Family night is one of the best times of the week! Spending time together is priceless on it’s own, but with a little bit of thought you can prepare some activities that will help teach valuable life lessons to the kids, even while you laugh and have fun together!
This post was sponsored by Cinedigm and contains affiliate links.
Here are some fun ways to connect with your kids while learning together!
1. Volunteer together – There are so many places in our communities that allow families to parter together to help those in need. Call a local soup kitchen to see if you can work in it for a day (or even once a month!) or dig through closets and take unused toys to a local children’s hospital! Time spent together helping others will bring your family together while also broadening your child’s view of the world.
2. Strategic Board Games – I do love a good board game, and while they can all promote family togetherness, we’ve found that cooperative board games take that a step farther! In games like Pandemic, instead of competing against one another, every one plays together on one big team to beat the game. It’s a super fun way to build teamwork and unity with your family (without your kids even realizing it!)
3. Go on a Fake Vacation – While this idea started out as a date night, it’s truly fun for the whole family! Pick a spot in the world and plot an extravagant vacation there! Learn a bit about the culture, find fun pictures using google images or even videos of the local language being spoken. This can be so fun because you can pretend to do things that just aren’t do-able in real life, like spend 3 weeks hiking in the alps or sail down the amazon in Brazil sleeping on a boat. The possibilities are endless and the research is so fun! This is also a great way to open a conversation with your kids about budgeting.
4. Movie night – Watch a family friendly movie that will get the whole family talking! Confessions of a Prodigal Son comes out on DVD in Walmart next week (march 24th, 2015). It is a great one to watch with older kids. It talks about how each decision we make can affect our lives moving forward and explores different paths a young adult can take. It can open up so many conversations with your older kids, it’s one you won’t want to miss! Check out the trailer below and then look for it in stores next week!
I love it when something simple, like a movie night can lead to deeper discussions with the family! This movie goes so deep, and I think it’s an awesome way to teach (and learn) with your kids. You can read a more in-depth review of the film here if you’d like. Or snag your own copy on amazon here!
5. Life Lessons With Pasta – I thought this was a great object lesson to teach kids about making good choices with friends! Using things you already have around the house, you can show why it’s important to choose our friends wisely. AND bonus points to these parents for letting the kids play with their food through this fun activity.
6. Swap Roles – For just one evening, swap roles with the kiddos and let them be in charge. Everything from preparing dinner, cleaning up after and making sure mom and dad do their “chores”. You could even give them a “dinner budget” and let them take the reigns shopping at the grocery store for an evening. This is always an amusing activity and it can get as wild as you’d like for it to be. So much fun!
What are your favorite family night ideas? If some of these are a bit above your child’s level, don’t worry! I have a list of 10 toddler-friendly ideas for family nights too!
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