The best family holiday traditions are not necessarily elaborate or expensive. They are small, meaningful activities people enjoy repeating. Choose one that fits your household, make room for children and other family members to shape it, and let it change as your family does.
Traditions can reflect religious, cultural, secular, and family-specific meanings; there is no single holiday schedule every household needs to follow. These ideas are a menu, not a checklist.
What makes an activity a tradition?
A family ritual is a regular, predictable activity with shared meaning—not simply another task to complete. The American Academy of Pediatrics explains that holiday activities can help children feel involved in preparations and celebrations, while the University of Illinois Extension highlights the continuity and closeness repeated, meaningful activities can support. American Academy of Pediatrics: Your Family Rituals; University of Illinois Extension: Family Rituals.
As Oklahoma State University Extension put it in its September 8, 2026 family and consumer sciences newsletter, “The value comes from the meaning and connection that rituals create, not from following a tradition perfectly.” Oklahoma State University Extension.
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14 family holiday traditions to try
Pick one that feels enjoyable and manageable. Most can be done with things you already have at home.
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Tell family stories
Invite everyone to share a holiday memory or a story about someone important to the family. A photograph can help prompt a memory, but it is not necessary.
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Make a meaningful family recipe
Choose a dish connected to a person, place, or culture. Give children a manageable job and share why the recipe matters to your family.
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Take a seasonal walk or drive
Make a short neighborhood walk part of the season, or take a drive to look at lights. If weather, mobility, or access makes going out difficult, enjoy seasonal decorations from indoors instead.
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Hold a family game night
Take turns choosing a game. A game you already own—or one that needs no equipment—is enough.
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Share music and dance
Build a playlist together, sing, or dance. Let different family members introduce a song that is meaningful to them.
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Read or tell a seasonal story
Read aloud, share a story from family history, or choose one that helps explain the meaning of a holiday your household observes.
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Make a family recipe card
Write down a recipe and who taught it to the family. Pass a copy to a relative or friend so the story can travel with the dish.
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Choose a small act of kindness
Decide together on an achievable way to help someone, guided by your family’s capacity and local needs. Keep the gesture realistic; one act can matter without solving a larger problem.
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Have a simple movie night
Choose a film together and pair it with an easy snack or meal. It can be an occasional event, not another nightly obligation.
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Create a seasonal keepsake
Draw, write, or make something together that captures the year. Use paper and materials you already have if you like.
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Learn about a holiday’s history or ritual
Explore the meaning of a holiday your family celebrates through an age-appropriate source and the knowledge of people in your own community.
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Make space for remembrance
Share a story or recipe connected to a loved one who is absent or has died. Offer the opportunity without requiring anyone to participate; people experience grief differently.
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Share a moment of appreciation
Invite each person to name something they value about another family member or the time spent together. Keep it voluntary, especially for young or shy children.
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Let children help choose or refresh a tradition
Ask what they enjoyed and what they would change. Keep the parts that work and adapt the rest as your family’s interests and needs shift.
How to choose a tradition your family will want to repeat
Before adding an activity to the calendar, consider what it asks of the people taking part:
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- Cost: Can you use what is already at home, or is spending money part of the plan?
- Setting and access: Is there an indoor or low-mobility alternative if needed?
- Ages and roles: Can everyone take part in a way suited to their age and abilities?
- Meaning: Does the activity reflect your household’s culture, faith, values, or family history?
- Enjoyment: Do the people involved look forward to it, or does it feel like pressure?
Children can help choose and take part, with responsibilities suited to their age. PBS KIDS recommends keeping a new tradition simple and involving children; it can begin at any time, not only at a particular point in the holiday season. PBS KIDS for Parents: Making Family Traditions.
What research says—and what it does not
Research summaries have associated family rituals with family and child outcomes, but that does not establish that any one activity will cause a particular result for every household. The American Psychological Association’s December 2002 summary discusses a review of research spanning 50 years; it is an archived summary, not a current systematic review. American Psychological Association.
A 2016 paper by Ovul Sezer, Michael I. Norton, Francesca Gino, and Kathleen D. Vohs reports three studies on rituals and holiday enjoyment, with 1,098 participants across the combined studies. That sample is not a population estimate and does not show that every family benefits equally. “Family Rituals Improve the Holidays”.
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