10 Fun Family Traditions You Should Start!
9:00:00 AM
Sometimes it's difficult to set and keep family traditions. Here is a list of 10 fun family traditions, all excerpts from the book "Fun Family Traditions: Over 100 Fun Activities to Bring Your Family Closer Together" by Cynthia MacGregor. These traditions and activities require minimal supplies and money.
Time Capsule
Why not create a time capsule when a child is born into your family? There's no need to bury this time capsule or embed it in the cornerstone of the new house you're building--just stow it in some out-of-the-way location for viewing at a later date.
Materials:
- One large box for each child
- Any keepsakes you want to put in the capsule
Directions: Gather some or all of the following items (plus whatever else seems appropriate) and place them in a large box:
- Birth notices that appeared in the local newspaper
- Copy of the birth announcement you mail out
- A deflated "It's a Girl/Boy" balloon
- Congratulatory cards and emails you received
- One of the socks that fit on the baby's feet when they were a newborn (or some other article of clothing)
- A picture of the baby
- A newspaper clipping from the child's date of birth showing the major events of the day
- a national magazine from that week, showing what was going on in the world and what products were being advertised
- The baby's foot print and handprint
Put the box away to avoid the temptation to open it and peek in too early. Open it at a suitable milestone such as the 18th or 21st birthday, high school or college graduation, or wedding day.
Helpful hint: even if you've already had your kids and don't plan on anymore, it may not be too late to assemble at least some of the suggested items for a belated time capsule.
Family Flag
Every country has a flag it displays as a symbol of national pride. Why shouldn't your family have one, too? Your family flag could incorporate the Family Crest or Coat of Arms, family colors, drawings of family members, etc. Hang your flag at the front of the house or any other place that seems appropriate.
Materials:
- Large, rectangular piece of white canvas
- Permanent, colored, fine-line markers
- Glue
- Large, sturdy pole such as a broomstick or mop handle
Directions:
- Have every family member sketch a design for the flag, then get together and compare ideas, selecting the best ones and incorporating them into the final design.
- If you have one particularly talented family member, ask him to create the flag by drawing on both sides of a piece of white canvas. Use the colors and design the family has agreed on.
- Glue the edge of the flag to a pole such as a broomstick or mop handle.
- Display the flag by sticking the broomstick into the ground or using a flag holder to secure the broomstick.
Helpful hint: Everybody can contribute to this project. Have the contributions incorporated into a collage by a preselected designer.
Family Mailbox
How often do notes from school, important mail, and other papers go astray? Create a Family Mailbox so everyone will always know where to look!
Materials:
- One shoebox with the lid removed for each family member
- Different colored paints (be sure to include either white or another pale color) and a paintbrush
- Newspapers (to protect your work surface)
Directions:
- Spread out newspaper to protect your work surface.
- Use one shoebox for each family member. Remove the lid from the shoebox.
- Paint the outside of the shoebox with white or a pale-colored paint. You might wan to paint the inside of the shoebox, too.
- At one end of each shoebox, paint a family member's name to designate that person's mailbox.
- Paint a design or picture on the other three sides of the shoebox, and perhaps on the end where the name is, too.
- When the shoeboxes are dry, place them in a central location such as the kitchen counter, a table in the entry hall, or on a shelf in the family room.
- If you have mail, a message, or anything else for another family member, put it in that person's shoebox. Now everyone knows where to look for mail, messages from family members, phone messages, notes, and other important stuff.
Helpful hint: Encourage each child to paint his or her own shoebox.
Family Dinner Night
If on most nights your family has at least one member absent from the dinner table, you should consider establishing one night of the week when dinner attendance is sacred. Sunday is probably the best option - the night when Mom and Dad are least likely to have a business or parental commitment, and when none of the kids are likely to have band, volleyball, Scouts, a sleepover, etc.
Make it a rule that everyone needs to be there - and everyone means everyone. "There" means at the table - not in front of the TV or at a desk doing last-minute homework.
Materials:
- One night designated Family Dinner Night
Directions:
- If you normally eat in the dining room table, this may be your night to eat informally in the kitchen. Or, if you normally eat in the kitchen or breakfast nook, this may be your night to eat at the dining room table.
