This Family Tradition Will Help You and Your Kids Have a More Positive Mindset

Traditions can bring your family closer together, build strong family bonds, and create fun memories for the whole family. While you're raising your babies, it can feel daunting to add one more thing to your family's lifestyle. Sure, you want to jump into all the traditions, but it can feel so tricky when you're just trying to get your toddler to brush their teeth and eat a vegetable. However, as your child grows older, traditions become easier to start implementing into your family culture.

If you feel ready to create your own family traditions but aren't sure where to start, keep reading for some creative traditions to start now that your children are getting older.

How Can Traditions Change Your Family Culture?

You don't have to participate in any family traditions to create strong family bonds. However, when you implement small traditions into your family, you may notice a subtle shift in your family culture.

Traditions require intentionality. Taking the time to plan and implement them will add value to your family life — especially when you involve your children in the traditions as well.

Traditions become something you all look forward to as the years go by. They allow you to capture those little moments with intention, instead of just letting time pass by. To create some of these moments, try one of these ten traditions this year.

Ten Traditions to Start This Year With Your Kids

If you Google traditions to start, you will turn up a whole host of ideas. Chances are, that is exactly what landed you on this page. But the traditions you start don't matter as much as the intention behind them.

This year, decide on one or two interesting or fun traditions that you think will bring your family closer and that your children will enjoy. Then slowly start adding these traditions to your life. Before you know it, they will become second nature and bring your family even closer together.

Highs and Lows

Highs and lows are a tradition that I started with my kids several years ago. The idea behind this tradition is to get to know your child just a little better. It's easy to ask your child, ‘How was your day?' They respond with ‘good,' and that's the end of the conversation. However, when you add in highs and lows, you may find out something about your child's day that you may not have otherwise.

We do highs and lows during dinner each night. Everyone will go around the table and share a high point from their day (something good that happened) along with a low point, perhaps something upsetting or challenging. Sometimes my kids have no lows, but they always have a high!

Family Movie Night

Family movie night is a common tradition among families and can be a great way to share your love of specific genres and movies. As my kids have grown older, family movie night has become even more enjoyable. We are no longer watching Disney movies and instead moving into genres like pre-teen, rom-coms, and comedy.

Make this tradition even more fun by adding pizza as a tradition. We have our pizza and movie night on Fridays, and it's something we look forward to every week.

Game Night

Game night is also another common tradition to start as a family. Collect classic games like Uno and Phase Ten and stock up on newer ones too to keep it exciting.

Get your kids involved by letting each one pick a game to play and spend the evening seeing who can dominate the game night.

Gratitude Jars

Gratitude Jars are a great tradition to start around Thanksgiving, but they can also be a year-round tradition! The best part is it's a simple tradition to implement. Place a jar in a common area of the house, and every time something good happens, add it to the jar.

Don't wait for something big to occur either, add those little gratitude moments, they count too! At the end of the year, spend time reading through the gratitude entries together as a family. This tradition can instill a deeper appreciation for life and a greater sense of gratitude in yourself and your children.

Evening Walks

This tradition doesn't have to happen every night. However, carving out some time for a simple evening walk as a family every week can be precisely what you and the kids need. These evening walks can help you slow down, connect with your kids, and get in some much-needed sunshine and exercise.

First Day of School Interviews

When your child starts school, take the time to interview them intentionally. You can start this at any age or grade. Then continue this tradition until graduation. It can be fun to look back on the interviews and see how your child has changed through the years.

One-on-One Check-Ins

If you have multiple children, one-on-one check-ins can be a great way to connect with each child individually. Take some time each month for special one-on-one time with your child. This can be done on a specific date; however, it can also be done in the comfort of your own home. Pick one day a month and have each child spend one-on-one time with you. It can be as little as ten minutes or as long as you want. Spend this time asking them questions, discussing life, or simply hanging out together.

It's a simple tradition to start, but it adds intentionality and quality to your relationships with your kids.

New Christmas Ornament Each Year

Every year at Christmastime, I take my kids to the store, and they each pick out one or two ornaments. We hang their ornaments on our Christmas tree. However, when they leave home and create a family of their own, I will pack up all the ornaments they chose through the years and give them to them.

These ornaments will hold a special place in their hearts, filled with memories, and provide a good collection for when they are just getting started.

Teen Menus

One great way to involve your children is to let them create a dinner menu. Let them do all the planning for a couple of nights a week. They can even take it a step forward and prepare the meal themselves! This can help instill organizational and planning skills, as well as teach them to prepare delicious meals independently. All of these skills will be essential as they grow up.

Volunteer Together Every Year

A meaningful tradition to start is volunteering together. Take some time together to explore local organizations that welcome volunteers. This can be at a nursing home, food bank, hospital, or even a homeless shelter.

Volunteering together can help you and your child break free from the “me first” mentality and develop the habit of noticing the needs of those around them.

How to Get Your Child Involved in Creating Traditions

When you set out to create new family traditions, it can be tempting to add in all the things at once. Yet, it's important not to overwhelm yourself or your family. Begin with one or two traditions that sound fun or interesting to you.

You can get your child involved by reading through traditions together and allowing them to decide which ones sound the most interesting to them. Ask for their opinions and choose traditions that intentionally involve them. For example, if you choose movie night, allow your children to choose a movie. If you volunteer, ask about their passions. There are many ways to get your child involved intentionally!

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