Arts & Crafts
Finger-paint.
Draw pictures on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.
Get out the coloring books and crayons, and color.
Build a model car or airplane.
Design a family calendar; record birthdays, anniversaries, and family events.
Make Christmas cards or ornaments.
Family Growth
Have family devotions.
Plan a guy/girl night. Dad: Teach your son how to change the oil. Mom: Teach your daughter how to sew.>
Decorate a can and fill it with ideas of fun things to do. Take turns pulling out something new each day.
Food & Meals
Have an ice cream sundae night with special toppings, whipped cream, and candy.
Bake cookies together and take some to your neighbors.
Plan a potluck dinner with friends.
Have a barbeque.
Pack a picnic.
Go to an ice cream shop.
Build a bonfire, roast marshmallows, and make S’mores.
Getting Out of the House
Visit the zoo or a local museum.
Pick fruit at a U-Pick.
Take a road trip down a road you’ve never explored.
Plan and go on a scavenger hunt with your kids.
Attend a free community concert.
Hospitality
Adopt a “grandpa” or “grandma” from your church and do something special with that person.
Host a “Cousins Camp” if cousins live nearby.
If It’s Raining
Build a fort with blankets, tables, and chairs.
Make a “home movie.” Let the kids use the camcorder, dress up, and use whatever resources you have on hand to set the scene.
Design a personal collage of “Things I Love” or “The Story of My Life.” Give everyone a large poster board and a stack of magazines. When finished, take turns talking about what the pictures mean.
Give your girls a “makeover.”
Play dress-up or “Cowboys and Indians.”
Play musical chairs.
Sing around the piano.
Write a “progressive story”—each family member adds one sentence—and then illustrate it.
Write encouraging notes to relatives, people in the military, friends, and pastors.
Play board games.
Put together a jigsaw puzzle.
Neighborhood Fun
Host a bike-decorating contest, and let the kids have a parade to show off their bikes.
Plan an art show. Display the neighborhood children’s artwork, and invite their families to attend. Serve refreshments, and elect a judge to award ribbons.
Organize a community cleanup day.
Make sock puppets, write a script, and invite the neighborhood kids to the puppet show.
Exercise
Play soccer or kickball.
Go on a bike ride.
Play Putt-Putt Golf or visit to the driving range.
Go roller skating or ice skating.
Visit the playground.
Shoot hoops or play H-O-R-S-E with a basketball.
Take a hike and collect rocks and leaves.
Jump rope.
Play “Kick the Can” or “Capture the Flag.”
Have a water fight with the hose, buckets, balloons, or squirt guns.
Fly a kite.
Teach the kids how to play hopscotch or croquet.
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