- You could make this the kids' night to cook, if they're old enough, or it could be a request night, when the children take turns choosing the menu (within reason) from one week to the next.
Helpful hint: Remember, Family Dinner should be special - and fun. Having everyone together should be cherished by your kids, so emphasize the importance of being together while downplaying the obligation.
Family Awards Night
There's lots of fun to be had on Family Awards Night. You could make an elaborate event out of it, awarding trophies or plaques, and even creating an awards ceremony. Once every month or two would be fine for most families. Select a regular time frame that suits your specific family needs, taking into account the number and frequency of certificates or trophies to be awarded.
Materials:
- Trophies, plaques, certificates, or related items that have been earned by any family members since last Awards Night
Directions:
- Carefully consider the types of activities and behaviors you want to reward on a special awards night. These could include awards for game nights, cleaning competitions, good report cards, or other family activities.
- Keep in mind the number and frequency of awards you plan to give out. Decide how often you think you'd like to have a Family Awards Night.
- Announce to your family your intention to hold Family Awards Night regularly. Explain that all awards won or earned during the time period since the last Awards Night will be conferred at the event.
- Decide if you want a ceremony or other hoopla to go with distributing the awards, or whether you want to keep it low-key.
Helpful hint: Family Awards Night can also be a time to give out allowances and other rewards children have earned for working around the house.
Family Newscast
Most kids are natural hams. Wouldn't it be fun to have them report their day's news? They'll get to practice their writing and public-speaking skills, and everyone will stay informed on the daily happenings in family life.
Materials:
- Paper
- Pen, pencil, or computer
Directions:
- Have each child report his own news (events they witnessed themselves).
- Tell your kids to write a news summary about each event of the day that they deem newsworthy. This might include items about school, other family members, pets, and general human interest stories.
- Give the kids ten minutes or more of prep time, depending on how much news there is. "Broadcast" time might range from two to twenty minutes, depending on volume and depth of coverage.
- Have the kids take turns daily being the news anchor. If you have more than one child, the other siblings will act as "on the scene" reporters. The anchor greets the audience and reports the lead story, then calls upon another reporter for a follow-up or different story. In a family with only one child--or only one old enough to take part in this activity--the anchor will have to carry the newscast singlehandedly.
Helpful hint: Family Awards Night can also be a time to give out allowances and other rewards children have earned for working around the house.
Family Olympics
One way to nourish family pride and spirit is to compete in athletic events against other families. In the real Olympics, Americans compete with the British, Australians, Germans, Japanese, and so on. Your daily can compete with the Turners, O'Brians, Lees, and Shapiros. Many Americans do not consider themselves stridently patriotic, but when the Olympics come around, they suddenly find themselves rooting boisterously for American athletes. Imagine this same transformation in your family.
Materials:
- Whatever events you chose to have in your Olympics
- Paper and pen for creating certificates to reward the winner of each event (optional)
- Trophies or awards from the DI or Salvation Army to be awarded to the winners of different events (optional)
Directions:
- Decide on a location that's suitable. Your backyard is fine and if it's large enough, especially if you have a basketball net or other sports equipment. A public park or city playground might be better.
- Contact other families, preferably ones whose kids are about the same age as yours. Agree on a date that works for all participants (and an alternate date in case it rains). If you're planning several events, you may want to spread the Olympics out over a weekend.
- Families should gather to select a set of events in which everyone will compete. Use the real Olympics as a model. Events might include relay races, basketball competitions, croquet, horseshoes, jump rope, apple bobbing, balloon races, and so on. You can even include such events as cooking and baking. You can even have a contest to see which family can pick up the most litter from the streets of your town in two hours.
- If you want to, design an award certificate for the winner of each event.
- Hold your Olympics. If you have decided to award certificates to the winners, fill in the appropriate individual or team name on the applicable certificate as each event concludes.
Helpful hint: Find events that allow even the youngest kids to participate actively.
