100 Family Traditions & Legacy Builders
1. Take your child out to breakfast on the first day of school each year.
2. Deliver May Day baskets or flowers on people's doorsteps
3. Create a shadow box of memorabilia and photographs from your last family vacation and hang it in the family hall or living room.
4. Make popcorn garland together to hang on your Christmas tree
5. Look for "God Spots" with your children while in car rides - these are spots where you see God's hand or presence in our world.
6. Designate a certain day of the week for a fun ritual with your kids on the way to school (Friday can be "rockin" Friday where you blast your favorite tunes or Tuesday could be "book day" where you listen to an audio book on the way to school)
7. Create a family "motto"
8. Pass down the carving of the Holiday turkey to your son at a certain age
9. Have a "girls night out" once a month with other mom friends
10. Let your children have a ritual of sleeping together on weekends in sleeping bags
11. Put your families' feet and handprints in cement around your home
12. Let your children sleep together in the same room on Christmas Eve
13. "It's Your Day" - - spend a special day with each child, each year; individually
14. Have pizza by candlelight on weekends
15. Take at least one trip back to your place of birth and growing up years to show your children where you were born, went to school, lived, etc.
16. Have a special cupboard, drawer, or box that is kept stocked with gifts to give others on short-notice or special occasions. Let your children keep their own "gift drawers" to encourage sharing and giving.
17. Take monthly trips to the library followed by ice cream or milkshakes
18. Have mother-son dates
19. Make a habit of hiding special notes inside of the bag of a family member when they have to go out of town or spend the night at a friend's house
20. Make a tape of bedtime stories for your little ones
21. Send "I Love You" signals across the room to one another that only you know. Maybe a touch or a subtle signal.
22. Have a special tree trimming celebration with Christmas music and hot cocoa
23. Give your teen a key to symbolize that God has the key to their hearts and to keep it pure for Him
24. Designate a family member of the month - complete with special meal and prize
25. Take one ornament off your tree each year and send it to an extended family member so they have a special touch of you added to their Christmas tree. Encourage them to "Pass On" the tradition to another family member until a complete circle has been made, including everyone.
26. Have a "growth wall" and record everyone's height - aunts, uncles, and grandparents too!
27. Keep a special journal every time a beloved family member passes on. Let everyone record their memories, thoughts, and feelings while they are fresh and keep this book as a tender reminder of your love.
28. Pick a night the week before Christmas to drive around and look at Christmas lights
29. When your teen turns 18, go with them to register to vote
30. Practice "Random Acts of Kindness" one day a month - each member choosing a new and different act of kindness.
31. Have a flag-hanging party on the Fourth of July.
32. Begin a charm bracelet for your daughter -each charm representing a special event in her life.
33. Instead of creating a regular scrapbook, take turns "Faithbooking." Make a whole scrapbook out of what God did in your life during that time or special occasion - complete with Bible verses.
34. Go eat lunch with your child at school one day a month
35. Have journals at family get-to-gethers where everyone records the events
36. Lay out in the backyard and camp under the stars in sleeping bags each summer
37. Go to a yearly parade as a family
38. Go "letterboxing" together as a family. It's a nature walk/scavenger
39. Encourage your children to bring friends over for the Holidays so they have a place where they feel like they belong
40. To get your children motivated to clean up - designate several "secret pieces of trash." If they pick those items up - the child wins a small piece of candy for each item thrown away or put back.
41. Have a game night on New Year's Eve - complete with small prizes for winners!
42. Take old photographs and take digital photos of them - thus transferring them to the computer and changing them to digital format. The quality will still show the "age" of the old photo, but it will now be preserved digitally in case of damage.
43. Every couple of years at Christmas, give your family members a "character" ornament or gift to symbolize a special character quality you see in them
44. Make a habit of taking a gift or baked goodie to new neighbors
45. Hang mistletoe each December in your doorway
46. Have a special item or thing you do when your little one skins a knee or scrapes an ankle. Maybe it's a "boo bunny" with a fake ice cube that cools, a special kiss you do, or cute band aids.
