Why are family traditions needed, and how to introduce your child to them?

In this article we will tell you:

Why are family traditions needed?
TOP 8 best family traditions
Introducing a child to family traditions
Rules for implementing and following family traditions

Every second person finds it difficult to answer why family traditions are needed. If you asked this question, it means you dream of warm weather at home and love spending time with your children and your significant other. Going to the cinema with the whole family, Sunday lunches at grandma's, buying a Christmas tree - all this is stored in the memory and heart for many years and has a beneficial effect on a person's worldview.

We will talk about what traditions exist, how to introduce children to them, and how to inculcate healthy family habits in our article today.

Why are family traditions needed?

Family belongs to the category of such concepts, the meaning of which is difficult to agree on. Of course, the Family Code will give this word a nomenclature definition. But for each person, family is something different, personal. For one, it is a gift from above, a match made in heaven. Another sees marriage as the ideal form for procreation and raising children. And some perceive it as an economic unit of society with a joint budget and a country house. All unions are different, and this dissimilarity in lifestyle and lifestyle is caused not least by the presence of unique family customs.

The natural question is: why are family traditions and customs needed at all? They have developed historically in human communities as a universal tool for transferring knowledge from experienced elders to the younger generation. This is how all kinds of initiation rites arose, when boys and girls, undergoing initiation, became full members of the community. Fathers passed on to their sons the secrets of hunting and cultivating the land, mothers taught their daughters the wisdom of home economics.

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In the modern world, the practical need for such methods of transferring experience and skills has disappeared. We do not inherit the profession of our parents. And any recipe or agricultural technique can be found on the global network.

Today's family traditions are designed to bring family members closer together. For example, a modern teenager can understand the realities of the world around him better than the older generation. But no Internet will tell him the story of his family better than his grandmother, who, having seated her grandson next to her, will open an old album with photographs and tell a fascinating family legend in person. Spending time together on hikes, country trips, and on joint holidays is not necessary for the sake of having fun. Of course, it should bring pleasure, but fun is not the main thing - every family member can find a satisfying hobby. The essence of traditions is informal communication, when relatives cease to be guided by family roles.

In a close-knit family, the responsibilities of all members are well defined: parents earn money, run the household; The children try to study diligently and help around the house. Everything works like a well-coordinated mechanism, but in this automaticity of actions there is a catch. Rigid family roles and the lack of live communication and bright expression cause emotional burnout.

Therefore, it is extremely necessary to be able to reboot relationships within the family. It doesn't matter what activity it is. When everyone plays football together on the lawn, grills kebabs or sets up a tent, a single team is formed. At traditional family holidays, everyone becomes a little bit of a child. Through relaxed and friendly communication, barriers between parents and children are erased. This helps to establish an atmosphere of trust.

Research conducted by psychologists in several countries has confirmed one pattern. Children raised in cultures with strong family traditions show higher socialization skills. Such a child is less likely to experience anxiety from an unfamiliar environment and is better at making contact. He “stands firmer on his feet,” feeling a strong connection with the history and traditions of his ancestors.

Other family values and traditions

Family traditions (examples for children that are original and rare can be searched on the Internet) can and should be created by ourselves within the family. It would be great if there were rituals that only the child and his parent would know about. Children love everything mysterious and magical, so this will be a real adventure for them.

"Family photo album"

Creating your own family photo archive together with your child will not only be interesting, but also useful. To do this, you can buy a large format album where photos will be placed in chronological order.

If the child is too young to do gluing, he can be entrusted with decorating the pages. Each photo can be interestingly signed and the time and place of the photo taken can be indicated. Over time, the album will be replenished, and looking at it in the evening by the fireplace will become its own separate tradition.

It is also possible to create such an album in virtual space using various programs. This is suitable for those children who love and understand computers.

"Little Holidays"

Organizing small parties for children on various occasions will be interesting for both parents and children. You can start a tradition after a certain success of a child to celebrate this event. This could be a good grade at school, or a won sports event or Olympics.

