Carrying on from our first post in our Family Traditions and Rituals blog series, we’re moving onto all the fun opportunities to create family traditions in June! With the weather heating up, summer is well and truly in full swing when June rolls around, leaving plenty of opportunity for memorable outdoor activities and outings! These ideas for June are all about infusing some fun back into daily life, especially as we’re halfway through the year and may need a little boost to get through the second half of the year.
Father’s Day Traditions
Father’s Day falls on the 3rd Sunday in June, and is a day dedicated to making dads feel special and appreciated for all they do for our families. What’s even more special than gifts or a fancy lunch out, is creating your own special family traditions for Father’s Day celebrations.
- Crafts:
Getting the kids involved in making cards, gifts and other crafts for dad is a great start in creating your own family Father’s Day ritual or tradition. For example, your family tradition could be getting the kids to do a drawing or painting every year for dad that he can put into a special folder as a keepsake. This would be fun to look back on each year as your kids get older and see how their drawings evolve over the years.
Another fun Father’s Day tradition could be compiling a memory book for dad with handprints from your kids and some fun memories from the past year. When he looks back on it in a few years he’ll be able to fondly remember the fun times he’s shared with the kids and see how much they’ve grown – bring out the tissues!
Along those same lines, your kids could make a scrapbooking page for dad each year filled with their favorite memories, pictures and other mementos from the last year. Over the years you can compile this into a very special scrapbook he’ll be able to treasure forever.
We have a super cute printable Father’s Day booklet and coloring-in page to get your crafty Father’s Day traditions started. Check them out here.
- Family Hike or Biking:
In Germany, the men get together and do all-male activities such as biking, hiking and beer drinking while the women stay home and entertain the kids. While this is not a family-centric Father’s Day tradition, you can take a leaf out of their book and plan a yearly Father’s Day activity not only dad will love, but that the whole family can enjoy together. Whether dad loves hiking, trail walks, biking or a day playing frisbee on the beach, pick an activity he loves and make it a family tradition!
- Breakfast in Bed
He gets up early to help get the kids ready for school, make lunches and run carpool, so on Father’s Day, give dad the gift of a Sunday sleep-in! Once he’s stirred, bring him a cup of coffee (or tea!) in bed and a breakfast made by you and the kids, which could be any of his favorite breakfast foods.
Another great idea we saw was having your kids save up money they get from chores and treating dad to breakfast out at a café.
- Father’s Day Book Club
We love to teach our kids the importance of reading and developing an imagination, so why not turn it into a family tradition! Buy your husband a book to read to the kids on Father’s Day each year, especially if he’s a bookworm who enjoys reading to the kids. This is a very special opportunity for bonding with the kids, so cuddle up on the sofa and dive into a good book together. We guarantee this is a Father’s Day tradition your kids will bring up fondly when they’re all grown up
- Picture Day
Dad’s are suckers for sentimental gifts. Instead of a tie or soap-on-a-rope, give dad a photo album full of visual memories. Get your kids to pose each year holding a “Happy Father’s Day” sign and add it to your photo album each year.
International Picnic Day
In 2021, International Picnic Day falls on Friday June 18. It’s a day that encourages people to head outdoors and enjoy some fresh air. Now while this falls on a work day for most of us, there are still a few ways you could celebrate International Picnic Day as a family.
If you get off work early on a Friday, you can arrange a late afternoon/early evening picnic in your garden or at your local park. Pack a picnic basket and a blanket, and head on out for a picnic under the stars. We have these super cute picnic printables to bring the picnics of your Pinterest board dreams to life!
If a picnic is not on the cards, pack your kids a picnic-style lunch to school with a little note about International Picnic Day.
End-of-School Awards Evening
June marks the start of summer break for most of our kiddos, making it a great time to host your own End-of-School Awards Evening at home! This is a fun family tradition to start to make sure all your kids feel acknowledged for the big and small achievements they’ve obtained in the school year.
You can make super silly and quirky awards as well and print out certificates for the categories. You can buy medals from the dollar store or use chocolates/candy as trophies. Invite aunts, uncles and grandparents to join in the fun so all the kids in the family can be included and create an order-of-events for the evening, complete with a printed out programme. Open the awards ceremony with a funny speech, sing a song together and hand out awards. End the evening off with some tasty snacks and this yearly tradition will become one of the most anticipated family gatherings of the year!
Full Moon Ice-Cream
With warm evenings beckoning us outdoors, make use of the warmer weather and head outside for ice creams at the next full moon. This is a family tradition Lou and her boys look forward to, and she’s totally fine with you stealing the idea to create your own summer holiday traditions.
