New Year Traditions

Happy New Year from our hearts to yours!  So, you survived the holidays and now what...?  We recommend one way of starting 2012 is create family traditions.  Traditions are fun and a way to get your entire family involved in memory making.  It can be culturally themed or something that goes back to your ancestors on how they celebrate the new year. 

Below are some ideas from various mommies in Wondertime Magazine and how they keep the "tradition" spirit alive even throughout the entire year.  And if you need even more suggestions, check out these 11 fun-filled tradition making activities from FamilyFun Magazine.

We go online to watch (and celebrate!) the new year's arrival around the world.

— April Deener, Kentucky

 

On New Year's Day we write our wishes for the coming year on brightly colored tags and tie them to a tree in our yard. It's beautiful to look out my window and see the paper wishes blowing in the wind.

— Miranda Peacock, Texas

During the week between Christmas and New Year's, we clean out our closets and send some clothes to the foster mom in Guatemala who cared for our daughter until we adopted her.

— Jennifer Crissman Ishler, Pennsylvania

 

I give each of my eight children their own seed packet, and on them they write what they hope to accomplish in the upcoming year. They plant their seeds on New Year's Day, and when they water them, they look at the packets as a reminder of their goals.

— Cheryl L. Butler, Rhode Island

During the year I throw party invitations, 4-H ribbons, newspaper articles, back to school letters, locks of hair, etc., into a box. On New Year's Eve we spend an hour or so looking through the items from the year, then store them in the attic.

— Mynde Goble, Indiana

On January 1 out come the hammers and the mugs of milk — time for the demolishing (and devouring) of the gingerbread house.

— Becca Riding, North Carolina