47. Pass down family recipes
48. Learn a foreign language together as a family. Take a class or practice with CD's and podcasts in the car together.
49. Set aside a tea time late in the afternoon each day. Substitute hot cocoa or lemonade if needed for this quiet, restful break in the day.
50. Share what you're thankful for around the table at Thanksgiving and write it on a special Thanksgiving tablecloth. Bring it out each year and add to it.
51. Leave encouraging notes under each other's pillows on bad days
52. Start a special collection for your niece or nephew - give them ornaments, books, dolls, or something else each year on their birthday
53. Present special rings to your children as a symbol of their sexual purity until marriage.
54. Have father-daughter dates
55. Look at your Wedding pictures and video each year on your anniversary
56. Take a class with your children - art, photography or pottery
57. Keep a special "Pass It Back" Journal just between you and each individual child. Take turns writing in it.
58. Read you children a set of books like, "Little House on the Prairie" or the "Bobsey Twins."
59. Record births, deaths, weddings and baptisms, etc in your Bible or Journal
60. Have a special family "photo shoot" that you do together every year on a certain holiday or special date.
61. Teach your children what the meanings of Holidays and American symbolism mean
62. Name your home and each home thereafter to add a special quality
63. Take each child to the bank when they turn 5 and open a savings account for them
64. Make a habit of reading the Christmas story in the Bible before opening presents
65. For a girls first period - have a special "Woman's Day" celebration with her
66. Have a special Valentine's Day gourmet picnic in your living room
67. To encourage your children to pick up around the house - establish a list of "secret items' - they get a piece of candy for each item (4 or 5) that they correctly found and put away.
68. Make a tradition of yearly Superbowl, Grammy Awards or Season Premiere parties
69. Incorporate special bedtime rituals like a story or special song
70. Have special "code words" that your kids can use with you to let you know that they are in trouble or need to be picked up.
71. Give new Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve each year
72. Pass down your Wedding dress, veil or garter to be used in whole or in part
73. Support and show up for each family member who is participating in athletic events, musical performances, etc.
74. Let dad and kids do breakfasts on Saturday mornings
75. Save the turkey wishbone at Thanksgiving and share the wish with one family member
76. Have Easter egg hunts - even as the kids grow older! Do it at night by flashlight...
77. Celebrate the day that your child accepted Jesus into their heart
78. Have an "End of Summer" campout in a tent in your backyard
79. Go to a local pumpkin patch to get pumpkins each year
80. Invent a family design, logo or crest.
81. Keep a journal and pass it down.
82. Let each person choose a place to eat out on their birthday
83. Teach a craft and hand it down - sewing, needlepoint, woodworking, mechanics, etc
84. Discuss family treasures and heirlooms and who you would pass them down to if something happened to you
85. Write a book for each child in the family and use them as the main character
86. Email the boy or girl your son or daughter is dating regularly and get to know them - establish a special bond between just the two of you
87. Let your children spend weekends at aunts and uncles houses. Vice versa - let your neices and nephews come and have a little "retreat" at your house.
88. Send a stack of letters from family and friends with the family member who is going away to camp, a missions trip or some other getaway that takes them away from home for a week or more.
89. Make a habit of taking family walks together each summer.
90. Have an Advent calendar and activities each December
91. Have celebrations when family members are baptized.
92. Create video or cassette tapes full of favorite family stories and memories.
93. Have your children pick out gifts for children each year on a "giving tree"
94. Have special "guy outings" where all the guys in an extended family have a weekend away together
95. Each member of the family declare a "life verse" in the Bible
96. Enjoy special "family bonding time" on long car trips. Enjoy special games together, favorite songs or CD's, pack special surprises, etc.
97. Have a special plate, glass or cup used by a family member for special occasions or reasons to celebrate
98. Dads - take your son out for a special "mans day" - and discuss puberty
99. Make and pass down "Homemaking Journals" to your children - complete with tips/hints for the home, recipes and more
100. Take a Christmas shopping expedition to the nearest big city mall each December.
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