Creative Family Fun

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Family Fun

Making Connections: Family Game Night

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Raise your hand if you love family game nights!

Family game nights are a fun and easy way to connect. Most of the time you don’t need to plan much or spend any money. Just grab your family, a few games, and set aside some time. It really is that simple.

Despite the ease of setting up a fun game night, there are a few things you can do to make the the time more successful.

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Let each member of the family choose a game. This way, each person gets to play their favorite and you’re sure to have age-appropriate choices. Plus, mom & dad don’t have to sit through 15 games of Candyland!

Have adult-child teams. Are you playing a game that is too hard for one or more of your kids? Let the younger members of the family pair up with a parent. This way they’ll still feel like they’re part of the fun.

Put away all distractions. Turn off the phone, tv, and computer. Seems obvious, doesn’t it?

Now that we’ve got the basics covered, it’s time to add a little extra fun.

Have a variety of fun snacks. Instead of a typical dinner, have a snack night while you’re playing games. Serve finger food that’s easy to eat while you’re playing, such as sliders, veggies & dip, nachos, fruit, popcorn, or cheese & crackers.

Take it outside! Game night doesn’t have to happen indoors with a variety of board games. Take a deck of cards and a picnic blanket outside. There are so many games you can play with a simple deck of cards. Or, play basketball, softball, croquet, bocce, or any variety of outdoor game.

Make it a theme night. The Chaos and the Clutter has a couple of fun ideas for themed game nights. Check out their Minute To Win It Night and their Just For Laughs Night.

What are your best tips for a successful family game night?

Here are some of our favorite family games:

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

Richard Scarry Busy Town

Sequence for Kids

Candy Land

And some more games that are favorite of mine that I plan to introduce to the girls once they are older:

Sorry!

Rummikub

Phase 10 Card Game

SKIP BO Card Game

For more Family Game Night Ideas:

Let’s Lasso The Moon has a great list of 10 Tested & Approved Family Games.

Modern Parents Messy Kids has tips for putting together a family game basket and has a huge list of recommended games.

Planet Smarty Pants has a great list of games for elementary-aged kids and older.

And, Tutus and Tea Parties has a list of games perfect for preschoolers.

Creative Family Challenges

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Are you following me on Facebook yet? If not, you may want to stop by and hit “like.” Why? Well, I’ve started offering a daily Creative Family Challenge. Each day I’ll share a fun & easy way to connect as a family.

Look for shapes in the clouds and make up stories about what you find. That was yesterday’s challenge. It’s easy; it doesn’t require any special supplies; and is certainly achievable for any family. I don’t plan on stressing you out with these challenges. Do one today, or just jot the idea down to do on a less busy day.

You can get these challenges if you follow Creative Family Fun on Facebook. I’ll also be offering the challenges on Google+, if you prefer that format.

Please join in and let me know you’re up for the challenge. Share with your friends. (Hit the share button on Facebook… I’d love it if you do!)

Now it’s time to go have some family fun! Will you join me?

Ways to Play This Summer ~ A Summer Bucket List

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Printable Summer Bucket List Ideas 1

It’s summer bucket list planning season again!

Last year, I gave you 200 ideas to help you write your own summer bucket list. This year, I’m doing something a little different.

In the spirit of my 10 Ways to Play This Weekend posts, I’ve made you a printable “Ways to Play This Summer.” Download and print it, so you’re never out of summer bucket list ideas.

The ideas are easy to do. You won’t need to go online and look up instructions. Most can even be done spur of the moment.

Use it as inspiration for writing your own summer bucket list, or better yet, use it as your summer bucket list.

There are only 15 ways to play, so it shouldn’t be too overwhelming.

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Printable Summer Bucket List Ideas2

Ways to Play This Summer

1. Make homemade popsicles and eat them outside

2. Go to the farmer’s market and find something new to eat

3. Gather your friends and put on a play based on your favorite story

4. Tour all the parks in your hometown

5. Invite the neighborhood kids over & have a backyard dance party

6. Catch fireflies

7. Turn over a rock and look for bugs

8. Plant a seed & watch it grow

9. Buy a new board game & learn how to play it

10. Get a library card & read as many books as you can

11. Play in the sprinkler

12. Make a backyard obstacle course

13. Create your own family newspaper

14. Go stargazing

15. Go on a picnic

Do you make a summer bucket list? If not you should definitely make one this year. They’re lots of fun! If this one isn’t your style, hop on over to No Time for Flash Cards for a fun summer reading bucket list.

