family fun night

when the kids are a little bit older, i’d like us to have a weekly family fun night together.  this would consist of a special dinner eaten together and do a fun activity.  the purpose is to build family closeness and create special memories.  and for me to take pictures of! 

as tedd tripp points out:

“The most powerful way to keep your child from being attracted by the offers of camaraderie with the wicked is to make home an attractive place to be. Young people do not run from places where they are loved and know unconditional acceptance. They do not run away from homes where there are solid relationships. They do not run from homes in which the family is planning activities and doing exciting things.”

Tedd Tripp, Shepherding a Child’s Heart (Wapwallopen, Pa.: Shepherd Press, 1995), 195.

i want our kids and their friends to want to be in our home rather than away from it.  i want our kids to feel close to us and to want to be around us and confide in us.  i want our home to be a haven for them.

some ideas for family fun nights:

• “tsai family olympics”– done when the olympics are on tv and the kids are really in to it.  plan little events and races.  end with daddy awarding medals, humming the national anthem.
• switching places and identies– pick a name, sit in that person’s seat and imitate the person during the meal.
• “Backwards Night”–  inspired by the definitions of the word “backwards”: “doing something in the reverse of the usual, the right way,” and “toward the past.”  have breakfast for dinner. have each person fulfill a “backward assignment” during the day and tell about it at dinner. some options: wear an article of clothing backwards (one that people could see!), eat lunch backwards in the presence of a friend, walk backwards around the outside of the house three times (while it was still daytime!), or wear a nametag all day with your name written backwards. then, at dinner, each person reports on their humiliating “backward assignment,” then looked backward over the past year and recount one specific example of God’s goodness. 
• “pajama ride”– everyone dressed in pajamas ready for bed.  announce the family’s going on a pajama ride with the destination as a surprise.  could be donut shop or ice cream store.
• encouragement night– at dinner, take turns encouraging each member of the family.  afterward, make sugar cookies with alphabet cookie cutters to spell out a character quality of the family member you’re assigned to encourage.  then honor that person sometime during the next week.
• “mystery night”– each member of the family is assigned to a different aspect of the meal (appetizer, main course, side dish, drink, dessert, etc.) the week before.  each person decides what to make but keep it a secret.  then at dinner, everyone will be surprised by the hodge-podge meal.  have mystery mood music playing during dinner.  play ‘clue’ afterward.  watch a mystery movie afterward.
• “progressive dinner”- this one works great for the little guys.  eat each part of dinner in a different room while doing an activity. in the first room, eat hot dogs and put a puzzle together.  the memory game and deviled eggs come with the second room.  applesauce and story in the third room.  conclude with apple cider and talk about the meaning of each of our names in the last room.  or, another idea could be to drive to different restaurants (fast food, supermarkets) for each part of dinner.
• “fall fun night”- this evening consists of a fall theme relay.  the first person to complete the following activities–unscramble fall related words, drink a cup of hot cider, bob for apples, find two hidden gourds outside, and eat a bowl of caramel popcorn–wins a prize.
• “silly night”– on this evening everyone has to come dressed “silly” for dinner.  everyone assembles for dinner looking ridiculous–mismatched outfits and crazy hair.  next, eat the meal backwards.  this means starting with dessert and ending with salad.  use the wrong utensils for eating our food.  then follows a series of silly activities.  draw a picture in the dark.  turn out the lights and give instructions.  “draw the outline of a house.  put a door on the house.  put a tree in the yard…”  next each draw names and give a silly command to the name drawn and the evening ends with a lovely family picture.  this is a “must do” family night!
• centerpiece– have the kids work together and create the centerpiece for the family dinner while mom cooks.  then while eating, the kids take turns explaining their part of the creation.
• birthdays– the birthday person gets to choose the menu for the day.  special birthday plate used.  presents given.  each family member shares an encouraging thing about the person.  birthday person gets to choose cake, and choose a special activity the family does together.   
• travel journal– take a nice blank journal on a trip.  when the kids are bored, pull it out as a surprise and they each get a turn to write in it.  then during the trip, whenever the mood strikes, each person can write down special memories, jokes, draw pictures, write things to remember.  it can be read aloud the last night.
• craft night–  order take-out.  each person makes a craft.  find age-appropriate crafts the kids can do by themselves.
• story night– read a chapter or two out of a favorite story book.  older kids can pick the book.  take turns reading.  for preschoolers, try “the house on pooh corner” by a.a. milne.
• movie night– eat a simple, quick dinner, rent a movie, everyone snuggle in with popcorn and snacks.
• board game night– pick a game everyone can enjoy (age-appropriate) make appetizers/finger foods for dinner and get to it!
• puzzle night– eat soup/sandwiches, then put a puzzle together.  have cookies and hot cocoa afterward.
• family mailbox night– have a special mailbox that family members write encouraging letters to each other to be read aloud periodically.
• american idol night– each person sings a song on karaoke after dinner.
• video/picture night– go through old videos and pictures together.  wedding video, baby pictures, pictures/video from when mom and dad were little.  stories sure to arise!
• dates with just mom or dad– make sure to periodically take each child out by him/herself and spend time together one-on-one.
• surprise lunch– surprise each child with a special lunch.  pick up from school, take out to restaurant or park, eat and talk together, then return to school.
• snow supper– decorate the dining room table with cut out paper snowflakes. serve all white foods. how about potatoes, fish, coconut, rice, white bread, vanilla pudding, or ice cream, banana smoothies, etc.?  try other dinners and have everything one color (everyone can come dressed in the one color as well!).
• starry-starry night– take a flashlight, some bug spray, a couple of blankets and pillows and go out and lay down under the night sky. watch for shooting stars and talk about galaxies, black holes, moon-walking, astronauts, constellations, the planets, and the universe. here from family fun magazine are some more complete stargazing plans.
• art night– make some playdough,or buy a package of clay for some modeling fun. supply plastic mats for working, cookie cutters and a rolling pin. even the little ones can form balls and snakes. the older children can mold some more complicated figures. see what mom and dad come up with.
• good deed night– come up with a service project that you can work on together. for example, making a shoebox Christmas gift for a needy child. purchase and wrap gifts or make cards to deliver to a local nursing home. prepare a package for a serviceman. spend your evening doing something nice for someone else.
• family story night– for this, everyone gets in their jammies. one person starts the story & tells a little bit of it. the next person tells a little bit more, then the next person tells a little bit more, this repeats until the last person tells the conclusion.  even the tiny ones can get in on it.  you would need to tape these & play them back years later. that would be a fun keepsake.
• other ideas– bowling night, playing cards, tennis, mini golf, video game night, other ideas can be found online.