30 family traditions to start with your favorite people

Elise Solé and Kait Hanson
·3 min read

Family traditions are special events or activities that define your household. They can reflect your family’s values and beliefs, honor older generations or just be silly and fun.

“A family tradition can be a small, daily activity that the whole family engages in together,” Laura Linn Knight, author of “Break Free from Reactive Parenting" tells TODAY.com.

Family traditions should add value to your life, not stress you out. If that happens, says Knight, make small modifications or get rid of them altogether.

"What children really want is to feel seen, heard and loved, more than they care about the sparkles and the grandiosity of events," she says.

Here are 30 ideas to get you started.

30 family traditions to start

  • Play the “Rose, Bud and Thorn” game at dinner: Each family member shares what they're grateful for that day (the rose), what they're excited about tomorrow (the bud) and what feels prickly (the thorn).

  • Alternate trying out everyone's favorite hobby.

  • Do off-seasonal activities: Swim in winter or cook a hearty meal in summer.

  • Whip up a totally original recipe with everyone's help (don't worry about what ingredient goes with what) and eat it on holidays.

  • Once a year, recreate an old family photo, from clothing to facial expressions and body language.

  • Pick a few days each year and fulfill the wish one of family member. Within reason, of course!

  • Write fan letters to your favorite authors.

  • Throw a bi-annual gift swap with a $5 limit.

  • Read as a family each night, even if you're immersed in your own stories.

  • Read library books or watch documentaries about different cultures and discuss what you've learned.

  • Clean up a communal space in town.

  • Celebrate "half-birthdays."

  • Take a quick stroll every night after dinner. Moving for just 11 minutes has health benefits.

  • Write a book with each chapter authored by a different family member.

  • Create a family prayer.

  • Once a month, choose a memory and try to recall as much detail as possible.

  • Surprise a grandparent with a sleepover (it's a trend!).

  • Mail yourselves a postcard while you're on vacation. Who doesn't like receiving mail?

  • Hold a kindness contest.

  • Give your child an annual "Choose Your Own Adventure Day."

  • Swear off cleaning (even tidying) once a month and worry about the mess later.

  • Create a family motto or passcode that no one else knows.

  • Learn a new skill each year, either individually or as a family.

  • Take as many videos as possible (including of the small stuff) and watch all the footage at the end of the year.

  • Strive to have family members support each other's big moments (show up as a group for every play, sports event or award ceremony).

  • Before a milestone event, like the first or last day of school, go out for ice cream.

  • Take a hike on holidays.

  • Write letters of appreciation to whoever is celebrating their birthday. And let them choose the dinner meal.

  • Each year, ask your child's teachers to sign the same copy of Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the Places You’ll Go!" and present it when he or she graduates high school.

  • Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, French Fridays. Anything to mix up meal time.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com