Are your kids glued to electronics? Have you failed to connect in a while? Looking for something new and fun to do as a family? Try one of these fun family activities!
1) Dig out the old scrapbooks and home videos and take a trip down memory lane with your family.
2) Research famous people that share birthdays with members of your family.
3) Spend a day together unplugged from electronics.
4) Attend a sporting event together. If your budget is tight, try a little league game or a community swim meet!
5) Work on memorizing Scripture as a family. Make it your goal to learn a new verse together each week!
6) If attending church isn’t a priority for your family, change that! If it already is, use the ride home to discuss what you learned.
7) Get to know your neighbors better! Bring cookies to someone new to the neighborhood or invite a family over to dinner.
8) Prepare some food from another culture and enjoy it as a family.
9) Take your kids thrift shopping! Give each child 5 dollars and see who can get the best deal for his/her money.
10) Start reading a chapter book out loud to your children. Make sure it is age-appropriate and enjoyable for the whole family!
11) Give each family member kitchen supplies and ingredients and hold a friendly cooking competition. For laughs later, film it!
12) Visit a memorial, statue, or some other place of historical significance. Teach your kids a bit about God’s hand in history.
13) Choose a way your family can serve and bless an elderly person or person with a disability. Maybe write them a card or bake them cookies!
14) Spend some time just catching up as a family. Give each member a chance to share. Cultivate good listening skills!
15) Light some candles, play some quiet music, and take time to rest.
16) Decide as a family on a charity you would like to support or a service project you want to do together.
17) Introduce your kids to the Family Time Materials activity pack and coloring sheets – it’s good, clean, character-building fun!
18) Turn on some music and sing and dance with your kids!
19) For a unique twist on “Secret Santa”, do “Secret Servant” as a family. Pick the name of someone in the family and serve them!
20) Hold a “talent show” for the whole family. Allow each child (and parent!) to showcase their ability and applaud them!
21) Give each of your kids a mini-massage. They will love the extra attention.
22) Encourage your kids to go through their rooms and pick out things to give away. Then, deliver them together to a homeless shelter.
23) During dinner tonight, bombard each family member with praise. Allow each person to share what they love about every other person.
24) Purchase some washable window markers and decorate a glass door or window in your house. You can also use dry-erase markers.
25) Have a family awards ceremony. Have everyone dress up, and present each person with personalized awards (silly or serious) written on paper plates.
26) Decorate a tissue box or shoebox, then write down favorite family memories on index cards and put them in to read later.
27) Teach your kids a new skill. Depending on their ages, this can range from tying a shoelace, juggling, or baking a cake.
28) Make a playlist of favorite family songs. Let each child pick a few to add!
29) Encourage your children to keep a thanks journal. Every day, have them write down a few things they are thankful for.
30) Walk down the street with your kids and meet a neighbor you didn’t know before.
31) Teach your kids how to cook a simple meal. Let them do as much work as they are able.
32) Start a family spare change jar. When it’s full, decide on a fun activity to do together with the money.
33) Take each of your children on a parent-child date.
34) Spend an afternoon doing arts and crafts. If you aren’t crafty, search online for simple projects young children can do.
35) Take your kids to visit a nursing home. Many of the residents there are society’s forgotten ones
36) Start the tradition of blessing your children: It’s life-changing. Click here to download our booklet.
37) As a family, rake an elderly neighbor’s or widow’s yard.
38) Create a memory scrapbook as a family. Include pictures, ticket stubs, and other significant items.
39) Learn some illusions or parlor tricks with a spouse or older child and perform them for your children.
40) Move family dinner outside tonight!
41) Call your local fire station, pizza joint, or grocer and see if they will lead your family on a tour of their establishment.
42) Make breakfast in bed for your child. If you have several children, serve each one on a different day.
43) Get a group together and go to an urban area early in the morning, passing out coffee and donuts to the homeless.
44) Make up the beginning of a story, and then let each family member add a few sentences. Continue the story as long as you want – and prepare yourself for many giggles!
45) Round up your family and assemble and send a care package to a college student.
46) Go to a Christian bookstore and let each family member pick out a new devotional book.
47) Hold a family worship time together. Give each person a part in the service – reading scripture, choosing songs, or praying.
48) Take your family out to eat on a night that a restaurant offers a “kids eat free” deal.
49) Hold family karaoke night! Give out “awards” – silliest performance, most dramatic, best costume, etc.
