August is Family Fun month, and what family couldn’t use some extra ideas for how to spend the remaining days of summer together? With the school year fast approaching, now is the time to squeeze in the last moments of family fun time while your days are freer. There are so many enjoyable ideas your family and friends can do together that we have compiled a collection we feel will give you some inspiration, and also help you make the most of the rest of your summer together.
Most families want to spend more time together, but they don’t know where to begin. The first thing you should do is organize a family night once a week or so just to focus on spending time doing something fun with those you love most. You can invite other families to join you, or just enjoy the time alone with your immediate family members. Once you’ve gathered together, you can play games, scrapbook, bake, prepare a meal or learn something new together. There are so many options--just pick one and watch the fun begin!
For a exciting family game night, choose your favorite board or card game and have a spirited competition. Or choose an activity everyone enjoys and take pleasure that time together. For more ideas on where to find games and activities for your family, check out these great websites with many ideas for you to choose from:
Family Game Night
Family Night
PageWise: Family Fun Night Activities
Fun-Attic: Fun Family Activities
PageWise: Fun Family Activities
At the end of summer, it is common for families to have piles of pictures that need to be organized and put into albums. Why not make a scrapbook? You can fill it with your favorite pictures and write about memorable moments along the way. What a wonderful keepsake for your family to have on-hand to remember the fun you had this summer! If you are new to scrapbooking and don’t know where to start. Check out these great sites:
Scrapbooking.com
ScrapJazz.com: The Scrapbooking Megasite
Scrapbooking101.net
Creating Keepsakes
Here are some Outstanding Scrapbooking Books.
If cooking is something your family enjoys, how about trying a new recipe? Dig out those recipe books and pick something you’ve never made before. You can bake a sweet treat, or create a whole new meal from scratch! Cooking with kids is fun for the whole family, and it is a skill children can keep forever and pass onto their own children one day. If you’re looking for great ideas for how to cook with your children or just want some new and fun recipes, check out these great links:
Food Network: Cook With Your Kids
ChildrensRecipes.com
CookingWithKids.com
KidsKuisine.com
Ice Cream In A Bag
Cookie Recipes For Kids
Here are some great books on cooking with kids.
In addition to the games, cooking and scrapbooking, there are other excellent and creative things to do. How about making a music video to your family’s favorite song? That would be something you could watch in years to come with great joy and laughter! Go to the library together and choose a book to learn a new craft. You could learn to build a birdhouse for your yard, make a model airplane, car or boat, build your own kite or make holiday gifts for teachers, friends and family. Traveling is also a great way to spend time together. Take a day trip to a local museum, visit a nearby town you have never been to, hit the local water and theme parks or go on a weekend camping trip. There is nothing like getting away from home to have a super family fun time. If you’d rather stick close to home, there are always the great traditional family pastimes like doing a puzzle together, riding bikes, gardening or just taking walks and talking.
If you would like to focus on teaching your children about values, you could choose to do something good for the environment or your community together. Collect food and clothes for a shelter and spend a day at a food kitchen helping feed the homeless. Make meals for the elderly or homebound people in your town and deliver them personally, taking the time to visit and talk to the people who are probably quite lonely. Clean up garbage and debris on a local highway or road to help beautify the area you live in. There are a multitude of ideas of ways you can do community service projects together as a family. If you would like to know more about what you can do in your community, contact your city hall and just ask!
The ideas shared here are just the tip of the iceberg. There are an infinite number of ideas available for how you can spend time together as a family. If you’d like to learn about even more ideas, you can check out these two books: FamilyFun Crafts: 500 Creative Activities for You and Your Kids and FamilyFun Boredom Busters: 365 Games, Crafts & Activities For Every Day of the Year. Or you can also check out these two websites:
Family Fun Magazine and Real Families, Real Fun.
You can subscribe to Family Fun Magazine and get great ideas delivered to you every month.
It doesn’t matter what you choose to do as a family. As long as you spend time together having fun, you can’t go wrong!
Julie is a wife and mother of two boys. She and all her men (big and little) love spending time together as a family and having fun as often as possible!