The holiday may contain special attributes: decoration of the children's room, congratulations and a delicious cake or pie. But a small holiday will also be a visit to a cozy cafe with a cup of warm tea and homemade cookies.

However, there is no need to turn every positive step of a child into a source of pride and admiration, because once he loses, he may experience disappointment or even despair.

"Together Outside the Home"

Going out with your child to some cultural or sports institution will have a positive effect on his development and broadening his horizons. You need to choose one day of the week and devote it to this ritual.

You can visit the following places:

children's theaters;
circus;
playrooms and spaces;
museums;
classical music concerts;
art exhibitions;
children's cinemas;
sports playgrounds;
children's quests;
zoo.

Entertainment needs to be changed, giving the child the opportunity to choose. There is no need to limit yourself to just one area; the child’s brain is capable of perceiving and processing a lot of diverse information.

"Preparing for the Holidays"

A good family tradition is to wait and prepare for the holidays together. You can schedule the activities necessary for preparation by day.

For example:

Creating a holiday menu. The child can offer a recipe for a dish or drink.
Purchasing groceries at the supermarket. It will be great to go shopping together so that your child helps choose products.
Cleaning of the apartment. Some small tasks can be completed by the child independently. For example, tidy up your room and wipe off the dust.
Home decoration. The most interesting part for children is the real creative time. They can draw pictures, patterns, sculpt figures and cut out garlands. The child can be entirely responsible for this item, relying on his fantasy and imagination.
Preparing holiday dishes. Involving your child in cooking together is very useful. This is especially true for girls. Of course, at first you shouldn’t expect the dishes to be neat and refined. Here, spending time together and having an interesting leisure option are more important.
Making and wrapping gifts. Making handicrafts with your child and giving them to your family later is one of the best ideas. If you still prefer purchased gifts, you can show creativity by packaging them. The child will be able to easily cope with this task.
Preparing holiday outfits . If New Year or a child's birthday is expected, it will be great to decorate the child's dress or suit with various ribbons, tinsel, rhinestones or feathers. Children love everything bright and shiny. And having a hand in creating a fashionable look is every girl’s dream.

There are many more different examples of how spending time together can be turned into a good family tradition. It is very important for children to feel part of the whole, so rituals with parents will have a positive effect on their growth and development.

Article design: Vladimir the Great

TOP 8 best family traditions

In families where there are no traditions, relatives do not live together, but rather occupy the same living space. Leaving their parents' nest, children are in no hurry to visit home - there is little that connects them with their elders, except gratitude for their care. There are no common hobbies, there are no family holidays on which it is customary to gather in a narrow circle. In fact, they have nothing to remember from childhood, except for routine and gray days - there is little that emotionally connects them with their father’s house. To avoid such a degree of alienation between relatives, family traditions should be instilled while children are still small.

One of the most effective ways to strengthen unity between generations is to appeal to family memory. More and more people are interested in genealogical research. Drawing up a family tree clearly demonstrates a person’s pedigree and his connection with his ancestors. The presence of old family albums also has a beneficial effect on the formation of connections. A child, looking at artifacts of a bygone era, yellowed by time, can revive distant ancestors in his imagination.

Family heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation, are another successful example of tradition. Valuables, paintings, and rare books cannot necessarily act as memorabilia. These may be household items that have already lost their practical significance. For example, the plane of my great-grandfather, who worked as a carpenter, or my grandmother’s set of thimbles.

As sad as it is to admit, many traditions have lost their relevance. Commitment to professional dynasties is becoming a thing of the past. But there is a category of customs over which time has no power. Family holidays continue to delight household members as many years ago.

Why do we need family traditions and knowledge about them? You will not be able to fully determine how your family differs from others if you are not able to talk about its customs. From the great variety of traditions, we will highlight the main ones:

Holiday festivities
These dates in the calendar family year are marked in red - New Year, name days, all kinds of anniversaries. Guests, friends, feast and congratulatory toasts. The established ritual of these celebrations is familiar, but cannot get boring.
Unplanned reasons for meetings
Marriages, christenings, global shopping. These celebrations are not annual, which is why there is a special attitude towards such events. A joyful occasion is a great opportunity for distant relatives to come. Unfortunately, life also presents tragic reasons for all close people to gather and share the severity of the moment.