You could even really go all out and make homemade ice cream for the occasion! Lou has a super easy recipe for homemade chocolate ice cream which her boys absolutely love…check it out here.
Full moon ice cream night is also a great opportunity to teach your kids a little bit about the phases of the moon. We have these handy printable phases of the moon worksheets to help you explain the phases of the moon to your little ones in a fun and interactive way.
Holiday Bucket List
With a long summer break ahead, take some time to sit together as a family to create a family bucket list of things you’d like to do together in the holidays. Type it up, print it out and stick it up where you’ll all see it. As you complete a bucket list activity, mark it off on your list. Some ideas could be:
- Build a treehouse
- Visit a waterpark
- See a movie together
- Plant a veggie garden
Camera Day
The sunrise and sunset in summer are simply magical, so make use of those golden hours by scheduling a yearly summer family photoshoot. This tradition will help you capture some beautiful moments of you and your kids. How many of us have tried to recreate family photos from our childhoods as adults? Even if some of them make us cringe (we’re looking at you 80’s and 90’s), it goes to show what a treasure professional family photos are!
So many of our photos are taken on our smartphones these days, it’s nice to capture a few special images on a high quality camera and print out physical copies to keep or frame.
D-Day
D-Day is celebrated in remembrance of the American soldiers who assisted in the emancipation of Europe during WWII in 1944. Many of them lost their lives fighting for the end of WWII, which is why honoring them on the anniversary of D-Day is so important. There are a number of things you can do as a D-Day tradition, particularly if you’ve got a relative who fought in WWI.
- Visit memorials
- Watch a classic reenactment film or series together
- Attend the D-Day Commemoration service at the WWI Memorial
- Hoist the American flag with your kids as a sign of patriotism
- Eat like a soldier – to honor their bravery and sacrifice, share a meal as a family that a soldier would have eaten in 1944. It really puts things into perspective and makes one very grateful for the sacrifices the troops made then and continue to make today! Bread and cheese were staples so here’s some inspiration for your D-Day meal:
- Fairy Toast: Slice leftover bread into thin slices, bake in the oven until golden brown and serve with some cheese slices. This would have been a nutritious and filling meal for soldiers in 1944.
- Wheatmealies: Cut half a loaf of bread into bit-size squares and bake in the oven until crisp. Pour over some milk and a sprinkle of sugar.
- Poor Knights Fritters: Make jam sandwiches and then fry in a little butter until they’re golden on both sides. Finish off with a sprinkle of sugar. This was a much-loved sweet snack in 1944 when treats were in short supply so soldiers improvised!
Traditions to Start With Grandparents in June
- Nature walks with a spot of bird and butterfly-watching. Be sure to pack the binoculars!
- Paint portraits of each other, extra points for making them silly-looking.
- Visit a museum or park together
- Collect seashells together at the beach
- Take a dip in the pool with the kids
- Teach the kids how to fly a kite
Some Other Fun Days To Inspire New Family Traditions In June
1 June – Dare Day: come together as a family and take turns to set dares for one another. This is a fun one to include elders in on… imagine daring grandpa to paint on shaving cream eyebrows.
2 June – Rocky Road Day: it’s as delicious as it sounds! Enjoy rocky road brownies, ice cream or any other dessert as an after-dinner treat!
3 June – World Bicycle Day: go on a family bike ride
4 June – Doughnut Day
5 June – World Environment Day: plant a tree, shrub or flower together in your garden or local park
7 June – Chocolate Ice Cream Day: scroll on back up for Lou’s homemade chocolate ice cream recipe!
8 June – World Ocean Day: visit the beach, take a dip in the ocean and pick up any plastic or litter lying around
10 June – Ice Tea Day: take a break and sip on a refreshing ice cold ice tea, ahh yes.
12 June – Family Fitness and Health Day: do a family fun run or fitness challenge
14 June – Family History Day: delve into your family tree, look through old family photos and allow your kids to learn more about their heritage
17 June – World Tapas Day: ditch the lasagna for dinner and serve tapas for dinner instead for a fun family feast!
19 June – World Juggling Day: have a juggling competition
21 June – World Handshakes Day: create a secret family handshake
26 June – Harry Potter Day: put on your best Hogwarts inspired outfit and have a family quidditch tournament
There are some super opportunities to create new family traditions in the month of June. Which ones resonated with you? Whether you’re into Full Moon ice-creams or you’re inspired to create a memorable Father’s Day tradition, we would love to hear about how you’re adapting these ideas to your own families or what existing traditions you have already in June. Let us know in the comments or on our social media pages.
Want to plan ahead for July? Check out our favorite July traditions here!
