Family Tradition Ideas for Everyday Life

Everyday family tradition ideas to help your family bond and build special memories. Any activity, on any day, can become a tradition.

Traditions make up many of our early childhood memories. We remember playing a specific game every year for Christmas. Or eating a specific dessert on Easter. Those traditions become pillars in our minds. And we want to recreate them with our families

Typically, when we think of creating traditions with our families, we think of holidays. But you don’t need a holiday to create a fun tradition with your family.

Any day of the week can have family traditions. And those traditions are something that your kids will carry with them into adulthood.

We have a few simple everyday family traditions. They are the highlight of the week. For us and our kids! Here are a few fun family tradition ideas for you to try!

Everyday Family Tradition Ideas

Family Dinner

Eating dinner together as a family is an incredibly important family tradition. Unfortunately, it is not something that happens often enough. Families are so busy between work, school activities, and extracurriculars. It’s hard to set aside the time to eat as a family. Setting aside time for dinner together is a great family tradition to establish.

Specials Meals on Certain Days

Take family dinner one step further with special meals on specific days of the week. For example, Pizza Fridays or Taco Tuesdays. This gives your family something to look forward to. It also takes away the stress of planning a family meal. If dinner doesn’t work for your family, try breakfast or lunch. Whatever it takes to have your family together around the table!

My family has several themed meal days. We started with Pizza Fridays several years ago. The kids loved it and are always excited for Friday dinner. As a result, we added Pancake Saturdays and French Toast Sundays. Because mornings are incredibly hectic it’s nice to slow down on the weekends.

Family Movie Night

Pop some popcorn and enjoy a film together with your family. Family movie nights are a great way to bond. They also offer a chance to create memories together. Some of my fondest memories from childhood include the rare occasion we all gathered together in front of the TV. Find an evening that works for everyone, and make movie nights a standing family tradition. Here are a few of the best Disney movies for toddlers for movie night.

Family Game Night

Interested in a more hands-on family activity? Try a weekly family game night. Choose one, or a few, age-appropriate games for the whole family. Then set aside a time each week to play together. Even if game night only lasts for an hour, it’s still an opportunity for uninterrupted family time. Here are a few of our favorite preschool-level board games.

School Drop-off Singalongs

Music has a knack for staying with us longer than many memories. So try centering some memories around music. While driving in the car turn on some fun music. Singing along together to music builds amazing memories that last.

Bedtime Routine

A solid bedtime routine for kids reduces evening stress and creates memories. Include a few minutes of family bonding in the routine. This includes reading books, or just discussing the day. Those few calm moments before bed are the perfect time to establish an everyday family tradition. A few minutes every night before bed creates feelings of security and closeness.

Special Weekend-Only Family Tradition Ideas

Weeknights are busy for so many of us. Try making the weekend extra special with fun-weekend only activities! The activities shouldn’t be overly complicated either.

Art Projects

Art activities are great weekend family-centered activities. Painting is often too messy for a weeknight, but it’s perfect for the weekend. Playing with Play-Doh, chalk, and anything involving glue is also great for the weekend.

Solo Time with Parents

When you have multiple kids, it’s hard to ensure that everyone gets special time with each parent. But it is so important that they do. Spending a little focused time with each child, uninterrupted, is a great time to build memories. This is more difficult depending on how many children you have. But solo time doesn’t need to include an entire day or even hours together. Try reserving a little time for a walk together. Or read a chapter of a fun new book. Those simple moments with each child help us focus on our kids as individuals.

Weekend Errands

Anything can be an everyday family tradition! Including errands! Include a casual stroll down the toy aisle at Target while picking up toothpaste. Or pick up a treat from Starbucks as part of the routine. It makes the errands more fun for the kids. Then they look forward to them more!

Season Specific Family Tradition Ideas

Some everyday family traditions are reliant on certain weather conditions. It’s fun to have different traditions reserved for different seasons. And seasonal traditions don’t need to include holidays. They are still simple, everyday fun.

Summer Family Tradition Ideas

• Family walks after dinner
• Saturday mornings at the pool
• Picnics at the park
• Ice cream

Fall Family Tradition Ideas

• Weekend hikes
• Local highschool football games
• Trips to the library
• Fire pits

Winter Family Tradition Ideas

• Hot chocolate nights
• Watch the same holiday movies each year
• Start a gratitude jar or display

Spring Family Tradition Ideas

• Weekend walks
• Visit the farmers market
• Plant flowers

These family tradition ideas don’t require a lot of time, money, or advanced planning. They are all about spending a little special time with your family throughout the week. You don’t need a special occasion or holiday to create fun memories together as a family.

To see how our family spends time together on a weekly basis, check out my Instagram: @hey.ashleykay!