Family is a blessing, and family fun activities are a way to value it. After spending a whole year of the pandemic in 2021, suffering from stress and anxiety, losing our close ones, people want to be relaxed and happy once again in their lives. Most of us have been vaccinated now, so there is less fear of being caught by COVID. To fully enjoy the coming bright days, we can plan many recreational activities with our family and friends to make our days memorable and joyful.
Benefits of Family Fun Activities
At this age of constant hustle, the importance of quality family time can not be denied at any cost. So, dear busy Moms and Dads, plan activities for kids because it is both fun and educational.
Family fun activities build confidence in children, make them more expressive and active. The research of Fruh et al. 2011 has revealed surprising facts about families that eat together and get together often. According to their studies, children and youth of the families that have frequent family meals enjoy advantages of superior academic success, enhanced vocabulary, positive values, and less risk of depression, sexual abuse, violence, and school related problems like negative behavior and antisocialness.
Family time also creates an opportunity for strong emotional bonding amongst family members and provides an opportunity to make memories with fun, laughter, and much more.
Fun Things to do at Home
Stay home, stay safe and have fun! Yes, it’s quite easy to keep our little ones busy in healthy and fruitful activities. There is also great joy for parents too.
- Watch a Movie
Watching a movie at home with kids is a great activity with no expense at all. Just do a little decoration, select an interesting film, dress according to the theme of the movie, and prepare snacks, especially popcorn. Enjoy a great Movie night.
- Magic Tricks and Experiments
Children are always anxious to discover and explore, and their curiosity leads them towards innovative experiences. You can search for a few magic tricks and ask the older children to learn them and demonstrate them in front of the other kids. Similarly, science experiments significantly pique the interests of kids. Take help from Youtube and do some amazing scientific experiments. The involvement of parents can enhance the kids’ learning as well.
- Art and Crafts
Paper and paints make children crazy as well. Parents can design several fun things to do at home with them. Do drawings and paintings, make greeting cards, decorate them. Collect rocks, stones, leaves, or any object that can be painted and decorated, and turn them into beautiful pieces just with the help of your imagination.
- Reading and Listening to Stories
Reading stories enriches vocabulary, increases comprehension, and sharpens listening skills. Parents and kids always like bedtime stories. Children should not always listen but also tell others with facial expressions and actions. Plan a story night, wear characters’ costumes, act out the story, and have snacks at the end.
- Cooking and Baking
On some weekends, let your children be cooks and serve you with your guidance. Plan some simple dishes that they can cook and enjoy the meal. Don’t wait for birthdays and anniversaries; bake cakes and cookies at home with kids. Such experiences make kids more responsible and confident in their lives.
- Gardening and Photography
Let your kids become mini gardeners and photographers as well—plan seeding in your garden with your kids. Children love to play with soil and water. Make your homemade water cane. You can check out the method on Youtube. Also, do a lot of photography, take a lot of pictures of your happy moments.
- Playing Games
Family fun is incomplete without playing games because all the members want to win, increasing excitement and joy. Here are a few games that can be played with children at home.
- Playing cards is a great indoor activity.
- Arrange a dance party; freeze dance can be very entertaining.
- Play Musical chair games with kids and other members.
- Simon Says can be best with little kids.
- Don’t forget to play hide and seek.
- Ping Pong toss and three-legged races are also a great way to to enjoy time with your kids
- Digital Games
Children are always busy with phones, tabs, and laptops; they prefer to play digital rather than physical games. However, digital games have many side effects such as resulting in weak eyes, backbone and muscle problems, weight gain, to name a few. Parents should limit kids’ screen time. However, there are many advantages of digital games. They are informative and full of learning. Common games of a 7-year-old child are Yonder, Lego, NBA2K20, Rocket League, etc. Parents should carefully choose games according to the age and interest of children, so that they can make screen time count.
- Summer Family Fun Activities
Summer is always full of recreational activities, trips, and traveling. Here are many fun summer things to do at home with families.
- If your house is not near a beach, don’t worry. You can make your own beach on your lawn, use bathing tubs and pools in your yard and enjoy the beach party with shakes and snacks.
- Water games, spraying each other with water guns, filling balloons with water and bursting them, and playing with paper boats are amazing for kids.
- Car washing is a family fun activity with kids as they enjoy it a lot.
- Making and bursting bubbles is also a joyful activity that strengthens the eye-hand coordination of kids.
- Winter Indoor Activities for Children
Winter is also lovely with snow and snowmen. Children love to play with snow. You can try these activities as well.
- Plan a dress-up party, collect your retro dresses and accessories, and dress your kids and yourself up to enjoy.
- Hide the clues of things and play treasure hunt with the kids and at the end have some surprises for them.
- Enjoy homemade play dough, motivate the kids to make whatever they want.