50) Go on a family hike. Praise God for the beauty you see.
51) Take an hour and build a fort in the living room using furniture and blankets with your kids.
52) Make family mealtime a priority. Use our family discussion-starters as a good way to foster healthy communication.
53) Go on a prayer walk with one of your children, and really spend time getting to know their struggles and celebrations.
54) Spend an evening playing board games as a family. Let each person choose their favorite game.
55) Give your spouse a massage without being asked.
56) Leave a sticky note for each of your children on their bathroom mirror, reminding them you love them.
57) If the weather permits it, take your family outside for a friendly water fight.
58) Invite your child to join you in one of your favorite hobbies, and then engage them in something they love to do.
59) Verbally affirm each of your children today about their talents and strengths.
60) Put a fun twist on the classic game of charades: let each family member take turns acting out favorite Bible stories.
61) Find a nearby farm that will let your family pick produce and take it home.
62) Have a family movie marathon night. Check out pluggedin.com for family movie reviews you can trust.
63) Build a campfire at a nearby state park or backyard fire pit, roast marshmallows, and sing worship songs.
64) Take your family on a drive to see the trees changing colors in autumn.
65) Go on a nature walk as a family. Collect fallen leaves, pebbles, and flower petals in storage bags, and when you get home, use the items to make collages.
66) Invite other families to your house for a fun night of ice cream sundaes and board games.
67) Hold a family “formal” night – cook a special meal, set out fancy place settings, have everyone dress up, and toast with grape juice or sparkling cider.
68) Using a camcorder or smartphone, make a short TV show, commercial, or music video together.
69) Set up a scavenger hunt for your family. Split into two teams, give a time limit of 1 hour, and canvass the neighborhood, trying to find the most items.
70) Plant a vegetable garden together and maintain it. You’ll reap the rewards and teach responsibility at the same time. For especially young children, plant a small herb garden.
71) Find simple science experiments online and do them with your children. Teach them from an early age that learning is fun!
72) Mom, have a DIY-spa day with your daughter – treat yourselves to foot spas, mani/pedis, and homemade face masks.
73) Dad, spend the evening teaching your son a new, useful skill – try grilling, woodworking, or changing the oil on a car.
74) Play dress-up and put on a fashion show together.
75) Design a treasure hunt around your house that leads from clue to clue. At the end, reward your kids with candy, movie tickets, or small toys.
76) Decorate your family’s mailbox – let each child take part in the process.
77) Set up a backyard obstacle course and time each person as they maneuver the course.
78) Create a family holiday for something that is significant to your family. Establish traditions and decide on a date – then celebrate it!
79) Find a local circus, carnival, or county fair and surprise your family with tickets.
80) Have a “favorite dinner” night – cook each family member’s favorite food.
81) Purchase large ice blocks from the grocery store and take your family to a large hill. The ice blocks serve as makeshift sleds in the summer.
82) Set up a tent and have an overnighter in the backyard.
83) Get your kids up early one morning and watch the sunrise from your patio or a local park.
84) Create your own family sport. Allow each family member to give their ideas, then take it to a nearby park and play it!
85) Lay down a blanket at a park and look for shapes in the clouds as a family. Get creative and even a little silly – there are sure to be plenty of laughs.
86) Take sidewalk chalk and draw a family mural in the driveway.
87) Hold a garage sale or a lemonade stand. Donate all the proceeds or use them for a family vacation.
88) Research free days at local theme parks, zoos, or museums and take the whole family.
89) Visit a local farmer’s market and purchase the ingredients for a yummy family dinner.
90) Write letters to soldiers stationed overseas.
91) Create a radio drama. Write a script and assign each person a role. Tape it and send CD copies to relatives.
92) Create a family tree out of construction paper and photographs.
93) Take your family to a pet store and look at all the different animals.
94) Create a family time capsule. Fill it with special items and bury it in the backyard or put it in the attic for 10 years.
95) Rubber band granola bars and water bottles together. Put them in a box in your car and give them to homeless people as an alternative to money.
96) Invite someone without relatives nearby to celebrate a holiday with your family.
97) Make a family cookbook of your favorite recipes.
98) Take your family to a petting zoo.
99) Invite other families to the park. Set up team games and relay races.
100) Introduce your children to a classic TV show – think Little House on the Prairie or the Andy Griffith Show.
101) Find a local hotel with a swimming pool and take your family for the night as a mini vacation. Eat out, swim, and watch a late night movie.
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