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Looking for ideas for spending time with family? In today’s fast-moving world, life can get crazy busy. Organizing family time is often one of the things that fall by the wayside when it feels like everyone’s schedules are crammed chalk full.
We’re definitely guilty of not making family time a priority when so many other things need to get done.
Our family routine is a bit unusual. My Husband and I both work from home and homeschool our Son. Where that may seem like we spend a lot of time together, we are most often all going in different directions. Days and even weeks can go by without spending time having fun together.
Let’s face it, spending focused time together is what creates lasting memories. Family time talking, playing, and laughing is the time we will all remember fondly and wish we had more of!
In our efforts to make more time for family fun we’ve learned family time doesn’t have to be complicated. Finding a few simple ways to spend time together each week can help make the best memories and build a nurturing family culture.
Here are some of our favorite ways to make time for family time.
Spontaneous Fun Ideas
Even when life is super busy and we’ve planned the week down to the letter things happen outside our control. Plans fall through or events get canceled and then you left with time on your hands. We always look at changes in plans as opportunities; chances to do fun things spontaneously!
Here are 5 of our favorite ways to spend surprise time off.
- Nice day- Have a picnic! Pack a fun lunch or grab lunch to go at a family favorite spot and head out to the park (or even your own backyard) for an impromptu picnic.
- Yucky weather day- Build a sheet fort somewhere in the house, climb inside and tell stories Rory’s Story Cubes are fun) or read a book together.
- Go for a walk together; to grab an ice cream, a coffee, or enjoy a swing at the park.
- Create something; color, paint, or craft something together.
- Play with cards; a game, or build a house.
Ideas for Planned Time Together
You plan for so many things every week why not plan for quality family time too! Scheduling time for fun family activities is how family traditions are made. It gives everyone in the family something to look forward to. Making time also gives kids a consistent outlet to talk about things they have on their minds.
Here are some ideas for fun family activities you can plan for daily, weekly, or monthly.
Family Game Night
Some of my favorite memories growing up are of playing board games with my family. Hungry Hungry Hippos, Trouble Board Game, and Trivial Pursuit were family favorites throughout the years. Our family now loves playing board games together to!
Some of our favorite board games are Jenga, Forbidden Island, Hey, Where’s My Fish!, and Day of Wonders Ticket to Ride game.
We make our game nights (usually a Friday or Saturday night) even more fun by ordering pizza, making a bunch of yummy finger foods, or having a fondue. Games can be board games, card games, or video games. We try to mix it up. When we’re in the mood to try a new game we’ll visit one of the great board game cafes in our city. We’ll play a few different games and if we really like one we make a plan to buy it to have at home.
Cook Together
Cooking together is so much fun! All of us love to try new foods and create yummy dishes. You can pick a meal idea together or give each family member a chance to choose the meal each week. Our Son loves to search for new recipes to try! Then we’ll shop for ingredients together and everyone plays a part in the preparation. The food is always more exciting when we make something from scratch together.
Enjoy Some Music
My Husband an I have always loved music and hearty breakfast food- bring on the bacon!! When our Son was born we played lots of different kinds of music in the house and he absolutely loved it! Now we make a point of listening to music via Spotify Sunday mornings when we enjoy a special breakfast together.
Family Movie Night
We love watching movies together! Organizing movie night at home is fun and easy. Deck the family room with pillows and cozy blankets. Make sure to have fun movie snacks on hand, check out this post for some ideas for the ultimate family film night food!
We have an Android TV Box. It gives us access to great movies for free and we don’t have rent movies on demand or wait for them to be released on cable.
Blow Off Some Steam Together
Thirty minutes of anarchy! This idea came from one of our Sons friends birthday parties. Everyone at the party was given a NERF N-Strike Mini (parents and kids). Then the mayhem ensued and a no holds barred gunfight, every man woman and child for themselves broke out. We had so much fun at the party, we’ve made the game part of our weekly routine! Now we each grab a Nerf Gun (or if the weather is warm, a hose and Self Sealing Water Balloons) and fire at will for 30 minutes at a time. It’s a great game to play when someone’s had a frustrating day or someone has something they want to celebrate.
We usually play after work and finish it up with a “happy hour drink” for each of us ( a wine for me, beer for my hubby Rob, and lemonade for Mak our Son). We use this time to talk about anything we have on our minds.
The Bottom Line on Spending time with Family
Family time doesn’t have to be expensive, extravagant, or overly organized. The greatest benefit is connecting with each other, especially for the kids. Life gets so busy and kids grow up so fast. Making time for family time helps make the precious growing years more memorable for everyone. It also builds the foundation for healthy, consistent communication in the family.
If you found this post helpful, Pin it to refer to when planning your next family time adventure:)
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