67 Holiday Traditions for Fun Family Memories All Year!

Growing up, my family had all sorts of traditions. But early in my motherhood I realized, I’m not so good at making holiday traditions.

The first six years of our marriage my husband and I didn’t do a whole lot for holidays. I decorated the house for the seasons and usually made a few treats at Christmas time, but that was it.

We didn’t create traditions. We figured that we needed to have kids in order to start family traditions.

But there are so many traditions that we could have done without children!

I wish that I had sat down and figured out some traditions for us at that time. Of course, I can’t go back and change time, but I do encourage anyone, whether you have children at home or not, to be deliberate about holiday traditions.

For the most part family traditions usually don’t just occur. You have to plan in advance for the holiday traditions each year or they won’t happen. These are great ways to spend quality time with your family members.

How to Start Holiday Traditions

If you want ideas for traditions, think back on your childhood and include some of your favorite traditions. Ask your spouse and children for ideas and things they would like to do.

Use this blog post will help and checking out Pinterest for more ideas.

It’s also really helpful to keep all of your holiday traditions written or typed out in a planner. You can use my Holiday Traditions planner at the bottom of this post or make your own.

If you make your own, divide up all the holidays and leave room for your traditions. You may not have any right now or you may only have a few. You can fill it in as you go along.

That’s the fun things about holiday traditions. Sometimes thing happens one year and every one loves it so much, it becomes a tradition for years to come!

Holiday Tradition Examples

New Year’s Day

Stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Drink champagne or sparking grape juice.
Make individual and family resolutions.
Play games and eat snacks with family and friends.
Have soup and sandwiches.

Valentine’s Day

Make heart shaped pancakes.
Give cards and candy to each other.
Decorate sugar cookies with red and pink frosting and sprinkles.
Make valentine boxes.
Hand out valentines to friends, family, and neighbors.

St. Patrick’s Day

Put green food coloring in your food or have a completely green meal.
Drink green punch or kool-aid.
Make corned beef and cabbage for dinner.
Wear green.

Easter

Go to church.
Dye hard boiled eggs.
Hide the kids easter basket and have them look for them when they wake up.
Have a special breakfast.
Resurrection eggs.
Make resurrection rolls.
Have an egg hunt.

Memorial Day

Put flowers on loved one’s graves.
Go to a Memorial Day ceremony.
Have a cookout or picnic.
Hang your flag up outside.
Make a flag dessert with blueberries and strawberries.
Go camping.

Independence Day

Have a cookout.
Buy and set off fireworks.
Make homemade ice cream.
Go swimming.
Eat watermelon slices.
Go to a fireworks show.

Labor Day

Have a cook out.
Play yard games.
Go camping.
Start a campfire and eat s’mores.

Halloween/Fall

Visit an apple orchard.
Go to a pumpkin patch.
Drink apple cider.
Make apple pie.
Make pumpkin bread.
Carve jack o’ lanterns.
Pick out costumes for halloween.
Drive around looking at leaves.

Thanksgiving

Make a gratitude list.
Use a Thanksgiving tablecloth.
Get family pictures.
Donate canned goods to charity.

Christmas

Mail family Christmas cards.
Decorate on the same date each year. (ie: Day after Thanksgiving or December 1)
Siblings buy gifts for each other at Dollar Tree.
Volunteer at a homeless shelter or other community center.
Give to Operation Christmas Child or another charity.
Watch Christmas movies.
Make special Christmas treats. (fudge, toffee, ect.)
Make and frost cut out sugar cookies.
Look at Christmas lights in your pj’s while drinking hot cocoa.
Go to a Christmas Eve candle light service at church.
Make treats for your neighbors.
Listen to Christmas music.
Visit a live nativity.
Get a special ornament for the year.
Open stocking on Christmas Eve.
Have the same food on Christmas Eve. (ie: soup or finger foods)
Get matching pajamas.
Build a gingerbread house.

Here are specific Christmas traditions for babies.

It’s a good idea to keep all of your traditions written down in one place for easy reference. Feel free to use this free holiday planner.

I printed mine on plain printer paper, put them in page protectors*, and added them to my binder where I keep my home management files.

plan-and-organize-your-familys-holiday-traditions-with-this-beautiful-printable

free printable for planning holiday traditions

I’d love to hear more ideas! What are some of your holiday traditions that you would add to the list?

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