ conversation, and to help them to learn to speak vulnerably to each other when emotions were not supercharged.
Creating and continuing conversations is a life skill that your children would do well to learn at an early age. For other awesome life still lessons, check out Skill Trek!
Fancy Friday
Speaking of mealtimes, who doesn’t like to dress up all fancy on occasion? And who among us couldn’t benefit from learning the rules of dinner etiquette? Fancy Fridays (or another similar title) just might be Family Traditions that could be both fun and educational, even for little ones.
Whether you are empty nesters, newlyweds, a cohort of room-mates or a family of littles, designating a regular weekly night to go all out with dishes, and attire, and fancy recipes will create lasting memories. It will also help people become better acquainted with linen napkin and the salad fork! Children can help with meal-planning, making place cards for each guest, rolling or folding napkins, and learning to follow a table setting diagram. And what better place to learn how to properly care for fancy dish-ware, so moms and dads have less to worry about when taking the family to eat in public. Kiddos benefit from eating on delicate plates, and parents learn that a dish is just a dish. Accidents happen, and life can still roll joyfully on.
Kiddos benefit from eating on delicate plates, and parents learn that a dish is just a dish. Share on X
Family Competitions
Game Nights are perfect ways to be competitive together, and they can always be tailored to your particular family dynamic. We once divided into teams for a Family Cook Off: one team handled the appetizer, one the main course, and one the dessert. While we ate, each team had to describe their process of choosing their menu item, and how it all came together. Voting happened after the meal. It was a fun way to get everyone active and creative in the kitchen, and made for a jovial atmosphere as we ate together. Sharla, at thechaosandtheclutter.com, shares some other great ideas for a Family Competition.
“Letter” Day
They went to stores and restaurants beginning with the letter H, purchased items and meals that began with H, and watched a movie beginning with H as well. Brainstorming is almost as much fun as executing the plan! Below are some potential Letter Day ideas to start your Family Traditions.
“A” Day:
Meals: Arepas, Applesauce, Sliced Avocado, Applewood smoked bacon, Acai Breakfast Bowls, Acorn Squash, Almonds, Abruzzo Style Dumplings, Apricots and Angel Food Cake
Activities: Art, Acrobatics, Air Hockey, Astronomy, Aqua Aerobics, Airsoft Range
Movies: Avengers, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, Amazing Spiderman, Alice in Wonderland.
Obviously, the sky is the limit with twenty-six letters and a bit of imagination! How would you do a “Letter Day”? Reply in the comments below!
Advent Candles
The Christmas Nail
Several years ago, my sister (the queen of the perfect gift) gave us a beautiful, and powerful Christmas ornament. The Christmas Nail reminds families of the centrality of Jesus in the Christmas celebration. The nail hangs on the interior of the tree, out of sight, on a strong branch. Hidden from guests, it is the foundational ornament, known to the family as a special reminder throughout the season that the Christmas tree foreshadows the rugged tree where victory was won. Year after year, our family benefits from this Family Tradition. We focus ourselves on the reality of Emmanuel, and His miraculous, central role in our lives.
And finally…
I hope you have enjoyed this collection of 12 Family Traditions for Holidays or Regular Days. Though I don’t have affiliate relationships with any of the sites linked above, I think the ideas are awesome. I want you to know about them too! I believe in making strong families, and that God intends for us to experience joy in our homes. No matter what season of family life you find yourselves in, I pray some of these ideas will be helpful for you. If you try out any of these ideas, or if you modify them to suit your context, I would love to hear from you.
Let the joy loose!
Elizabeth Joy
Madison Weaver
February 2, 2017
Wow! This is a great list of ideas! I’m always looking for new family traditions for my husband and I to try. Thank you so much for sharing!
Elizabeth
February 2, 2017
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! What are some traditions you already have?
Elizabeth
February 2, 2017
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! What traditions do you currently have?
Kathryn Drury
February 2, 2017
We love traditions too! We created our own family holiday 21 years ago called Willy Wonka Day. That’s our main one. We watch the original movie, eat pizza and hide, find and eat CANDY. We also love Kentucky Derby Day– Hot browns, Kentucky Derby pie, virgin mint juleps and of course wear hats . We do a “summer night” in the winter– eat picnic foods, watch a movie and dress in Hawaiian leis and summer clothes. We love eating Chinese food for Chinese New Year too. I am always looking for anything to celebrate!
Elizabeth
February 2, 2017
These are awesome ideas! You are just a party waiting to happen aren’t you? 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Dawn
February 2, 2017
Traditions are so very important to me. Growing up my mom loved making every holiday special with decorations and foods and even little lunchbox surprises. I try to do the same and I have added the birthday pancake inspired by the Rhynos :). I also love Friday family night and Saturday night suppers with as many people as possible. I do find it difficult to veer from tradition and expectation though. I have to remind myself that is ok to do something a little different like bbq on Easter instead of a big dinner…….
Elizabeth
February 2, 2017
You’re the best at huge dinners with as many people as possible! So you are cultivating a hospitable family. 🙂 I like the BBQ for Easter idea…veering outside the ‘norm’ would be a great tradition!
Kaylene Yoder
February 21, 2017
Thank you for sharing the Names of Jesus Advent Calendar! What a sweet surprise. May many families be blessed by this list of 12 traditions. I really like the pancake idea! My kids will too! 😉
Elizabeth
April 3, 2017
We loved working through the names of Jesus!