Since our family celebrates Christmas, December always feels chock full of family traditions ideas. We love coming together nightly to read scriptures, read a picture book, sing songs, and more. It feels so specially and connective. But then once the … Read More
After exploring outdoors so much in our RV this year, we’ve found a lot of incredible hiking. But Sedona was unique and really special – between the red rock, beautiful winter weather, and abundance of trails, it felt pretty magical. … Read More
Today is Inauguration Day in the United States! It feels like a particularly momentous presidential change. It’s also the first time I’ve had several kids who are old enough to be really interested in the process. I’m looking forward to … Read More
When Dan and I first started traveling, selfies weren’t really a thing. I mean, you could hold a camera out, but it was significantly more difficult. Still, we didn’t really need any family photo tips because the quality of that … Read More
Race can often seem like one of those taboo topics. There’s often a feeling that it’s better to ignore it than address it head on. So maybe you’re wondering why talk to kids about racism? Let’s talk about race and … Read More
I’m a firm believer that lots of different parenting styles can be successful. One persons parenting strengths may include crafts and joint projects and peaceful correction. Someone else may be great at adventuring and exercising. All these things have value, … Read More
We’ve visited the Grand Canyon a number of times, both before kids as well as with kids. But this was our first time visiting the Grand Canyon in winter! The Grand Canyon is vast and you can certainly find plenty … Read More
Here are some fantastic children’s books about Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as a few highlighting other Civil Rights activists. While kids books about MLK won’t work against racism in and of themselves, I hope you use them as … Read More
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January. For a long time, especially since it comes on the coattails of the winter holiday season, it just felt like another day … Read More
One of the trickiest things about having a lot of little ones is managing one on one time with kids. With 5 kids, it’s no joke to give individual attention to each child. We struggled for years trying to figure … Read More
We can’t fail to act against racism and also act surprised by it. We can’t agree to disagree about racism and white supremacy. Little steps to dismantle them aren’t enough; we must take huge steps. Raising antiracist kids can help. … Read More
January 6th is surely a day that will go down in the history books. As adults, we hear and read the news, and it’s easy to get lost in it without taking time to explain. It’s important to me to … Read More
Since our family celebrates Christmas, December always feels chock full of family traditions ideas. We love coming together nightly to read scriptures, read a picture book, sing songs, and more. It feels so specially and connective.
But then once the new year rolls around, most of that falls away. It feels like we don’t have as much time to connect, nor as many opportunities to gather.
I’ve found that having some year round family traditions don’t take long, but makes a big difference for us to feel settled and unified. Otherwise, we start to feel like we’re all friends who happen to live in the same house. Here are 8 of our everyday family traditions ideas – I’d love to hear yours in the comments, too!
This post on year round family traditions ideas contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but doesn’t change your price.
This is one of the most obvious year round family traditions ideas, but we sit down at the table to eat dinner together almost every single night (except for on Friday nights; see below). We put away our phones, put away the books, and sit and eat. We usually have a homemade meal, though it’s not usually fancy. Sometimes the kids cook, more often we cook, or sometimes we do takeout.
It’s really just a special and fun time for us to review highlights and lowlights from the day, and to focus on each other.
Speaking of family dinner, on Fridays, we almost never eat at the kitchen table. That’s because Fridays are our pizza & movie night! Most often, we make homemade pizza, but sometimes we get takeout, too. Usually, we watch a feature-length movie (and finish it the next day if we don’t get through all of it), but sometimes we watch a couple episodes of a show (British Bake Off was a favorite).
It’s simple and delicious, and every single one of us looks forward to it. It’s for sure one of our favorite simple family traditions examples!
All last spring when we first started remote schooling, we went on hikes every Wednesday morning. That schedule got a bit derailed with RVing around the country, but we still love going on regular hikes, typically once a week. It’s a great opportunity for us all to move our bodies and get some fresh air. I also find that a couple of my kids who don’t open up as much at home come alive and are far more chatty while we’re walking.
Even if we can’t do a full hike, we’ve gotten into more of a habit over the last year of doing family walks around the neighborhood. However grouchy we may be feeling, getting outside always helps! Sometimes the kids scooter or roller skate, but however we do it, it’s special and simple and fun.
One of the best things about Sundays to me is that there’s time for a bit of stillness. So every Sunday afternoon while the two youngest are napping, we have quiet reading time with hot chocolate. It’s so simple and just delightful, and forces me to stop and make time for a fun and relaxing hobby alongside my kids.
This is a new tradition for us this year! We take SO many photos, but rarely take time to actually look at them. Reviewing helps our kids actually remember those amazing experiences and helps us all feel excitement and connection as a family as we remember special times together.
We keep it quick (about 10-15 minutes) so it doesn’t feel too overwhelming to do once a week (on Sunday nights) and so kids don’t revolt.
We love reading a very short scripture from this manual each evening. It usually take 3-5 minutes, so it’s short enough that it can actually happen regularly. Plus, I don’t have to think about it in advance, which also makes it more likely to happen.
After scriptures, we do a little bit of a family read aloud together. It’s a perfect way to wind down and end the night on a happy note.
Each of our kids gets to stay up late one night a week to have some special individual time with parents. It’s fun and easy and really helps us connect with them. I wrote up a whole post on how we handle special time, including what we do and when we do it!
Food traditions are so easy and fun. One of our favorites is “brinner,” or breakfast for dinner. We’ve been doing brinner on Sunday nights for about 4 years and I love it. It means we have a “real” hot meal, but it’s usually simple (because who wants to actually spend tons of time cooking on Sunday?). It’s easy and delicious and everyone loves it.
One of my favorite, very simple home projects is setting up a picture book display in our playroom each month. I love rotating the ones up on top of the shelf based on seasons, holidays, and current events. And my kids always end up reading those more during the month and after, which is the entire point!
Possibly my personal favorite year round family tradition idea is that my 10 & 8 year olds make dinner together once per week. They love the feeling of responsibility and accomplishment, and feel so proud of themselves for really helping the family. And I love having dinner made!!
Here are the simple, delicious, and healthy recipes they use!
This is honestly one I’m not as great at as I’d like, and I’m trying to get better! I have one child in particular who comes and gives me a hug every single morning when he first sees me. It’s so sweet and makes me feel excited about our relationship for the day.
I always give my kids hugs and tell them I love them at night, but I want to be better at doing it first thing in the morning with each of them to set the tone for our day.