How to create daily traditions for preschool and elementary school children

Family traditions (parents should set examples for children) need to begin to be instilled in childhood, so that the child perceives them as part of life. Each family can come up with and create its own individual ritual, understandable and dear only to its members. You can also choose from a large number of already established family traditions that are passed down from generation to generation in many Russian families.

"Secret Handshake"

There are situations when a child is anxious, worried and does not feel confident enough. This could be before any public performance, during the period of adaptation to kindergarten, or when meeting something new for the first time. The situation gets worse when you need to take a bold step yourself by letting go of your mother.

Psychologists advise getting out of the situation in a playful way: creating your own tradition of a secret handshake. When saying goodbye to your child, you need to devote time to this gesture, which will instill confidence in the child and give him strength to overcome his task. You can simply stand silently, holding hands, or come up with your own small movements with your hands or fingers, claps, fist bumps.

"Let's eat together"

Many parents suffer from the problem of not being able to feed their children. The child refuses the offered dish, asks for sweets, eats very little and selectively. You can instill a culture of nutrition by creating a family tradition - sitting down at the table and eating with the whole family.

Forcing or force-feeding is not a solution. It is necessary to show by example how important it is to eat on time and correctly. All family members at one table full of balanced and nutritious dishes should arouse the child's food interest.

The tradition can be supplemented with pleasant attributes: lighting candles before dinner, cooking cocoa together before breakfast.

"Family Hug"

Tactile sensations play a huge role in the life and development of a child. The touches of loved ones have a calming effect. Starting a tradition of family hugs is a great idea. You can discuss the ritual itself.

For example, no matter what happens, cuddle before bed. Then all quarrels and misunderstandings will fade into the background, and there will be no opportunity to continue cold communication.

A family hug can also be a good ritual before parting or when meeting.

"Bedtime Story"

One of the most beloved traditions for children is listening to a bedtime story. The night light comes on, mom or dad sits down next to you, and an interesting magical story begins. This ritual has been known since ancient times, when parents sang lullabies to their children while holding them in their arms.

The soothing voice of the mother calms the child and sets him up for rest and peace. By introducing this tradition, you don’t have to worry about your child not wanting to go to bed.

"An evening walk"

Modern children are influenced by television programs and are highly dependent on gadgets and all kinds of devices. This negatively affects the vision and general psycho-emotional state of the child. There is absolutely no time left for live communication and simple games.

The way out of this situation is not easy, because the habit of spending time in front of the screen is difficult to eradicate. It is necessary to interest the child. This can be done by regular daily evening walks with the whole family.

Fresh air and spending time together can be varied:

going to the park;
a walk to the nearest lake or river;
cycling;
downhill or ice skating in winter.

"Cooperative Games"

Play is an important part of any child’s life. Through it, he plays out different life situations: learns to be part of the whole and confront one on one, learns the joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat, creates and resolves conflicts.

It would be great if every parent made it a habit to play with their own child for at least some time every day. This joint activity will strengthen the bond between the older and younger generations.

Games can be completely different: board games, team games, logic games. It is important to choose exactly what interests the child. In the summer, you can organize an outdoor game. In winter - in a cozy and warm house. The main rule is not to ignore children's requests to play with them.

"Household duties"

Family traditions (examples for children: wet cleaning, washing dishes) can also be educational in nature. Introducing household chores divided among family members is a good way to teach your child responsibility and work. It is important to show by example how important cleanliness in the house is.

You can start small: instruct your child to wipe the dust and collect his toys. A good way is to do Sunday cleaning together. At the same time, as the child grows up, you can entrust him with more and more important tasks. However, it should be remembered that it is strictly prohibited to allow children of any age to participate in dangerous activities, such as washing windows or ceilings.

