When you think of a family gathering, it is usually a family dinner or a picnic where you eat together and then leave after the meal. While having meals as a family is a great bonding experience, it is not the only way to engage the whole bunch in a fun activity. A family encompasses the old and young alike, and while you can’t choose activities like skydiving or a night out with them, there are many more exciting options to help you spend quality time together without leaving anyone behind based on their age. From fun question games to rejuvenating outdoor activities, there are many options to choose from. Go through this list specially curated for enjoying a perfect family outing!
PS: Don’t forget your camera to click lots of pictures!
Relay race
There is something about old-school games that never gets old! A relay race is a sport that everyone can participate in, irrespective of their age. The hurdles and challenges you set on the track will only make the game more exciting. You can add a lemon-and-spoon race, a frog jump race, or a sack race in the relay for the kids. Other fun elements could be hopscotch for the parents and puzzle-solving for the grandparents. Make teams and see who wins the family cup!
The Family Book Club
Your grandparents will always be your favorite storytellers. Take out some time in the day to gather around them and make them tell you some of the stories they regaled you with when you were kids. Like how your grandpa fought the goons, an alligator, or a rogue elephant single-handedly! And if you have time, make all family members share their own stories with everyone. The best story by popular vote gets a prize.
Make a dinosaur garden
Most toddlers are dinosaur fans, and they never travel without four or five dino action figures tucked in their pockets. To make it a fun day for the little ones, get some big inflatable dinosaur figures and arrange them in your backyard like a prehistoric jungle scene. You can even make it a game by hiding some small dino toys around the yard. Divide your family into teams and make them race to collect the most number of dinosaurs. Make sure all the family members participate actively in the game! The more creative you are, the more fun your game will be.
Bake a treat
If most of your family loves cooking, you can plan a baking activity that will be fun for the whole bunch. Divide yourself into two teams, and the kids can be the judges! It can be a Family Masterchef contest that involves choosing a recipe and making the perfect cupcakes or cookies. You can also borrow grandma’s recipe for the perfect Christmas cookies and write it down in the family book as a treasure to pass down in the family.
Get crafty
This is the perfect opportunity to do a big family art project. You can make a wall mural at your grandparents’ house that has the input of the whole family. Another great activity you can plan is collecting all the family pictures and arranging them in a big family album. Just make sure you use copied pictures and not the original prints.
Marshmallow shooters
There are very few things that are more entertaining than a good shooting game! Marshmallow shooters are inexpensive and easy to make, and you can even make them a part of your family outing activity. All you need is well-washed PVC pipes and marshmallows that fit in them perfectly. Just place a marshmallow inside one end of the pipe and blow it out from the other end. Divide the family into two teams and place one box each at a distance from them. Get the teams to aim the marshmallows into their designated boxes. The team with the highest collection wins.
‘Yes Day’ activity
If you have read the book Yes Day (written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal) or seen the movie, you are sure to pick this activity first. The way to go about it is to dedicate a whole day when all the requests made by the kids are fulfilled by the grownups. You cannot say no to any of their requests – be it finishing a whole tub of ice cream, going to a water park, having a dance party, or extending bedtime by a couple of hours. It is like heaven for the little ones! To play it safe, set some ground rules. Then go ahead and enjoy your ‘yes’ day with the whole family.
Family activities are not just fun – they are also ways by which you can bond with the whole family. While a modern lifestyle is leading to a rise in nuclear families, making family reunions a quarterly thing will make sure you never lose touch with your extended family no matter where you live. Just make sure you spend quality time with them and get to know each other without indulging in gadgets and social media.
Nisha Baghadia has a great passion towards writing and loves the idea of sharing. She has written many articles on yoga, fitness, wellness, remedies, and beauty. She keeps reading articles on different blogs that gives a kick to her passion and provides her with different ideas. She is growing day by day and mastering herself in writing appealing articles. She is a regular contributor to StyleCraze.com and other few websites too.
