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Family Fun

Fun Activities That the Whole Family Can Do

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Having a family is incredibly exciting, but finding something everyone can do together can be hard. There’s always one person who isn’t interested in the particular activity or gets left out, and then no one has a good time. You need to find some activities that everyone can do together and enjoy all at the same time. Read on to learn about some fun activities that the whole family can do together.

Play a Board Game

Everyone has played a board game at one point or another, but playing one as a family can be a little different. Everyone in your family probably has different preferences due, in part, to their age. The older kids may want to play something more complex than the younger kids, so it can be hard to find the right game at first. However, with that said, trying out many different games can be lots of fun. Sure, there will be some duds here and there, but that won’t ruin the evening. The fun comes with finding the right game for you. Once you do, you’ll have years of game nights that everyone looks forward to!

Go Off-Roading

Off-roading is a fun activity that almost anyone can do, and it’s an experience no one will forget. Whether you have a Jeep or a Toyota, you must prepare it for your off-roading adventure to ensure that everyone stays safe and has fun. Then, it’s smooth sailing from there! Everyone can pile into the car while you go on some unique trails and view sights that no one in your family has seen before. However, you must remember that going off-roading also means the experience will be a little bumpy or uncomfortable. Listen to everyone and slow down when necessary to keep everyone happy and feeling good!

Have a Movie Night

While everyone in your family may like some different movies, that doesn’t mean you can’t all enjoy the evening watching one together! Creating a movie night is exciting. And having multiple gives everyone a chance to choose a film they enjoy. Order some pizza, make some popcorn and drinks, and then settle in for a cozy evening. Since you’re the parent, you should probably let the kids pick the movies on most weekends to ensure they stay entertained. However, at the end of the month, the parent’s movies can come out, and you can show your kids some of your favorite films of all time!

The whole family can have fun with these activities and not feel left out! Of course, every family is different, so you shouldn’t just do these activities without listening to the opinions of everyone in your family. Take their opinions and figure out what works best for everyone!

5 Fun Father-Kid Bonding Activities

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In our modern world full of impressive technology, it can be tempting to set your kids up in front of a movie or allow them to get lost for hours in an iPad game. It’s great because you barely ever hear a peep out of them since they’re captivated by the virtual world of action figures. These are the best moments of peace to catch up on housework or social media yourself, but deep down you know you should be doing more to increase your father-kid bonding time. There are endless creative activities and adventures you can embark on together where both you and your child will both have a ton of fun!

Build a Treehouse

Every childhood experience should include a tree house moment. So many amazing memories can be created by such a simple timber setup, perched high upon the treetops. There are endless tutorials online for making basic treehouses. It can be an inexpensive project if you have some old timber offcuts lying around to get started. Once you finish your masterpiece, you can celebrate by having a sleepover together in the treehouse, or dress up for a grand tea party with their favorite soft toys!

Explore a Nearby Forest

If you can cast your mind way back to when you were knee high to a grasshopper, you can probably remember that even the smallest area of trees served as the most expansive and captivating world that you had ever laid eyes on. You could easily get lost there for half the day, only returning to the house when you could smell mom’s freshly baked banana bread. Exposing your kids to the real world of nature (outside of video games) is vital for creating a connection and understanding about all living things. So pack a lunch, arm your kid with their mini-backpack, and get exploring!

Cook Their Favorite Meal Together

Cooking isn’t just reserved for moms! Kids simply love getting involved in mealtime especially if they get to play with all the different textured ingredients by hand. If they’ve always been served their favorite dish, without experiencing how the meal actually got on the table, then now is a great time to show them! Do your grocery shopping at a trustworthy distributor like Zen Spirit, then clear an area on the kitchen bench where they can make as big a mess as they like by allowing them to squeeze slippery eggs in the hands, finger paint through dry flour, and taste test ingredients along the way. It’s all about creating a hands-on learning experience full of fun.

Play an Active Video Game

If you have to revert to electronics, try to play a game that involves moving about! Choose a dance game on your Wii while playing dress up, let your kids teach you their best moves as it’s likely they will find yours to be a little outdated! This is a great rainy day activity where you may not be able to go out and finish that treehouse. Also, if you live in a colder climate, it’ll provide the perfect workout full of endless laughs. However, be warned: kids seem to be naturally talented at these types of games, so be prepared to lose against them! If the thought of dancing makes you cringe, try the many other sports games available like tennis or soccer. Any game that makes you both laugh makes for the best bonding activity!

