How Seasonal Traditions Promote a Healthy, Happy Adulthood

In schools, life naturally follows the seasons. There’s fall homecoming week, winter choir concerts, class holiday parties, spring break trips… The calendar gives us rhythm, community, and plenty of excuses to gather.

Then students graduate. They step into full-time schedules, maybe move away from family, and suddenly, time starts to blur. Holidays become a “day off” instead of an opportunity for connection.

I’ve watched that shift not just in my graduating seniors, but also in the other adults around me. Once you enter the world of full-time work, paying bills, and keeping up with chores and errands, the days can start to blend together. Without the built-in traditions of school, adulthood can quietly lose its rhythm and with it, some of the joy and connections.

That loss isn’t trivial. A growing body of research shows that social connection is essential to physical and mental health. Disconnection, by contrast, increases risks for anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and even premature mortality.

Large meta-analyses have found that people with stronger social relationships have a ~50% higher chance of long-term survival, while loneliness carries risks on par with major health factors like smoking and obesity.

And, unfortunately, Americans are spending less time with friends than ever before. One long-running time-use analysis found that the average minutes spent socializing with friends was about 60 minutes a day in 2003 and has now dropped to just 20 minutes.

It’s no surprise, then, that national reports keep flagging loneliness as a public-health concern. About one in three U.S. adults reports feeling lonely, according to the CDC, and the U.S. Surgeon General has called social disconnection a serious risk to well-being.

Bottom line: seasonal traditions aren’t just “fun extras.” They’re a protective factor. Marking the seasons with shared rituals helps to create belonging, structure, and meaning. 

The Exposure Gap

Many students only know the seasonal traditions they’ve experienced firsthand through family or friends. If those traditions faded, never existed, or carried stress, students may not have a framework for celebrations or connections.

While neighborhood caroling or Fourth of July parades may not appear in the core curriculum, research makes it clear: community participation and celebration matter. As educators, our job is to expose students to new ideas and opportunities. Sometimes that means teaching the causes of the Civil War or the Pythagorean theorem, but it can also mean opening their eyes to new ways of engaging with their community.

After all, adulthood shouldn’t mean that we only use our calendars to track things like dentist appointments!

There are different ways you can help students explore community-building activities like holidays, seasonal traditions, and community events:

1. Structured lessons

These anchor the skills and context students need for adult life (perfect for IEP transition goals related to independent living, social skills, and community participation). This might look like a mini-lesson on community engagement, a class discussion about how to find local volunteer opportunities, or a social-skills activity on joining new groups. These lessons give students the “why” and “how” behind staying connected as adults.

2. Low-prep seasonal moments

The changing seasons and holidays naturally open the door for quick, meaningful activities. A short puzzle, reflection prompt, or classroom conversation about upcoming community events can spark new awareness and habits. For instance, ask students what fall traditions they enjoy now and which ones they might want to continue or start as adults.

Both approaches matter. The structured lessons build the foundation; the seasonal moments add a variety of different ideas and opportunities.

Spotlight: Three Ready-to-Use Seasonal Activities

You can teach seasonal traditions through structured lessons or low-prep adulting activities, and these three make it easy to start right away:

• Adulting in Autumn: Finding Your Fall Traditions (Halloween Season)
  A student-friendly way to explore fall traditions. Begin with slides that introduce 20 ways to celebrate autumn or the Halloween season as an adult, such as carving pumpkins, visiting haunted houses, handing out candy, trying a local escape room, or joining a fun run. Discuss which activities might grow into their own fall traditions with an optional notetaking sheet and mini-research challenge. Then reinforce new vocabulary and ideas with the accompanying word search and crossword puzzle for independent practice.

• Military Holidays & Honoring Service (Veterans Day and Memorial Day) – Coming Soon
  This activity explores the meaning behind military holidays and helps students understand how to observe these traditions respectfully. An added bonus is that the discussion also builds familiarity with the different branches of the armed services, providing helpful background for students considering the military as a potential postsecondary path. After the discussion, reinforce key vocabulary with the word search, crossword puzzle, or definition sheet.

• Thanksgiving Adulting: Traditions, Gratitude & Community – Coming Soon
  A different take on Thanksgiving puzzles. Instead of the usual “cornucopia” or “pilgrim” terms, this presentation and puzzle set focuses on what students need to know about Thanksgiving as adults, offering a broader social and practical view. From hosting a meal to managing travel and holiday shopping, the activity sparks real-world discussions about gratitude, family gatherings, and modern traditions such as Black Friday or Giving Tuesday.

Together, these activities form part of a growing year-long seasonal series designed to help students stay active, build connections, and engage with the rhythms and traditions of adult life throughout the year.

DIY Holiday & Seasonal Ideas You Can Use Tomorrow

• Community Scavenger Hunt (10–15 minutes)
  Have students search online for upcoming community events such as a library craft night, a turkey trot, free museum Friday, etc. Post their finds on a class bulletin board or digital space and give a quick shoutout for the most creative discovery.

• “What’s Happening This Month?” Wall
  Keep a running list or small bulletin board of local seasonal events. Encourage students to add flyers or screenshots of things they find, like concerts, volunteer opportunities, or community festivals.

• Guest Voices
  Invite someone from your community for a short “how to get involved” chat. This could be a Parks and Rec staff member, a veterans group representative, or someone from a local club or hobby group. Ten minutes is plenty.

• Tradition Blueprint (Exit Ticket)
  Ask students to jot down one tradition or activity they would like to try this season and two steps to make it happen. Collect them to revisit later in the year or display them on a seasonal “Adulting Goals” board.

• Service Touchpoint
  Highlight one simple way to give back, such as a coat drive, food pantry wishlist, or afterschool program, and ask, “How could you fit service into your week (or month)?” Have students think-pair-share with a neighbor.

• Good Things Warm-Up
  Start class by inviting students to share a “good thing” from their week. Over time, their stories, such as making tamales with their abuela or going to a movie in the park, will naturally surface community events and family traditions worth celebrating.

A Practical Next Step

“Adulting” isn’t just jobs, bills, and budgets. It’s the rhythm of the seasons, the shared rituals, and the small traditions that make a full life.

If we help students see (and try) those seasonal traditions now, they’re more likely to carry them forward when the school calendar is gone. That means a stronger sense of community, healthier social connections, and a little more joy in everyday adult life.

If you want to start small, try Adulting in Autumn this week. It’s perfect for the days around Halloween and an easy way to start conversations about fun, real-world fall traditions. Then follow with Military Holidays in November, or explore the rest of the seasonal collection to keep the momentum going through the year.

Looking for more ways to build real-world transition skills? Check out How to Write Student-Driven Transition Plans or grab a few low-prep adulting activity ideas to help students explore life beyond high school.

At the end of the day, teaching life skills isn’t just about independence. It’s about connection. And sometimes, the best lessons in connection start with something as simple as carving a pumpkin, sharing a meal, or showing up for a community event.