Good OldFashioned Family Fun

These days family fun is becoming more about eating snacks in front of the TV or game console and less about engaging with each other and having a good laugh. I recently spent a couple of days in a sea-side cabin and one of the most joyful parts of the holiday was seeing the young family from the cabin next door having a great time with each other. They went fishing, skiing, swimming and had barbeques on the beach. It was wonderful to see them truly enjoying each other’s company.

It occurred to me that this kind of family interaction is a rare sight around most neighbourhoods. We get caught up in everyday routine and sometimes forget to take time out for what’s really important. We need to find opportunities to connect as a family, not just on holiday, but every chance we can get.



If you want to bring some old-fashioned fun back into your life without spending a lot of money, try some of these ideas:

- Take the kids to a drive-in movie picnic. Grab some pillows and blankets; make a picnic supper including some special treats like hot chocolate or home-made cookies and head out to a (PG rated) drive-in movie.

- Invite friends to a themed DVD night (horror, musical, action, mystery, western, worst movie ever). Each person brings a DVD, you provide the popcorn and have an all night movie marathon.

- Have a shared music party – everyone brings their favourite music. Or hold a CD/DVD swap night.



- Sorry but I have to include a Karaoke night; not my thing, but if you like it go for it. Kids love it.

- When was the last time you spent a summer evening laying on the lawn gazing at the stars? Or seeing shapes in the clouds on a clear day? This is always fun.

- Family Mystery drive – start out with no particular destination in mind. Pick random numbers (maybe birth dates…) and use these to determine your course. Keep your eyes open for places of interest to stop along the way.

- Do some experimenting in the kitchen. Cook up a meal using everyone’s favourite ingredients or rummage in the pantry and see what you can come up with.



- Try mini-golf. There are still venues for this and they don’t cost a lot.

- Go on a bug or butterfly hunt at the local park. Or collect wild flowers and leaves and press them to use for craft activities.

- School holidays offer lots of activities. Most shopping centres have something on every day and libraries and museums have special free storytelling and craft making days.



- Find out about guided tours in your area. It’s surprising how little most of us know about our own town.

- There are some really unique and different museums that have something to interest every member of the family. For example:

- Steam train museum
- Maritime museum
- Aviation museum
- Military museum
- Motoring museum
- Sporting museums

The only resources you really need to keep the family entertained are time and patience and with those, the possibilities are endless.


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#_happiness
#_fun
#_family
#_relationship
#_activities

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