Every couple of weeks we have a family night/outing. Sometimes we go somewhere exotic, but most nights we go for a picnic in the backyard or have a Family Movie Night. It is pretty simple: blankets on the floor, everyone in pj's, homemade popcorn in cool containers, and a Veggie Tales film. Bingo! Family Movie Night! As the kids get older, we will do more, but for now, we enjoy the simplicity of their excitement in doing something out of the ordinary as a family.
Here is a list of other ideas we are planning on doing and I hope they will inspire you to have your own Family Night this week. And please share your ideas in the comment section of the blog post. I'd love to hear how your family spends time together!
Ideas for Family Night
-International Night- Choose a country for that night. Make passports during the day so everyone can "travel" there that evening. Cook a dinner that features a side dish or an entire meal from that country's cuisine. Play music from the country while the night is happening. Find a traditional game, book or film from the country and do together after dinner. This can be done every couple of months with different countries.
-Camp In- Put sleeping bags on the living room floor and collect as many pillows and blankets as you can. Turn out all the lights and give everyone a flashlight. Make campfire banana splits and sing campfire songs. Make a glow-in-the-dark comet and play catch as everyone tells about their day.
-Unbirthday Party- Throw a birthday party for nobody, just for fun. Bake a cake, put up streamers and pin the tail on the donkey. Everyone gets to blow the candles out as you sing, "Happy unbirthday to nobody!" Wrap gifts you bought at after Christmas sales or on discount through out the year for a local homeless shelter or children's home. Consider donating old birthday decorations as well.
-Dance Party- Step aside, Richard Simmons! It is time to get our family groove on! Have everyone dress up in workout clothes or funny costumes, crank up the music and shake your groove thing. Not only will this be a lot of fun, it is a built in workout for the grown-ups! Use the kids as weights and lift and lunge to your favorite tunes.
Here are pictures from our first family movie night a month ago, just for fun.
We
don't watch a lot of television in my house for a family with
preschoolers and I would encourage more parents to do this as well. The cost is high, but the payoff is even higher. We try to entertain each other in more creative ways then TV. My
kids probably watch about 30 minutes to one hour once a week while I
sort the organic produce
that comes every Thursday. I don't see a lot of value in plopping them
down in front of the TV daily for the purpose of getting things done (even though I have a great excuse to do so, because I am a business owner).
Because my children are only 17 months apart, they actually get along
very well and entertain one another for several hours at a time. My kids
love books, structures made out of cardboard, buckets, and acorns.
These things are their television. They don't know any different and
they don't know what they are "missing out on" by not watching Sesame
Street or Dora the Explorer or Wonder Pets. They have learned the
old-fashion way of using their imagination to occupy themselves and they
are better for it. My kids aren't unique in this ability and with a little encouragement, any kid can develop a deeper appreciation for their own imaginative world.
And
that trickles over into our family time. Our kids never see us vegging
in front of afternoon/evening TV. Before we got married we decided to not own a television for the first year of marriage. We wanted to spend that first year getting to know one another. It is has been seven years and we still don't own a television. Now, we will watch things on Netflix or Hulu once or twice a week after the kids are asleep, but it isn't a daily thing. Craig and I read books, magazines or
newspapers while the kids quietly play during our after dinner time, knowing that we can't become too
enthralled in our reading material because the kids often need our
intervention in sibling affairs. I knit and Craig will play guitar while
we have family jam sessions once a week as well. And we read a LOT
together as a family. Reading out loud teaches many, many things to
children and since Craig and I love books to begin with, it is a natural
part of our family life. We are making wonderful memories on a daily basis that we will treasure for years to come all because we decided to minimize the amount of media that our family was exposed to. We know our children really well because we spend much of the day in face-to-face interaction and I am thankful for that relationship.
If
any of you moms out their who are reading this do let their
preschoolers watch TV every day, I would encourage you to change the
norm in your household. Instead of turning on their favorite show, pull
out play dough, or make paper dolls, or color some pages you printed off
the internet, or have them build a town with wooden blocks. The world
is there oyster! All you have to do is make the opportunity for them to
experience it. It is harder to come up with activities to replace the
stimulation of the television, but the rewards are worth it. A great
blog I found to help this goal is "I Can Teach My Child!" Check it out and have fun with those kids!
(And
if you want to know how I make it work by keeping TV out, just ask. I
would be happy to share what our day is like and give you more ideas!)
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