Look no further for fun, simple, and inexpensive ideas to do with your people on your next family fun night! Whether you are stuck indoors and travel is limited, or you have just found yourself to be in a creative rut, here is an epic list of over 70 family night ideas that are guaranteed to bust family boredom and overcome the family blahs!
Why are Family Nights Important
There are so many people, places, things and ideas vying for our family’s time and attention.
In this technology driven society that we live in, our connection with those that we love is being fractured and hijacked by numerous screens, devices and online activities.
In addition to competing with devices, our family time is being split up and reduced to almost nothing; just so each family member can keep up with their own personal over scheduled to do lists and on going commitments.
We wear our busyness like a badge of honor but then we wonder where all of our family time has disappeared to.
There is hardly any margin in our day and personal schedules. Instead of spending quality family time together, we are living parallel lives and communicating via text rather than face to face.
If we aren’t aware and intentional with these precious family moments, they will pass us by and we will miss them altogether.
Our children are only young once. We will never have this time with them again, like we do right now!
These moments are fleeting and sacred! We must take advantage of the time that we have been given and start creating family memories right now.
Family nights are so important because they are show our children how much we value family time and that it is a top priority in our home. We never want to give our children the impression that time together is unimportant or expendable.
By making family time a priority, we are able to stay connected with one another and we can make memories that will last a lifetime.
Success Secrets for Planning Your Family Night
- Commit to the number of family nights/activities you want to have each week or each month.
- Secure the dates in advance and make sure everyone knows to block it off on their calendars.
- Involve all family members in the planning and get family night ideas from everyone!
- Decide on the activities and make sure you have any supplies or materials necessary.
- Agree upon any ground rules you might want to put into place surrounding family time (ex. No cell phones)
- Keep family time sacred
- Have fun!
Epic Family Night Ideas
Exciting Outdoor Family Activities
- Outdoor Camping : If you have a trampoline, consider grabbing a pillow and sleeping bag and sleeping on it or pitch a tent and have a family night beneath the stars!
- Outdoor Movie Night: Grab your comfty camping chairs , projector and DIY screen to show your favorite family flick under the stars!
- Fire Pit and Smore Night: Grab your favorite people around the camp fire and try some new smore variations.
- Glow Stick Dance Party
- Laser Tag: We got our 10 year old son this set for his birthday and it has been hours of fun for the entire family!
- Stargazing: Take a telescope outdoors to look at the beautiful stars or just use your eyes to see what constellations you can find.
- Go Geocaching
- Frisbee Golf
- Hide and Seek indoors or outdoors with flashlights
- Water balloon and squirt gun wars
- Nerf Gun War: Grab your favorite nerf guns and lots of ammunition and take the family outdoors to have some active fun! Don’t forget your safety glasses!
- Bike Ride and picnic
- Be a tourist in your own town-visit local landmarks, shops, restaurants or museums
- Go for a family hike
- Pool Party
- Silly String Wars: This is a super fun outdoor activity that can get the kids really excited! The messier the better! Grab some cans of silly string and let’em have it!
- Pick up trash around your community
- Take a nature walk
Family Night Food Ideas
- Kids cook all day: Let the kids plan the menu and be in charge of cooking for the day!
- Fondue Party: Grab some family friendly fondue recipes and fire up the pot for a fun dinner experience at home that will have your taste buds dancing!
- Get fancy at home for a dance and dinner party
- Have a fun tea party: Dress up or dress down. Get some finger foods and some tasty things to drink. Make it festive with a fun tea set and try a variety of teas.
- Baking Marathon: Put on your elastic waist band pants, choose your family favorites and start baking!
- DIY Pizza Night: Have a fun night in the kitchen with your family and let everyone make their own pizza creation!
- DIY Ice Cream Sundae Night with Toppings Bar: This is probably one of my favorite family night ideas because I think heaven is going to have an endless sundae bar with all you can eat toppings! Ice cream is my love language!
- Taco Tuesday
- Cookie Decorating party
- DIY Pasta Bar
- DIY Popcorn Bar
- Puzzle and Pizza Night
- Have an indoor picnic
- Special Sunday: Have an impromptu Cereal and Sundae Day that the entire family will love!
Family Fun Night Games
- Gaming Night: This would be a fan favorite of our son who loves his electronic video games! If I’m honest, it can be a lot of fun, in small doses! Grab your favorite gaming console and make it a family affair! Whether you are an Xbox family or a Wii family (like ours), you can have a whole lotta family fun without leaving the house!
- Board Game Night: Our family loves board games! Get your family’s favorite treats and host a fun family game night that everyone will enjoy! Check out some great game suggestions here!
Creative Indoor Family Night Activities
- Indoor Camping: Rain or shine, camping can be enjoyed anytime! Grab some pillows and sleeping bags and turn your living room into an indoor camping oasis! Fun for the whole family.
- Kids make up the rules day (within reason of course): This could be like Christmas for the kids. But, I would set some “ground rules” with your children prior to implementation.
- Dance Marathon
- Movie Marathon indoors
- Arts and Crafts night
- Funny family photo shoot
- Guest of Honor- Choose one family member to honor. Allow them to choose the menu and the activity for the evening. Do an interview (like being on a TV show) to get to know the guest of honor better.
- Pajama party
- Karaoke night: Grab the entire family and have a karaoke party!
- Have a family talent show
- Make Tie Dye Shirts: Grab some t- shirts and a tie dye kit and you can have an afternoon of creative fun with the entire family.
- Paint rocks and hide them locally
- Family night of service: Choose one night a month to go out and serve as a family. Allow each member of the family to choose a service project that has special meaning to them.
- Recycled Art contest
- Family Show and Tell night: Take some time to have each member of the family choose one item that is special to them and allow them to share why it’s special with the entire family!
- Family Coloring Contest and later can send artwork to nursing home residents
- Lego Building competition
- Create a family obstacle course
- Have a family scavenger hunt
- Make a family movie: With all the technology we have available to us, it is easier, now more than ever, to make memories and record them with our families!
- Have an Eating Challenge with Gross Foods or combinations (Eat This or That!)
- Have a Funny Family Photo Shoot: Grab costumers or things from around your house and let each family member get creative! Come up with a theme or keep it random but make sure you capture the moments!
- Look through old photo albums: Take a ride down memory lane…great opportunity to tell stories and have conversation.
- Host Family Theme Nights
- Host a family book club
- Use family conversation starter cards at the dinner table and on car rides
- Have a family DIY paint night
- Minute to Win It Games
- Do at home science experiments
- Build a time capsule
- Have a costume party
- Make jewelry: Because our family loves our essential oils, we like making diffuser jewelry together!
- Have an at home spa night: The boys in the family may not love this idea but I know the girls will! Grab some face masks, your favorite nail polish and foot bath and have a night of relaxation and pampering!
- Create a family scrapbook
- Create individual vision boards or one as a family
- Watch old family videos of kids, weddings, & past family events
I pray this epic list of family night ideas will help ignite your creativity and spark your family’s imagination. Time is a limited and precious gift…not to be wasted. Make family fun nights a priority in your home and commit to making memories with those you love you the most!
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