I want to share some Family Fun Ideas to help your family connect this summer. It doesn’t matter if you work or you are a stay at home parent. These are 5 Simple ways to connect and make lasting memories with those that you love. Kids love spending time with their families. (My hope is that if we keep up these connections my kids will still want family time when they become teenagers) Sometimes as parents we want to plan exciting vacations or spend money to create lasting memories. But the truth is what kids really want is our time.
And isn’t that what we want. Intentional time to connect and strengthen our relationships. That is the focus of my blog, to help strengthen families. That is what I spend so much of my time on as a mother. So I hope these simple and fun ideas help you connect and grow closer.
5 Family Fun Ideas for Families
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Bike Rides
Remember when riding your bike was pretty much what you did during summer. This is a perfect way to spend time with your family. Assuming your bikes are all in working order that is. Since it’s crazy hot in Arizona bike rides are best early in the morning or when the sun starts heading down. After dinner ask everyone to help clean up dinner (bonus blessing: the kids will work faster) and then go for a ride through your neighborhood. We have bike trailers and bike extensions so we can have our younger kids keep up with us. If your family is still pretty young let your kids ride around the driveway while you sit and cheer for them. Other blessings from family bike rides are being active as a family and enjoying nature. Sometimes we play music with our phones (a must have!) or we race each other. Either way your kids will be having fun and so will you. It doesn’t have to be for a really long time. Even just 15-20 minutes of riding will create great memories. My kids love riding around with us. You could split up and let your spouse speed around with the older kids while you bike with the little ones . We love having bike lights and helmets for the kids to keep us safe. Lots of great memories will happen if you get outside with your kids.
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Reading Forts
Summers are made for reading! We love the summer reading programs at local libraries. I know I enjoy sneaking in more time for reading for me! But reading together can help us connect and enjoy family time together. We love building epic forts with chairs and blankets. And then every kid can bring in their own stash of books or you pick a chapter book to read together as a family. Either way your family will have fun. Sometimes our youngest kid gets bored after awhile so they will sneak in little toys. But that’s the joy of the fort. Forts are so cool that your kids will want to hang out in there with you. Sometimes my kids build reading forts on their own and I simply love it. And I don’t mind the extra mess if it means more reading. You can check out some of my favorite books here and here. This Olivia book has all four of my kids cracking up! They love her costume when she goes to class. I love watching them bond and giggle over silly inside jokes. A love for reading is one of the best gifts we can give our children. I promise they will love reading with you in a homemade fort. For more ideas on encouraging your kids to love reading check out this post. Not only is this activity pretty much free you get the blessing your children learning to love to read. Or strengthening that love.
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Boards Games
Personally I love playing board games! I was so excited when our family crossed the bridge of Candy Land to Yahtzee and Uno! Another perfect time for board games (especially for working parents) is right after dinner clean up. We have a bookcase near our kitchen table that I have purposely stored small games like Memory and Dominoes so we can play after dinner. It doesn’t have to be a long game like Monopoly, but you can squeeze in some family fun and bonding. School nights can be harder with homework and the need to bathe regularly. But summer nights are different. Sometimes we rotate on who gets to choose the game or I’ll just pick. A list of our favorite games can be found here. We even have some non reader games listed. A big moment this past month one Sunday (the usual night we play together) my son actually beat me in Follow the Prophet Memory. He was over the moon excited because I always win memory. It’s just one of my talents. And the other kids were happy to see mom finally defeated. Board games are just all around fun! Bonus Blessings: My daughter was matching numbers and preparing to read. Games are a great way to learn new things. And kids learn best when they are having fun.
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S’mores Night
We recently bought a fire pit for our backyard and I forgot how much we love having one! When we moved to Arizona we had to give ours away. Our family love camping, well the kids and I do! The magic of getting away from the world and connecting is often just what our family needs. But this blog post is about connecting in simple ways and camping isn’t always simple. And while we can’t go camping every weekend we can still get some of that camping magic with a campfire. I decided I could reuse the printable from my Dating Divas Camping Kit to create some everyday magic. I printed up their “Let’s have S’more Fun Tonight” printable so I can post it somewhere down stairs for them to find. It’s the perfect way to get excited about making s’mores that night! My kids were pretty stoked when they saw the sign. I thought this would be a fun idea to let them know we will be making s’mores that night. What kid doesn’t love cooking marshmallows over a fire? It’s the little things that make life more fun. And conversations seem to happen a little easier when our tummies are full of goodness and we are around the fire as a family. Bonus Blessing: read your scriptures as a family outside and send your kids up to bed so you can sit out a little longer with your sweetheart.
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Looking Through Scrapbooks
Another fun family activity that my kids LOVE is looking through scrapbooks or photo books. How many of us spend time and money to make these albums only to hardly ever open them? We’ve been pulling albums off the shelves more and my kids love it. It’s such a great way to spend our time together. I may tell them extra stories that the pictures remind me or explain to my kids the hilarious things they use to do. I love when they remember things and can look back on fondness with their siblings. We point out similarities or weird things they would say. And they can help but giggle at the silliness of being a baby or toddler. This past Christmas I gave Yoda his First Year Album, finally finished thanks to Project Life. Did I mention Yoda was 6 at the time? Now Draco and Georgiana are asking where their baby books are. (One of my projects for the summer) I’ve decided each kids gets their own album of their first year and then we can try to make albums of each year. Whatever your system, pull it out. Pull out wedding albums, baby books, high school albums, or better yet, family history. I have read lots of articles talking about one of the best ways to build self confidence is to teach your children about their family’s past. I love this article from The New York Times.
“The bottom line: if you want a happier family, create, refine and retell the story of your family’s positive moments and your ability to bounce back from the difficult ones. That act alone may increase the odds that your family will thrive for many generations to come.”
Or this article on building happier families.
“The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believed their families functioned. “
Scrapbooks are part of our family history. As we document our lives we can look back and see how far we have come. I’m really excited to create more albums using Project Life this summer. But for an easy way to connect as a family I would encourage you to pull out whatever scrapbooks you have so your family can gather and remember what family is all about. Journals and complied family stories all are part of family history. One part of family history that I feel passionately about is connecting generations. It’s one thing for me to increase my love about my family members, but those feelings grow when I help my children feel connected to people I love. You can check out more family history ideas here. Bonus Blessings: more self confidence and great love at home.
I honestly hope your family can try these simple ways to connect as a family. That’s probably one of my favorite things about summer. I love making a Summer Fun List! But really I love spending time with my family. Let’s cherish this time without homework and kid activities by spending more time together. A couple of years ago I read about the reality of the number of summers we have with our kids before they move out. Let’s make the most of it by spending quality time together. And it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. We just have to show up and be present.
Do you have a favorite activity your family loves to do? Share it in the comments below! And don’t forget to pin this post to help other families feel inspired to connect! You can grab your own Family Camping Kit here.
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