Ideas for Family Fun Nights

We’ve all heard the saying, ‘Don’t tell me…Show me!’.  Or a similar version of that statement – and it’s true.  Actions speak louder than words.

When it comes to loving our families, there’s no doubt that we love them.  But for many men, we struggle to sometimes express this through our actions.  It is difficult to be creative for many of us and it leaves the women in our lives to come up with the ideas of what to do as a family.  We don’t do this on purpose typically, but it is the norm for most families for various reasons.

Since this is the case, I thought it would be helpful to come up with a few ideas that you could use or build off of for a Family Fun Night.  Maybe you don’t have a night like this yet or you’ve never done anything like this before.  If that’s the case, then great!  This is a perfect opportunity to have your first one.  Your wife and kids will be thrilled to see you take the lead and come up with a special evening of fun and great memories.

Here’s a few suggestions for some low-cost, easy-to-plan ideas for family fun nights with your family.

Family Restaurant Night

Everybody loves to eat at a great restaurant every once in a while.  But instead of having to pay to go to one, you can simply create one!  Gather the family together and tell them your plan to have a Family Fun Night – restaurant style.  Decide as a family what kind of restaurant you would love to create together – mexican, italian, burger joint, drive-thru, etc.  Once you decide on what kind of restaurant you want to be it is time to come up with the menu.  Decide on an appetizer, main course, drinks, and then a dessert.  If necessary, take everyone to the grocery store and pick out your food together.  If it can’t all happen that night, that’s ok.  Your family will love to have a fun night like this to look forward to.  Go shopping together one night and then pick a day later in the week to make the meal together.  Finally, decide together how to decorate your dining room to look like the restaurant of your choice.  Maybe its as simple as turning the lights out and eating by candle light.  Whatever it is, keep it simple, have fun, and enjoy your time together over a fun meal.  The kids will always remember this fun night together!

Exploration Evening

A simple, fun, inexpensive way to hang out as a family is to simply get outside together as a family and explore your surroundings.  For this Family Fun Night, gather as many digital cameras as you can (borrow them, use camera phones, etc).  Tell the family that you’re going to go exploring together and then head to the woods, your back yard, a park, or anywhere else you can think of.  Tell everyone that the object of the game is to take really interesting and cool pictures of things that you find.  It could be close-ups of flowers, pictures of birds, garbage – whatever!  Find things that you find interesting and just enjoy being together while you’re outside.  When you’re done, head straight for the nearest store (Wal-Mart, CVS, etc) where you can upload a few pictures from everyone’s cameras and then print off as many pictures as you’d like.  Take them home and create a family collage and talk about your favorite pictures.  Be sure to stop for ice cream on the way home and this evening is sure to be a success!

Games Night

This is such an obvious and simple idea, but unless you actually do it it won’t count.  Simply get the family together, pick out a few games, or go to the store together and pick out a new one that you’ve never played before, and have fun.  Grab some hot cocoa, turn the television off, and enjoy some good old-fashioned family time together.  The options are endless and easy and it won’t cost you anything (unless you choose to).

Dance Party

Dance Party is such a fun event in our house.  I have an iPhone app called Flashlight that has a strobe-light effect.  The girls love to turn off all the lights, have us play fun dance music from our phones and dance all around the room with the strobe lights flashing.  It is a ton of fun and doesn’t cost a penny!  If you’re like many families and you have an xbox or something similar you could have a family dance party with some really fun dance games.  Kids love to see their parents act silly and have fun.  This is a great way to create really fun memories and special moments with your family.

The bottom line here is that it doesn’t have to be expensive or very difficult to create lasting memories with your family.  It just takes a little thoughtfulness and planning ahead.  Families struggle to spend quality time together but it doesn’t have to be so hard.  Invest a little time into coming up with a few ideas and then put it on the calendar and don’t let anything get in the way of making it happen.

What ideas would you add to this list?  Please share your thoughts and ideas below.

More ideas to check out:

10 Ideas for Family Fun Nights

Badges of Fun

Families with Purpose

Photo used with permission by Evil Erin on Flickr

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