6 Ideas for Family Night Activities
Need Some Ideas for Family Night Activities?
Feeling more connected to technology than your own family? Take back your relationships and reclaim your
family life by instituting Family Night.
Family Night Defined
The good news here is that that there is really no definition for what
family night need look like. It can be a
pick-up game of baseball in the yard, biking, game night, movie night, hiking,
volunteering or whatever your family likes to do.
Family Night is an evening designated by parents (usually) when
everyone in the immediate family clears their busy social calendars to spend
time with each other. You may wish to have Family Night every week, for
example, every Thursday night. Parents make it clear that all family members are
to attend.
Family Night through the Years
Start this habit when your kids are young, and it will become part of
the routine. You may need to be flexible
as the kids grow and get busy with sports and work, but it’s great to institute
family night even when the kids are teens.
It need not be weekly, just decide what will work best for your family.
One of the jobs parents have is to keep family interaction as
positive, illuminating, and fun for the kids as possible. Spending time
regularly with family members provides opportunities to re-connect and instills
the value of family in children. Regular Family Nights enable you to accomplish
these goals. The family that creates memories together and laughs together,
stays together!
What Can You Do For Family Night?
Whatever you’d like, of course!
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
1.
Cook dinner together. For example, your teenage
son can make the salad, your daughter sets up the table, Mom cooks the entrée,
and Dad has the side dishes under control.
2.
Watch a movie. Have dessert, popcorn, or other
snacks after dinner while relaxing and watching the movie.
·
Let the kids take turns picking the movie.
·
Or you might select a film you believe covers
educational or interesting topics to discuss with the kids after viewing.
·
Of course, you can also go out to a movie
theater to watch a film on Family Night.
3.
Go out to dinner. Let each member of the family
take turns selecting where you'll go to dine.
·
Make it fascinating, fun and educational
by introducing the kids to a cuisine of a different culture each week.
4.
Take part in a fun activity together, like walking,
biking, or playing baseball. Incorporating healthy physical activities into
your weekly Family Night is smart because kids learn to enjoy regular exercise
and focus on physical health as a family. Physical activity will also ramp up
endorphins in everyone’s brain, making for a happier AND healthier family. It’s a win-win.
5.
Occasionally, do a family project together. Family
Night might also be spent with the family working together to complete a project
around the house.
·
Painting the driveway, pulling weeds and
trimming plants outdoors, or even washing the car are examples of projects that
families can do together on Family Night.
·
When a family works together, children can learn
all kinds of important lessons about teamwork, perseverance, correcting errors,
and feeling pride about a job well done.
·
I think it goes without saying, but it's
best not to do a work project every week. Mewh!
6.
Vary your Family Night activities. Try something
different each week.
·
You could post a short list of things to do and
let the kids take turns picking the weekly activity.
Download Your Own Family Night Planner (It's FREE!)
Download Your Own Family Night Planner (It's FREE!)
Use our Family Night Planner
to generate your
own ideas!
Having regular Family Nights are important to the development of
a well-functioning, happy family. With these ideas and your own
adventurous spirit, you and your family can enjoy many wonderful experiences.
Discover the joys of scheduling regular Family Nights together.
Do you already have Family Night at your house? If so, what kind of exciting things do you
do? We’d love to hear about it!
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