Fun Family Activities

Many times, we get so wrapped up in work, economic or social pressures, that we don't take time for the important things - being with our family and friends. Of course, when we do think about it, it's hard to think of what to do. Remember, the point of work is to enjoy life - not the other way around.

Here is a list of over 50 things you can do with your family and friends to get you started (by the way, I worked on this article with my daughter Alex on Sunday morning, a fun creative way to start the day.) Now, stop reading, print it and post it on the fridge, or wherever it will be seen!

• Take a bicycle trip.
• Make homemade ice cream or visit an ice cream parlor.
• Bake a double batch of cookies and deliver one to a needy family.
• Work on a crossword puzzle.
• Tell a story with the family - one person starts the story and talks for two minutes and then the next person must continue the story, and so on.
• Go to the zoo.
• Visit an airport and watch the planes take off and land, or go to a lake and watch the boats, while you have a picnic.
• Go fishing.
• Go bowling.
• Plan a scavenger hunt for outside. Or plan one for in the house using every letter of the alphabet.
• Read a good book aloud. (C.S. Lewis' "Tales of Narnia" appeals to children and adults alike.
• Look through photo albums or view family slides, movies, or videos.
  seldom see.
• Play a board game that all can enjoy-Monopoly, Sorry, Scrabble.
• Work on a jigsaw puzzle.
• Go roller skating or ice skating.
• Make your own homemade pizza. Add mushrooms, peppers, onions, black olives and crushed pineapple to the pizza sauce and cheese.
• Listen to recordings of your favorite music.
• One sunny Saturday morning, get out the gardening tools and find someone (a shut-in, perhaps) who could use some free yard work. Everyone can pitch in and help.
• Make a collage using seeds, rice, cereal, old buttons and sewing scraps.
•  Listen to a tape of a Bible story. You can tape good stories from Christian radio stations.
• Build a tree house or fort.
• Make popcorn, maybe even caramel corn.
• Play miniature golf or croquet.
• Make a tape recording of the most recent news and send it to a close friend or relative whom you
• Bake plain sugar cookies and let each member of the family take part in decorating them.
• Have a bonfire outdoors or in your fireplace and roast hot dogs and marshmallows.
• Visit a shut-in or an elderly friend or relative in a nursing home.
• Ask your children about their greatest fear, and talk about them.
• Go to a ball game or play one-football, kickball, softball, baseball, basketball, soccer.
• Go camping in the backyard. Cook breakfast on the grill.
• Put together a scrapbook describing a favorite vacation or any special event (pictures, writing, souvenirs).
• Take a trip to an amusement park, a museum or a planetarium.
• Go jogging or take a walk together.
• Work together on a model kit.
• Play with sand toys and trucks in a sandbox.
• Encourage little ones to color a picture to send to grandparents.
• Play badminton, volleyball, tennis, Frisbee, yard darts or ping pong.
• Play hide-and-seek (inside or outside).
• Using white shelf paper or the inside of brown grocery bags, design your own wrapping paper with crayons, magic markers or paints--even potato prints.
• Go to the library. Check out books, records, tapes and art reproductions.
• Check out books showing how to make crafts with children. Fun!
• Fly a kite!
• Visit a friend.
• Set a Bible verse to a familiar tune and learn both the verse and song as a family.
• Go horseback riding.