The last six months have brought challenges for sure, especially if you and your kids had lots of “together-time”! Hopefully you and your family enjoyed the togetherness. (Most of the time!) Now some things are starting back up like school and sports activities, and life is getting a little more hectic. Depending on the ages of your children, you may not actually see them for much of the day.
Spending quality time with your family is important, but sometimes not so easy. One way you can connect and have fun as a family on a regular basis is to plan a weekly family night. Make family night a priority for the whole family, and with a little planning, your family nights will become a source of joy and many happy memories.
Raluca at Playful Notes says reserving a time for family night helps offset all those times during the week when we all have so many things on our to-do lists that sometimes we forget to slow down and just enjoy our kids. It is a wonderful way to help your children feel connected and closer to you. She says when kids feel connected, they behave better so you will have a more peaceful home!
Raluca says the first step for planning a weekly family night is to set a day of the week for it. She prefers Saturday night because the kids can stay up late if they want.
The next step is to start planning some family nights and make sure you have something fun to do together. To make this easier for you, she has shared a list of her family’s favorite family night ideas which are fun for the whole family. Here is just a sampling of some activities from her list.
- Movie Night – Pick a nice movie to watch together. You could even set up a popcorn bar or have special snacks. For older kids, you could have a movie marathon and watch movies all evening.
- Make Your Own Pizza- You can buy those mini pizza crusts all ready to fill which makes this activity super easy. Just set out bowls of toppings and let everyone make their own “custom” pizza.
- Ice Cream Sundae Bar- Set out a container or two of ice cream and sprinkles and other fun toppings for everyone to create their ice cream masterpiece. (Don’t forget the Redi-Whip!)
- Family Video- You can make a video of each family member sharing a story, a dance or a song. Lots of giggles are guaranteed!
- Family Photoshoot- This can be as simple as taking the perfect family photo or as silly as donning crazy outfits and making goofy faces. After all, you don’t have to put film in the camera to do this.
- Children’s Choice- Let the kids plan a family night. You could even give them a small “budget” to get any supplies they might need.
Be sure to check out this site and download the family night ideas poster. Click here to get to the site.
– Becky Lynn is a writer for EllisDownHome.com. She and her husband Bob enjoy spending time with their 8 grandchildren and traveling. Becky loves cranking up the music and heading to the kitchen to try out new recipes or cook for an upcoming party. She is passionate about continuing to be a life-long learner!
