50 Ideas for Family Fun without the TV - Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

50 Ideas for Family Fun without the TV

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.

Sports & 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.