End-of-Year Reflection:
A New Family Tradition!

As 2021 comes to a close, many of us set resolutions and goals for the coming year. This family activity is meant as a way to reflect on the 2021 year and get 2022 off to a great start. Your children will LOVE the opportunity to pause and consider idea of a new year, a fresh start, a celebration of life. Why not celebrate the new year with a new tradition around connecting with your family about the meaning of life?

If a family reflection seems too daunting, another idea is to do a New Year’s interview with your children (source: Teach Mama).

What’s the format of the New Year’s Family Interview? Simple.

Each page of the interview is only a half-sheet, which is less intimidating, and means that answers can be short and sweet.

For younger children, these might be some questions to get you started:

• What is your favorite color?
• What is your favorite food?
• Who is your best friend?

Once your children are a bit older, you could try something along these lines:

• What is your favorite thing to wear?
• What is one cool thing you learned last year?
• Who do you like to hang out with the most?

When everyone has completed his or her interview, take turns reading answers and sharing.

You could even record everyone reading! When you’re done, create a New Year’s Interview binder and read answers from past years. Sometimes, kids get a real kick out of seeing up-close how much their handwriting (or spelling) has improved.

It’s a great–easy!–tradition that can be started any time.

Accidentally skipped a year? It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that the kids are thinking, the kids are writing, the kids are reflecting, and the family’s doing something fun together.

For older children, you may want to reflect in the form of a conversation. Here are a few questions you might use to prompt discussion (source: Kiddie Matters):

1. What was an important lesson you learned from your family this year?
2. What did your family accomplish this year that you are most proud of?
3. What was the biggest disappointment for your family this year?
4. What do you wish you had done more of as a family this past year?
5. What are you most grateful for this past year?
6. Pick three words to describe this past year with your family.
7. What was your favorite family vacation?
8. What do you want your family to do differently next year?
9. What are some things your family did right that you want to continue in the New Year?
10. What obstacles did your family face this past year?
11. What is your favorite memory from this past year of spending time with your family?
12. What did your family do this year that they have never done before?
13. How was your family supportive this past year?
14. How can your family be more supportive in the New Year?
15. What does your family need to do more of in the New Year?
16. What does your family need to do less of in the New Year?
17. How did you treat family members this last year?
18. How can you improve your relationships with family members in the New Year?
19. What did you do this year with your family that you will remember for the rest of your life?
20. What did you love most about being in your family this past year?