Go on a Road Trip 

You can pack so many adventures into a road trip through the unexplored countryside. Throw in some fishing rods and surfboards and head for the beach. You can make little pit stops along the way to check out small towns or grab an ice cream at a corner store along with some fishing bait. Kids love exploring new places, and it will feel great to break free of your everyday routine. Anything can happen along the way, so make sure to bring a camera to capture the best moments together. Photos are the next best thing to living in the moment of exhilarating adventure.

You see, it’s not necessarily about spending a fortune at the local shopping center. Sure, kids love shiny new toys, but they only last for so long. Memories spent together bonding with your kids, however, can last a lifetime. Before you know it, you’ll be driving them to school where they won’t want to hold daddy’s hand in front of all their friends. Make the most of their early childhood and nurture that very important father-kid bond.

Healthy, Fun, Cheap Activities for You and Your Kids This Summer

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Now that summer is here, you’ll need to think of activities to keep the kids busy. They’ll probably want to go outside and enjoy the weather—and they should! After all, it’s important for kids to stay active and to get their fair share of vitamin D from the sun.

But, like most people, you’re not looking forward to spending a ton of money on activities and excursions this summer. We completely understand. That’s why we’ve come up with a list of healthy, fun and cheap activities that you and your kids will enjoy this summer.

Go berry picking

‘Tis the season—berry season, that is! In the summer, there are plenty of opportunities to go berry picking with your kids. You can usually find a local farm that will allow you to pick strawberries and raspberries for a few dollars.  Kids will love picking berries because it makes them feel like they are helping out with something important. You can also use the outing as an opportunity to educate your kids about how certain foods get from the farm to the kitchen table. And when you get home, you can ask them to join you in making a pie, smoothies or fruit salad with the berries!

Berries are delicious and have so many health benefits, so going berry picking is a great choice. They are packed with vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants (which help to fight off disease-causing free radicals). They may also help to lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease.

Go swimming

This summer, why not take your kids to the beach or the pool at a community center? It doesn’t cost much and your kids won’t turn it down! Not only will you and your kids be able to cool off and have fun, but you’ll also reap the health benefits of swimming.

What exactly are the health benefits? Well, swimming keeps your heart rate up and it also tones your muscles (since nearly all your muscles are used while swimming). Further, it helps to build endurance and maintain healthy lungs.

Plant a garden

Again, kids love to feel as though they are helping out with something important. So allowing them to plant a garden with you will definitely give them joy. When your kids grow their own beans, carrots and other veggies, they’ll be more compelled to eat them. This makes gardening a great activity for picky eaters, especially. But, the benefits of gardening don’t stop there. Gardening also teaches your children responsibility and patience, in addition to letting them refine their fine motor skills.

Do a penny hike

Walking is such a simple, yet very effective outdoor activity. The benefits of walking include: promoting healthy development of bones and muscles, improving balance and maintaining a healthy weight.

To make a normal walk more fun, turn it into a penny hike. A penny hike involves flipping a coin to determine which direction you will go next. Kids will enjoy flipping the coin and discovering new places.

Have a picnic

Eating at the same table every single day can get boring after a while. Sometimes, kids just need a change. Ever notice how your kids will eat every grain of food at a restaurant or at their friend’s house? A change of environment can encourage them to eat healthier because it makes things special for them.

So, to make your next meal a fun and special one, plan a picnic at the park (or even in your own backyard) with your kids. They can join you in preparing healthy sandwiches (complete with lettuce, cheese, and lean meats), fruit salads (or kebabs) and homemade fruit juice. After the picnic, you can all stay outside, play a game and enjoy the fresh air.

Plan a scavenger hunt

If you have more than one child, a scavenger hunt is a fun activity to try. It involves creating a list of objects for your children to find, providing clues and awarding a prize to the one who finds them all first (or who finds the most after a certain amount of time). You can even turn it into a team activity by eliminating the competition component. Scavenger hunts promote walking, running, teamwork, problem-solving skills and more.

Frugal Fall Family Fun

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Fall Family FunFall is here, and though everyone’s back to school, there’s no reason that fun needs to come to an end. After all, you’ve still got weekends and evenings to spend together. And since fall weather is not too hot and not too cold, it’s actually a better time of year than summer for some family activities (No sweating or sunburn!)

If you splurged a bit on summer fun, you might be wanting to tighten up the ol’ budget now. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to enjoy the season of autumn without spending oodles of money.

