Rituals as helpers in everyday life

Looking for Easter eggs, cooking the birthday child's favourite meal, looking at or reading a book in the evening - in many families, rituals are an integral part of everyday life. They literally accompany us from the cradle to the grave.

While rituals used to be associated primarily with churches, today they can be found in all areas of life. We always celebrate special occasions in the same way with family and friends, in the office we have fixed procedures for dismissing employees on retirement, at the World Cup children accompany the footballers onto the pitch and listen to the national anthems with them.

Children today spend significantly more time at school than they used to - they should feel supported and
and feel secure there.

At school, rituals have developed into a supporting foundation for children and young people. They are important companions throughout the school year and convey strength, joy and a sense of belonging. Rituals give children stability and security, because in rituals they encounter rules on the one hand and familiarity and familiarity on the other. This is what children value and why they particularly look forward to them.

Today, children spend significantly more time at school than in the past, even the whole day in day schools. School has thus become a world of life and experience. Children and young people should feel supported and secure in this social environment and be able to develop.

Door to the future

Rituals as islands of familiarity, warmth and happiness are important building blocks. By celebrating them over and over again in the same way, they bring structure to our lives and promote a sense of belonging when living together - ideally for a lifetime.

Rituals open the door to the future, precisely because many of them already existed in the past and are constantly evolving over time. And every school knows them: youth parties and end-of-school celebrations are just as much a part of them as welcome rituals for the first day of school.

To this end, every teacher cultivates rituals with their class - whether consciously labelled or unspoken. In contrast to large school celebrations, these often require neither an official announcement nor a stage.

The focus is on the people who are involved. In many kindergartens and primary schools, the morning circle is the place where the children arrive and get in the mood for the day. Or they sing together at the start of the school day. Some teachers use sounds to indicate that a change is imminent, for example from concentrated individual work to group discussion.

In hectic everyday life, recurring rituals are important as islands of calm.

But rituals can be of great value not only for the children or young people. In the past, a school building team consisted of the teachers and the caretaker couple who often lived in the school building - a rather small group. Today, various specialists from teaching and care, but also from areas such as speech therapy or special education, work hand in hand. It can also be helpful for them to find and maintain a common level with rituals.

Rituals before going to sleep

Rituals are wonderful helpers in everyday family life. In the evening, for example. The transition from day to night is a wonderful time for a ritual: reading or telling a story from a book before going to sleep creates togetherness between father and daughter once again, transports the child into a world of stories, calms the mind after a perhaps exciting day, leaves space for small conversations between mother and son alongside the story, dispels small sadnesses and worries, accompanies the child into the night.

Families always live in a hectic everyday life. This makes the recurring islands of rituals all the more important. It is worth looking for suitable rituals and fitting them into life with children.