Finding things to do with your family on a Friday night can be challenging. But the truth of the matter is this: When your children reach adulthood, family nights are the times they’ll look back on and remember fondly. So how do you get your kids to not only take part in family nights, but actually look forward to them? By planning fun events that are undeniably worth doing.
Here are some fun ideas we thought of for your family.
Make your own movie!
Get the family together to create a home movie. Come up with an idea, assign characters and let the fun begin! Most smartphones can handle recording video, and there are even apps you can use to edit and make it into a super-cool movie, complete with music.
Camp out (or in)
Pitch a tent in your backyard or in your lounge room. Fill the tent with fluffy blankets and pillows. Grab some snacks, a torch and indulge in some family-friendly scary stories.
Plan a dinner
I love this idea! Get the family together and decide on a sit-down dinner menu. Head to the market or supermarket and shop for all the ingredients. Involve the children with preparing and serving the meal. You could theme the dinner, say with an Italian menu. Serve pasta and breadsticks, candles in wine bottles and Pavarotti playing in the background – Saluti!
Set up a taco bar
Let’s take the theme dinner into a more interactive dinner with a taco bar.
- Start with the base: soft tortilla shells, hard taco shells, tostado shells, or soft tortilla bowls.
- Add a filling: shredded chicken, pulled pork, ground beef, or flaked fish fillets.
- Choose a sauce: guacamole, sour cream, chipotle sauce or tomato salsa.
- Finish with toppings: sliced avocado, chopped tomatoes, diced red onions, lettuce, beans, pico de gallo, tortilla chips, coriander, pickled jalapenos, lime wedges, green onions, corn, crumbled feta cheese, or shredded cheddar.
Enjoy with your favourite Mexican soft drinks, Margaritas and Cerveza.
Host show-and-tell
This one’s great for the littlest child. Ask each family member to choose an item that’s important to them and then tell all about it. Encourage your children to make a poster or choose a song to play to further illustrate their item.
Look at the stars
When I was young, my family would all grab blankets and snuggle on the trampoline in the back yard to watch for falling stars or satellites moving in the night sky. Nowadays there are fantastic FREE apps like Night Sky that will map the stars for you on your phone or tablet.
If you have any other ideas that you perhaps do with your family, we’d love to hear them.
Have a fantastic Friday night with your family!
