Family Adventure
GOAL: Explore your family traditions.
The ADVENTURE: Take time to recognize and honor your family traditions.
TIPS:
Involve all family members in determining what traditions to start, or stop
Make sure that each family member has a role to play in the family tradition
Acknowledge where the tradition started, with a focus on the role the kids played.
Put reminders and mementos from the family tradition around the house. For example, if it's your family tradition to go to a certain restaurant on birthdays, put a picture of the family's last birthday outing on the fridge or somewhere it will be seen.
If you have family members that will miss one of your traditions create a piece of it that they can share in. For example, if your family tradition is building a Christmas village under the tree each year, if someone will be out of state or away this Christmas, send them a piece from the village, or a replica piece to reward them for all the years they were a part of it.
What are some of your March Traditions?
Do you have traditions around St. Patrick's Day or March Madness?
How about one of the other many holidays or national days that happen in March?
Or one unique to your family?
Traditions are rituals families engage in over and over. There is a reason we intentionally maintain and create traditions – it’s because they bring meaning to our celebrations and help bond us to those we love. They lend a certain spirit that nurtures the family connection, giving us a sense of belonging and helping us celebrate generations of family.
More importantly, traditions create positive memories for children. Children crave the warmth and promise that comes with traditions. They anchor family members to each other and provide a sense of belonging. It's important to find ways to create little rituals that everyone looks forward to.
RESOURCES
Take time to chat about your family traditions. Here are some things to consider:
What are our family traditions?
When and where did the tradition start?
What problem was it intended to solve?
How have these traditions changed over time?
What ideas are we using the tradition to honor, remember or pass on to future generations?
Are there any adjustments that need to be made to make it more effective to pass on those ideas?
Do we need to redefine this tradition given all we've learned?
How do our traditions bring us together as a family?
How do each of us make the tradition even more special?
Are there new traditions we would like to add?
One thing to keep in mind when it comes to tradition is that what we do today will be someone else’s history. All traditions are living things, shifting and changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but they are all in motion, just at a pace we rarely notice. The more we can see traditions as just one of the many forces that tie us together, the better we can use them to help us protect and improve what’s best in our families, societies and civilizations.
FAMILY TRADITION IDEAS
Looking for some fun family tradition ideas? Here are just a few suggestions:
- Sunday Dinners
- Family Game Night
- Reading Bedtime stories-- or any bedtime routine
- Traditional Restaurant for special occasions . . . or just for fun!
- Traditional Quotes or Sayings
- Sports Game Ritual
- Favorite Vacation Spot
- Family Recipes
- Family Heirlooms
- Family Meal Time
- Family Supersitions
- Movie Nights
- Passing Down Family Stories and Genealogy
- Secret Handshake
- Family Time Capsule
- Family Meetings
- Saturday Mornings in Bed
- Same meal every week -- Friday night pizza or Saturday morning waffles
- Camping in your backyard . . . or family room fort!
- Back t0 School pictures
- Monthly service project
- Mommy/Daddy Dates with each child
- Family Walks
- Kids Make Dinner
- Milestone Trips or gifts or family activity
- The Birthday Hat
- Cousin Camp or Grandma Camp
Pre-K Adventure
Show pictures or talk about things you did as a child during the holidays with grandma and grandpa. Make the same treats and/or play the same children’s games you played.
Community Engagement Adventure
What are some of your neighborhood traditions? For example, in our neighborhood on the 4th of July everyone gathers in a parking lot and enjoys everyone's fireworks together. What do you do in your neighborhood?
Other ideas:
❏ Organize a Neighborhood 'Traditions' Night where you invite some other families over and share your traditions with them and let them share their traditions with you
❏ Establish a new neighborhood tradition. What do you wish was a neighborhood tradition? Start it!
Teen Adventure
Ask them what they like to do during whatever holiday/day of recognition is closest (i.e. St. Patrick's Day, Valentines Day as well as Christmas, etcl.). Have them help you establish a new tradition centered around that (fun food to go with it works well).
Photo Location
Take a picture of your family enjoying one of your holiday traditions and post it to your social media sites with the hashtag #tradition
by Rituals & Traditions
Sponsored by Wattson and My Discovery Destination!
The mission of My Discovery Destination! and the Discovery Family program is to STRENGTHEN FAMILIES and BUILD CHARACTER through providing opportunities for families to enjoy FREE family experiences so they can build strong bonds and CREATE and CAPTURE memories.
