Family Fun, Fun & Games

Family Fun Box for Kids 10 and Under

There are so many family fun activities I want to do with my children. I have so many great ideas… that I never get to. Sigh. Well, today I’m going to start with the basics to get me back on track!

Make an “Idea Box” for times when your child says, “I’m bored!” Start with a tissue or shoe box and let your child decorate it. When you come across an idea that strikes your fancy, write it on a slip of paper and place it in the box. Send them running to the Idea Box when they say they are bored. You can start by using some of the fun family activities listed below:

Make an “Idea Box” for times when your child says, “I’m bored!”

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Find a construction site and watch the trucks and tractors.
Hide a kitchen timer and have your child search for it by listening for its ticking sound.
Make a fishing pole with a stick and string. Tie a magnet on the end and fish for paper clips.
Use sidewalk chalk to draw a city complete with roads. Use toy cars and trucks on the roads.
Play hopscotch.
Make a sponge garden. Soak a sponge in water and place it in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with alfalfa or rye grass seeds. Keep it moist and watch it grow.
Create a mosaic by cutting construction paper into zillions of small pieces and gluing them to a sheet of paper to create patterns or scenes.
Make frozen fruit juice cubes in an ice tray.
Spray paint two-liter bottles and use for bowling pins. (Put a little water in the bottom of each one to weigh it down.)
Make a bird feeder by rolling a pinecone in peanut butter, then in bird seed. Hang from a tree with a string.
Have your children create books about themselves. They might want to include their birth date, handprints and footprints, drawings of themselves, and their families and a story about themselves. These are wonderful keepsakes.
Read and act out one of your child’s favorite stories.
Make a mystery bag by placing familiar objects in a pillow case. Ask your child to close his or her eyes, feel the objects in the bag and pick out the item you name.
Hide a small toy in a room. While the children look for it, give them clues such as, “You are hot,” when they are close, and “You are cold,” when they move away.
Put a sheet or blanket over a table and make a tent, doll house, or secret hiding place. It’s also a great place to take a nap or have a picnic lunch.
Soak a stalk of cut celery in a glass of food coloring and a little water. Watch what happens the next day. You can also use daisies for this experiment.
Write crazy commercials and perform them for each other.
Make a volcano. Mound dirt six to ten inches high and then clear a hole down the middle of it. Put 2 teaspoons of baking soda in the hole. Pour in some vinegar and watch your eruption.
Save pennies in a jar. When the jar is full, use the money for a family outing to the ice cream parlor.
Picnic at a different park each week.
Lie on a blanket in the backyard at night and look at the stars.
Dress up and serve dinner by candlelight once a month.
Have a sock fight. Roll socks into balls and throw at each other.
Have a smile contest. See who has the biggest smile; measure them with a ruler.
Have a family car wash. Wear bathing suits and be ready for sponge fights and water squirt wars.
Look at me! Have your child observe you for a minute. Leave the room. Return to the room, having changed a small detail in your appearance. Can they guess?
Fill a tin can with a very small hole in the bottom with colored water and attach the can to a tricycle. The child rides until the “gas” is gone.
Let your toddler use a dustpan for a snow shovel- right size, right height.
Fill a spray bottle with water and food coloring and “paint” the snow.
Let your child finger paint with shortening on cookie sheets.
Play the “message game” at bedtime. Draw letters on your child’s back and have him or her try to decipher them.
What’s missing? Place a group of common objects on a paper plate and give your child a few moments to study the collection. Ask the child to turn around and then remove one of the objects. Ask “What’s missing?”
Find a quiet moment and call a family pow wow to talk about what happened that day. Who has a funny story to tell or something new to share? A pow wow is also a good time to give someone a compliment or to tell what’s bugging you on a day when things don’t seem to go right.