Every family has their own traditions, whether it’s having pizza every Friday night, celebrating Cinco De Mayo or taking a family Easter photo. Holiday traditions are important on a social level. Not only do they help develop interpersonal skills within family members, but they also create a long-lasting bond between them, not to mention memories.
With the digital era quickly taking over family life, it’s getting harder and harder to keep up family traditions. This is why, it takes a conscious effort by family members to keep family traditions.
If you like the idea of having a family tradition, but have yet to find any appealing ones, here’s a list of seven of the most popular family traditions you can try out this coming holiday season!
Holiday Portraits
Taking a family holiday photo is a must! In fact, holiday photos are one of the more popular traditions even in social media. Family portraits showcase the family to friends and family while preserving a unique, family memory. If you’re looking for the kind of magical portraits Christmas time brings out, you may want to consider making them unique, perhaps taking action shots, candid photos or using a filter. Make it creative!
Family Gift Shopping
One of the ways to avoid the holiday rush and still create a tradition is by going Christmas shopping as a family. One fun way to do this is by dispensing an equal amount of money to the kids and letting them manage it to cover the costs of the presents they’ll give other family members. This can help teach kids the value of a dollar and help them learn the basics of managing their money.
Picking Out Your Tree
For those who celebrate Christmas, one of the most exciting traditions for both kids and adults is visiting a tree farm and picking out a Christmas tree. The great thing about picking out a tree as a family is that it creates both a bonding experience and entertains the family, since most tree farms feature hay rides, sleigh rides and other family friendly activities.
Cultural Tradition
If having a strong sense of culture is important to you, then you may want to incorporate a cultural tradition this holiday season. You can introduce culture to your kids through food, games or arts and crafts. Introducing a cultural tradition is a great way to broaden your family’s cultural awareness and strengthen your family roots and identity.
Light Watching
There’s always a neighborhood in every town where homeowners go all out with holiday decorations. As a special treat, and hopefully a new tradition, why not hop into the car, jammies and all, and watch the holiday lights gleam in the evening? Some neighborhoods even have friendly competitions and cool prizes for whomever has the best decorated house in the neighborhood. Another option is to go to a light show in your area. Many counties raise money for local charities by displaying light shows for families to drive through and view together.
Charity
It’s the season of giving, which means it’s also the perfect time to give to charity. One of the easiest ways to involve you and your family with a charity is by giving away what you don’t need. Find any toys or clothes that your family doesn’t need and give them to your local toy or clothing drive. This way, you’ll be giving your kids a good example and establishing a yearly tradition.
Countdown to the Holidays
Counting down to a holiday celebration keeps kids on their toes. One neat way to keep track of when the holidays begin is by making a calendar with your kids, which could serve as a holiday tradition. Another creative way you can incorporate tradition into the holiday countdown is by supplying stocking-stuffers as the day approaches. Maybe on the Monday before Christmas they get a candy cane, on Tuesday a gingerbread man and on Wednesday a silver bell to hang up on the tree. It’s definitely a fun way to both create lasting memories and begin a fun family tradition.
Traditions have always been a great way to build on great memories. So, this holiday season, why not try one out one of these amazing holiday traditions? Who knows, it might end up sticking.
This guest post was submitted by: Samantha Peters, a contributor on the personal finance blog Paid Twice. Sam enjoys writing about ways to ensure that your money is working hard and earning you the highest rates of return. Sam lives in sunny San Diego, California where she enjoys life with her puppy Leona.