Here are few to get your wheels turning.

1.     Eat apple and pumpkin everything.

Of course you can eat these foods at other times of year, but fall seems like an especially appropriate time. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin muffins are the usual suspects, but if you’re feeling more adventurous, you can also stir pumpkin into oatmeal (add brown sugar, cinnamon, and other sweet spices such as nutmeg and ginger), add it to chili, make a pumpkin cream sauce to go on top of pasta, or make a pumpkin-chicken chowder.

2.     Make applesauce.

In the fall, bushels or half bushels of apples are available from farm stands in most parts of the country (or you can make an outing of picking your own apples), so it’s a perfect time to cook some into applesauce.

Why bother with this?

Well, if you’ve never had homemade applesauce, you are seriously missing out. Once you’ve had a taste of the homemade stuff, you will wonder why you ever bothered to eat watery, flavorless applesauce from the store. Also, homemade applesauce is sufficiently sweet even without any added sugar, and it’s usually cheaper than even store-brand applesauce.

To make a simple batch of applesauce, peel and core apples (if you have an old-fashioned apple peeler, your kids can help you with this step), place them in a pot with about an inch of water, add a cinnamon stick or two, and simmer them for about 30-45 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Then simply mash them with a potato masher or run them through a food processor.

You can freeze any extra applesauce to enjoy later.

3.     Eat outside.

Fall days are ideal for eating outside because of the mild temperatures. An added bonus: most of the pesky summer bugs will have disappeared.

Take a picnic to a park, eat out on your deck, or sit out on your front steps or porch to eat. For an unexpected treat, pack up a weekend breakfast meal (muffins and fruit are very portable) and eat it outdoors.

4.     Make a fire.

A chilly fall evening practically begs for a fire. If you haven’t got a backyard fire pit, find a friend that does, or check the end-of-season sales right now to see if you can find one on clearance. September is a great time to score a deal on outdoor furniture and accessories, like fire pits.

Roast marshmallows, make s’mores, tell continuing stores (each person around the fire gets a turn adding to the story), tell jokes, and just enjoy each other’s company.

5.     Enjoy hot beverages together.

After a summer of iced coffee, tea and lemonade, a steaming beverage is so appealing. Apple cider, which is usually only available in the fall, makes a special fall treat if you heat it up.  It’s fun to add spices or orange slices, but it’s quite delicious simply heated up on its own.

Serve up mugs to your whole family and enjoy some time together around the table (or even better, outside!) while sipping your cider.

6.     Plant some bulbs.

If you put them in the ground now, you’ll get to enjoy beautiful blooms come spring. Most kids love to plant things, and bulbs are so large, even the smallest of hands can pick them up and put them into a hole. Tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are all inexpensive choices and they’ll keep blooming spring after spring, which means the cost over the lifetime of the flower is very low.

7.     Take a walk in the woods and collect beautiful leaves.

The gathering is half the fun for kids, but they’ll also enjoy making something with the leaves.

Try making placemats using leaves, waxed paper, and an iron. Or you could dip them in beeswax and make a beautiful garland.

If you’re patient enough, you can press and dry them and then write on them with a silver sharpie.

8.     Make a leaf pile and jump in it!

If you live in a neighborhood with lots of deciduous trees, fall may be one of your least favorite times of year (Oh, the raking that needs to happen!)

But don’t forget the upside of all those leaves: they make great free fun for your family. Have the kids help you rake them into an enormous pile, and then take turns running and jumping into the leaves.

9.     Buy pumpkins and carve them.

Pumpkins can be had for between $5 and $10 apiece if you shop carefully, and they’ll provide an evening of fun for the family. If you buy them early and your weather is cool but not freezing, you can leave them on your front stoop for decoration until you’re ready to carve.

When it’s time to carve, pick up a pumpkin carving kit (they’re only a few dollars and make the job so much easier!) pick out a design (check the internet for all sorts of ideas) and have at it.

Really, the most important thing about family fun is the togetherness, and sometimes the simplest, most inexpensive pleasures in life, like picnics or leaf-jumping are the best for promoting family relationships.  So, grab your family and do something to celebrate the season together.

Summer Suggestions your Kids will Never Forget

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When we’re younger, we don’t measure our lives by what year it is. We measure it by afternoons spent picking ripe blueberries, by days of seemingly endless sunlight, and by the cacophony of katydids as they harmonize with violin-plucking crickets.

