Many families celebrate the holidays filled with rich traditions and rituals. These traditions and rituals help families bond together and give children a sense of belonging. The little rituals passed down from generation to generation help shape your family by creating a sense of unity, warmth and closeness. They create memories that fill your mind with peace, love, happiness, and security. With such busy lives, some find it difficult to find time to begin to incorporate family traditions throughout the year, but there are many small ways to bring traditions into our daily lives. Eating dinner together as a family, going for an evening walk, watching a movie, reading a bedtime story, or even cooking together can become part of a daily or weekly routine. These are some of the little things your children will remember as they grow older, and likely will pass on to their children. As the Super bowl approaches, so does another chance to begin and build family traditions. Simple, family activities can bring the family together as they watch the biggest football game of the year.
Plan the menu-Let your children help plan and prepare the menu for a Super Bowl party. A favorite dish prepared year after year can be part of the Super Bowl tradition.
Let the kids decorate. Get out some pens or crayons in team colors, paper, scissors, glue sticks, a stapler etc. Set up a T-shirt decorating table for children to design their own T-shirt. Let the children put on a fashion show as part of the half-time activities.
Indoor fun. Have a small football, yellow piece of cloth or some other small football-themed object on hand for a game of Find It! Have older children help the younger ones find objects hidden throughout the house. There can be special rewards depending on the items they find.
Table football. Make a paper football and create an annual table football tournament. Have a self-created Lombardi Trophy to pass down from year to year.
Kids love and thrive on traditions because they cultivate a sense of belonging and security. Making traditions a priority in family life is important as well as fun. By doing so, our kids will not only learn to appreciate and look forward to the time they spend with family members, but they will also develop a full understanding of the meaning behind the word “Family.”
More information about family traditions can be found at Ohio State University Extension Ohioline http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm00/fs12.html
Author: Kathy Green, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Butler County/Miami Valley ERRA, green.1405@osu.edu.
Reviewer: Linette Goard, Field Specialist, Food Safety, Selection and Management, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension
Sources:
Ohio State University Extension, Ohioline, http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm00/fs12.ht
Traditions: A Foundation for Strong Families http://marriageandfamilies.byu.edu/issues/1999/December/traditions.aspx
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