Click here to download your Ways to Play This Summer

Go Outside! Cards

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Back in the early days of this blog, my Go Outside Cards post was one of my most popular posts. It still has people stopping by daily.It was a simple idea to add a surprise element to your day.

The premise was simple. Write several outdoor activities on index cards, put them in an envelope, and have your kids choose one to kick-start their outdoor play.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

The ideas on the cards weren’t complicated and most did not require any prep time or special supplies.

I’ve been wanting to update that post for a long time and now that spring is here, it seems like the perfect time.

I came up with 25 fun outdoor activities and created a free printable for you. I’ve even included 5 blank cards so you can add your own fun ideas.All you need to do is print them out, cut, hide in an envelope, and go have fun! Include all 25 or just pick the ones that work for your family.

I’ve got simple ideas such as play hopscotch, go on a nature walk, jump rope, search for bugs, and roll down a hill.I’ve included active play, nature play, and pretend play.

It’s a fun boredom buster and a great excuse to just get outside and play.

 

Click below to download and print your Go Outside! Cards. It is a pdf and designed to print on regular letter size paper. Print on card stock or laminate to make them more durable.

Click here for your Go Outside! Cards

As always, if you have difficulty downloading or printing, please let me know and I’ll get it fixed as soon as possible.

Have fun and go outside and play!

Make this a family adventure
Cost: Free
Planning Time: 15 minutes to print and prep your Go Outside! Cards. Prep time for activities varies. Most require minimal prep time.
Ages: All
Time Needed: Varies. You should be able to find an activity to fit the time limit that you have.
Notes: Keep your Go Outside! packet handy for last-minute family time. You’ll have a wealth of family activities at your fingertips.

Exploring Alaska Family Fun Night

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Our exploration of Alaska led to a great idea for a family fun night.

Alaska is rich in culture and history, which can set the stage for a fun family evening.

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I prepared a easy dinner of baked salmon, sourdough bread, and a green vegetable. Salmon is one of the most important foods in Alaska, both as an industry and as a food source. Sourdough bread has been popular in Alaska ever since the gold rush. The green vegetable was chosen to round out the meal.

While I was cooking, the girls made place cards for everyone. We traced a bear stencil on black paper and cut them out. Lizzie worked on her writing and wrote everyone’s names on the bears. To help the bears stand up, we cut an empty cardboard tube into four sections. We attached the bears to the tube sections with double-sided tape; glue would work just as well.

We spent the meal telling Creative Daddy all the fun things we had learned about Alaska. The best part for the girls was learning about all the amazing wildlife that make their homes in Alaska. Our evening ended here, but I want to share an additional project you can do to enrich your Alaska Family Fun Night.

Make a Family Totem

Totem poles were often used by the Native people of the Pacific Northwest to symbolize a family or clan. They were created to tell a story and often used animals as symbols. This is the perfect project to work on together as a family. We took our inspiration from the totem poles located in Totem Bight State Historical Park.

Supplies Needed:

Empty paper towel tube painted brown
Various colors of card stock or construction paper
Black marker
Scissors
Glue

Before beginning the project, you’ll want to choose an animal to represent each member of your family. We used this explanation of Northwest Symbols as our guide. Creative Daddy was the wolf, chosen because it represents intelligence and leadership. I was the bear, which represents motherhood. We chose the loon for Lizzie, because it represents peace and generosity, and the beaver for AJ, because it represents creativity and determination. We also drew a simple dog and a cat to include our pets on our totem. Have fun choosing your animals. It’s fascinating to see what choices your family members make.

Elect a family member to draw your animals, or each person can draw their own. (Our animals look a bit diabolical & cranky, but believe me, our family is not usually like that!) Once you have them drawn, cut them out and glue them to your totem pole. We arranged ours according to age with the cat and dog at the bottom.

I hope you have fun exploring Alaska together as a family. What other locations would you like to see a Creative Family Fun Night designed around?