Summers make a deep impression on us. They stay in our minds not because of family vacations to exciting places, but because they’re filled with magical firefly moments, fleeting, but forever special. You remember summer moments forever. And your children do too.

This year, give them a summer against which all others will be measured. You don’t have to go to the cerulean waters of the Caribbean or on an African safari to create a little magic. Instead, check out some of these activities that your kids will love and always remember.

1.     Hit the Beach

Just remember to pack the sunscreen, Dad. Though beaches are mainly coveted because they offer a cool escape from the summer heat, they’re also a great place for kids to play and learn. While you’re digging up shells, teach them about what used to live inside of them. And after you’ve completed the moat around the sand castle, try explaining where sand actually comes from. You’ll have tons of opportunities to teach them about the ecosystem, and you should take as many as you can. Not only will it enhance their experience, but they’ll think you’re brilliant.

2.     Did Someone Say Picnic?

Pick your favorite park, playground, or patch of grass in your yard and have a picnic. If it’s a dreary day, opt for spreading a blanket on your living room floor. Forget the misconception that they’re reserved for a certain time of day. Would you be excited to wake up to a breakfast picnic? Yep. And so would they.

3.     Grab a Movie

Sure, going to the regular movies is great too, but many areas offer unique movie viewing experiences. Take your children to a drive-in or see if your town shows any movies in the park. These experiences are outside of the norm, so while they may actually be cheaper than going to a theatre, your children will have a better time because it will be something new to them.

4.     Water Fight!

Want to get the award for being the coolest dad ever? Have a water fight on a hot day. Your kids get to run around outside, be cooled off, and have a lot of fun. Make it more interesting by inviting friends over and creating a game out of it. Capture the flag with water balloons? Kids vs. grownups? Awesome.

5.     Train rides

Whether you’ve got a destination in mind or it’s just for the scenery, train rides are a fun way to travel. Start with a visit to your local library to check out a book that relates to trains. Visit this website for some possibilities. There’s a lot of history laid down on the tracks and you and your family will be making your own history.

6.     Arts and Crafts

Help your kids create something that helps them remember their summer, and don’t worry: you won’t have to pretend to be Martha Stuart. Arts and crafts may not be entirely your forte, but how cool are tie dyed t-shirts, sculptures from clean household refuse, and pictures made by leaf rubbing? Pretty cool. Help them create their own, but don’t be left out. Spending time with you is the best part of this whole experience.

7.     Campout in the Backyard

Actually, you can camp anywhere and it’ll still be fun, but there’s something special about roasting marshmallows in your backyard. Plus, at home you won’t have to worry about all the what-ifs that accompany pitching a tent in the forest. So you’ll sleep easy, almost as if you were a few hundred feet away in your own bed.

8.      Go Fly a Kite!

Make your own kite. Visit PBS for complete instructions or buy a kite kit. It gives your children a sense of accomplishment and makes them feel really great watching their efforts soar hundreds of feet above their heads.

9.     ‘X’ Marks the Spot

What’s more fun than hunting around for things using a map?  …Nothing. And it doesn’t really matter what’s cached. You don’t even have to tell them. Just leave helpful clues, hints, and drawings on a map – they’ll be thrilled and entertained for quite some time (depending on your map making skills). Find a way to make it so you “discovered” the map and get in on the fun. Everyone wants to be a Goonie.

10.  Star Gazing

You don’t have to be Copernicus to teach your kids about the sky. Actually, you don’t really need to know anything about it at all. Google sky, mobile apps, and thousands of different books will help you and your children learn about the planets and constellations. Go ahead and make a night out of it: lay a blanket down, get some pillows, bring snacks, and don’t forget the bug spray.

11.  Read All About It

And not just at bedtime. If you want to impart a tradition that your children will maintain for the rest of their lives, read to them. Pick books that are of interest to all of you and make the reading interactive. If the main character encounters a problem ask, “What would you do?” or nurture their ability to predict by asking, “What do you think will happen next?” Changing your voice and acting theatrical will thoroughly engage your young audience. You’ll hear their applause when they say, “Read it again, Dad.”

Kids are always complaining how short the summer seems when it’s almost time to head back to school. With all these great activities, you will be too.

Be sure to take tons of pictures, or if you have a camcorder, videos too. Near the end of the summer, get together with the kids and compile a slideshow or video scrapbook. These are so much fun to make, and often hilarious to look back on later at family gatherings.

So let your inner kid out, and have the best summer you and kids could ever dream of!