Cleaning Competition
Turn housecleaning into a competition, and you may get the kids so eager to outdo each other that they complete all their chores without a single complaint!
Materials:
- Housecleaning supplies
- A trophy or novel award
Directions:
- Decide which chores the kids will do, such as mopping, vacuuming, changing the sheets, doing the laundry, dusting, and so on.
- Decide whether you'll award a trophy or novel item to the winner of the week (or month), or whether you'll award temporary possession of a general's cap to the current leader. The wearer gets to do a certain amount of bossing-around, as generals are inclined to do. This may appeal to kids more than a trophy. But remember: it's all in good fun, and the bottom line is family pride.
- Decide who will judge the kids' efforts.
- Decide the method of judging
- Each child's performance receives one to ten points, depending on how well the job was done (age should be taken into consideration, of course). At the end of a month, the child who has racked up the most points is declared champion of the month.
- You might want to choose a weekly champ as well, using the same point system.
- Kids alternate chores from week to week, so that each child has a chance to be judged at dusting, mopping, and so on. At the end of a cycle, when each child has done each chore once, a winner is declared and a new cycle is started.
- Ownership of the trophy or plaque - if you use that system - is temporary. When a new champion is declared, the old champ passes the trophy to the new winner.
Helpful hint: Make sure the evaluation system is clearly understood and approved by everyone before competition begins. The kids should know exactly how they can receive a high score.
Gift-Giving Traditions
There are plenty of ways to give to charity besides dropping a quarter in the kettle during the winter holidays or donating time at the local soup kitchen. Here are a few ideas for showing your kids how to give from their hearts. In so doing, they will become alive members in the family's tradition of giving.
Materials:
- Money (optional)
- Toys, books, and unwanted clothes still in decent condition (optional)
- New gifts you've received but do not want (optional)
Directions:
- Decide how you would like to give to charity. You can either gather as a family to make a group decision, or you can allow individual members to make independent decisions. Choose one or more of the ideas below, or any others you come up with:
- Set aside a percentage of your allowance, birthday and holiday gift money, earnings from your paper route, or a portion of each of these things for a favorite charity.
- Volunteer your time regularly at a local charity to sort merchandise donations, stuff envelopes, serve food in a soup kitchen, or help transport donated items to local families in need.
- Donate your unwanted clothes, outgrown toys and books, and other items to a local charity, hospital, daycare center, or other good cause.
- Donate unwanted gifts to charity, like a sweater that's the wrong color or a game you already have.
Helpful hint: Help younger kids learn how to make good charitable decisions. Some kids are so generous, they want to give everything away!
Neighborhood Block Party
Your family can join other families on your street for a grand neighborhood party. You can involve only the families within a few houses on either side, or all the families on your block - however many people works best for you. Make sure parents, kids, and any other generations that live nearby are invited.
Materials:
- Food
- Games
- A city or county permit if you're going to hold the party out in the street rather than in one or more backyards or houses.
Directions:
- Decide how many households to invite to the party. This will depend in part on where you live, how long your street is, and so on.
- Choose a date and time. If it will be an outdoor party, you may also want to choose an alternate date in case of rain.
- Select the specific location: one or more backyards, one or more houses, out in the street, and so on.
- Apply for a permit from the city or country if you're holding it in the street.
- Decide how to supply the food and drinks. It might be best to make it a covered-dish supper, with everyone contributing food and a beverage. Or you could delegate certain jobs to certain households.
- Choose the games and activities for the party. If you're planning an outdoor event, you'll probably want games such as stickball, hopscotch, marbles, hide-and-seek, and tag. Make sure parents are invited to play, too!
- Invite everyone you want to attend. If you'r having a covered-dish supper, coordinate the contributions so you don't wind up with six households supplying potato salad and no one bringing a main course.
- Relax and enjoy yourself at the party!
Helpful hint: Make sure to include plenty of events for all age groups. Also, provide various types of food and beverages to satisfy various tastes.
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Citations:
MacGregor, C. (2000). Fun Family Traditions: Over 100 Fun Activities to Bring Your Family Closer Together. Minnetonka, MN: Meadowbrook Press.
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