FAMILY FUN IDEAS

It’s important to have family fun ideas ready for any extra time you have to enjoy each other. You can usually spare some time in between dinner, dishes, laundry, cleaning, homework, sports or musical practices, etc. to come together for even the smallest family activity.

I know that sometimes it is hard to come up with even the smallest time to organize an activity, but based on the time that you do have, there’s always something that can be done.

Even if you do one round of 20 questions, that’s an easy game that takes very little preparation and time! The directions for 20 questions and other easy games in the section below that says, “Click here for a bunch of other easy game ideas.”

Family fun ideas can be done weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. These ideas can also be tied to some type of reward such as school reports, completely nightly reading, chore completion, etc. You decide on the rules!

I have other posts with incentive ideas and reward systems if you decide to use family fun ideas as an incentive/reward. These are two posts on incentives and reward systems:

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Let’s face it, there’s a lot to do with schoolwork, dinner, dinner clean-up, laundry, etc. there’s not much time left, but you can be in charge of the activity (a short or longer one), etc.

Or you can narrow it down to 2 or 3 activities and have the child who had the best week (based on school success, an improvement in an academic or behavior issue, chores, amount of time reading, etc. etc.).

Again, it’s up to you!!!

PERSONALIZED KID’S APRON apron
by HappyHomeLife

(they also come in sizes for mom and dad also)
FAMILY FUN NIGHT T-SHIRTby HappyHomeLife

You can also have the kids come up with their own fun family ideas – keep some of their ideas and toss the other ones! I’ve additionally added even more ideas from my previous post – Family Fun Night.

Below are some examples of different types of activities. And yes, there is usually some learning/educational benefit in these activities, but kids don’t need to know that!

Cooking

I love cooking ideas because you not only have bonding time with the family, you can also get your dinner completed (or dessert)! If the kids get bored with making dinner, you can also throw in a great side dish or their favorite sweets!!! Of course, during the holiday, there are always holiday cookies, holiday bread as gifts for neighbors and friends, etc.

Gardening

If you live in an area where you can make a beautiful garden, then why not? It will be a lasting memory – even if it’s a few bulbs you place down in November, it’s so exciting to see them sprout in the spring. And if you’re really ambitious, you can grow a vegetable garden. You could start out with just tomatoes or peppers. Or be really daring and add squash, cucumbers, lettuce, etc.

Go to the Park

There are tons of activities you can do at the park, from all bringing a favorite book, frisbee, flying a kite, etc.

Play Show & Tell

Most kids have show & Tell at school, so why not do the same at home? Kids simply show something and tell about it. For example, they can show something of theirs that is special, a book, a picture of a special time or person, something they bought with their own money, etc. etc. And then they tell you all about it. You can put a time limit on it if you’d like.

Ride Bikes

Another easy and fun activity to do as a family is to simply go for a bike ride! It can be down the street or you can take your bikes to another destination, but it’s a great activity to do together.

Scavenger Hunts

You can make your own scavenger hunt or there are tons on the internet. These are 2 of my website favorites with tons of ideas:

Scavenger Hunts – all ages

Scavenger Hunts – mostly younger ages

CLICK HERE FOR A bunch of other easy game ideas

Below are ideas from my previous post, Family Fun Night:

Puzzles

With a puzzle like this, you can see who has the answer first or all complete it at the same time to see how many you get correct. Also, you can have your child read it one by one and you all guess together!

family fun ideas nursery rhyme game You can email me and I’ll send you the document so that you can rearrange, duplicate, delete, copy, add different tasks, etc. at mrs.dehm@gmail.com.

You can go above and beyond with the puzzle I provided and read these nursery rhymes and make up your own puzzles:

Other Puzzles

There are tons of different types of puzzles. These can be a ton of fun for you and your family. Even if you complete one page of a puzzle or take 30 minutes for a jigsaw puzzle, it’s fun for the family!

Games

There are many types of games – the game below is just an easy game to do at home or on the go!

ABCs of just about anything – (fruits and vegetables, names, cereal brands, types of ice cream, states, etc.). You can have your child do this independently but if you have more than one child, you can do it as a competition. This game helps with concentration, focus, memory, problem-solving, writing skills, etc.

Some Examples of ABCs of Just About Anything

Fruits and Vegetables
Apple
Banana
Carrot
Dates
Eggplant
etc.

Names
Ann
Barb
Carl
Don
etc.

Board Games

You probably have some of these board games, if not, check out my associate links below (you don’t pay an extra penny):

Cards

There are tons of card games with just a regular deck of cards. Or check out the links below:

Crafts

You may have craft items at home, such as tongue depressors, cardboard, pipe cleaners, etc. or you can purchase supplies and kits for specific crafts:

Activities

You can add to the creativity of the activity, make reading or math lessons out of them, etc.

You could talk about fractions while making a recipe, reading directions for the activities, read the words you use to create your collage, etc., etc.

Make brownies, cupcakes, desserts, etc.

A dance party.

An Inside Camp out (and a fireplace adds to the fun).

Movie Night at home.

Paint Rocking.

Tie-Dye t-shirts.

Make a magazine collage.

Make Slime.

Reading Night. Add a tent and some special glasses, flashlights, etc. for more fun.

And Check Out These Great Posts:

I hope that these family fun ideas have helped to get you started with your own family fun!

I’d love to hear from you so let me know if there’s something I can help you with. Please leave a comment or question below or email me at mrs.dehm@gmail.com.

Family Fun Ideas