Introducing a child to family traditions

The rhythm of life in a modern metropolis sets a high bar for the performance of adults. They must be on time everywhere and stay up to date with current news. At the same time, you look good and leave the impression of positive and cheerful people. It is difficult for a child to adapt to this pace of existence. He doesn’t understand why his parents are enthusiastically scrolling through social media feeds instead of taking him for a walk on the street. Parents sometimes also need to take a break from the daily hustle and bustle and think about global things. A memorable date on the calendar can redirect their attention. Thus, family traditions bring a calming element to the frantic rhythm of the city. Customs make it possible to weigh on the scales of eternity what is important in the life of each person and what is momentary and transitory.

People no longer live in the realities of a traditional family, when three generations were gathered under one roof. Grandparents are now rarely able to see their relatives. Traditions make these meetings more regular.

Early in the morning, all family members rush about their business. During the day, at best, it is only possible to have a short phone call to clarify current issues. In fact, only a family dinner can become a time when the whole family gets together and can just chat. At the table, parents ask their children about how their day went, what new things they learned at school, and who they made friends with. At this moment, the most important thing for children is that mom and dad are nearby, and they are all together. This is why children are so sensitive to the fact that one of the spouses regularly stays late at work and misses psychotherapy sessions at the table.

Every person can become the founder of family traditions. There is no need to be afraid of experiments in this area. Try a new form, and then one of the family rituals will become a tradition that your descendants will proudly carry through time.

It is better to think about family customs while the children are still small. You will have more time to perfect the tradition. And it will be easier for children to join innovations regarding lifestyle changes.

Why are family traditions needed? According to the observations of psychologists, most children in orphanages have problems creating a family. They don't have their own life experience. Not knowing their own parents, they do not have before their eyes an example of the behavior of adult family people. No matter how good an educational institution is, it will not replace a child’s home. Therefore, the modern policy of guardianship authorities is aimed at ensuring that children deprived of parental care are raised in foster or adoptive families.

Kids organically absorb everything that happens around them from early childhood. The manner in which his parents communicate will subsequently become an imperative of behavior for him; the fairy-tale characters from the books that his father and mother read to him will turn into life partners for the coming years. Mom's food will become the standard of culinary art.

Weekly Traditions

Pleasant traditions, organized on certain days of the week, will create a sense of anticipation in the child. Going to grandma's house on Saturday or having a holiday dinner on Sunday can serve as an incentive to behave well during the week.

You can remind them what exactly awaits the child on the weekend or another specific day. Older children keep track of the days themselves, crossing them off on the calendar, in anticipation of the cherished ritual.

"Sunday Breakfast"

Family weekends will delight any child. These days you can sleep longer, there is no reason to rush anywhere. And of course, a fragrant breakfast awaits in the kitchen, which will bring the whole family together at the table. A tradition for children can also be a certain favorite dish that mom cooks on Sundays. An example would be pancakes or apple pie.

The ideal option would be to combine several traditions: have breakfast at home and go for a family walk in the park. Such weekends will be a bonus for the child’s fruitful week.

"Shopping Trip"

All children love to go shopping. Especially if there are departments with toys and children's products. Therefore, you can create another pleasant ritual for your child by taking him with you to the supermarket.

When going grocery shopping, you need to warn your child that this is not just a walk, you need to buy everything on the list. This can develop responsibility and thriftiness in him. Modern supermarkets have special children's carts that the child himself can pull.

They look like regular ones for adults, only in a smaller form. This attribute will definitely arouse interest in the process. Patience can be rewarded by buying something nice from the children's department.

"Football Day"

For boys, playing football with dad on certain days will be a relevant and favorite tradition. If there are no weather conditions, you can sit in front of the TV and watch your favorite team play.

It will be great to take real fan attributes: whistles, scarves, hats with emblems. The main thing is to do everything related to this sport on this day. Getting tickets to a live match will be a real surprise.

This is a wonderful ritual for introducing a child to sports. It's also a great way for fathers and sons to spend quality time together.