Family Fun

Here in Ontario, February holds not only Valentine’s Day, but also Family Day! This holiday gives families a day (or a long weekend) to spend together. It is almost impossible to book any kind of trip during this weekend unless you have been planning months in advance.

While I’m happy families are taking the time to go on adventures together, it got me thinking about our tendency to create big, elaborate or expensive experiences in order to try to spend “quality” time together.

With many homes having both parents working (paired with FOMO created through social media) there has been shift in mentality that we have to “make the most” of the time we have together, and give our children as many experiences as we can. While it comes from a place of caring, it is 100% unnecessary, does not make you a better parent, or ensure your kids have a better life.

Kids do not need you to spend all of your extra time with them, and they do not need to go on trips to feel like they are getting quality time with you. They need some time with you, the knowledge that you love them and they can rely on you. The good news is this is easily achievable and you can let that parent guilt go! Go on! It’s not serving you, and it’s not serving your children so LET THAT SHIT GO.

If you look back on some of your favourite family memories, (either with your kids, or with your own family when you were a younger) you will probably notice those moments that felt the most special were not planned experiences at all but just random occurrences. As I said, we do family outings all the time, but my favourite times – the ones that make me stop and notice them as great moments, are when we are hanging out doing nothing in particular. For a few brief moments the planets have aligned and my kids are not fighting with each other. One of them has said something weird and hilarious, and we are all just basking in the warm glow of laughter and togetherness.

These moments are short lived and random for a reason. It’s not realistic for this kind of fun, and genuine enjoyment of each other to last all day, and yet we expect it to. Again, LET THAT SHIT GO. Those moments are unicorns and you can’t capture them at will, so stop killing yourself trying.

With this in mind, I am advocating adding more “bite-sized” fun. These are short, easy activities that can be added in on a weeknight or on the weekend. They require little investment of time, energy, or money, but can offer big returns on fun and connection.

When you plan a trip or an expensive day out, it’s frustrating if it turns out to be a negative experience. You invested time planning, money, and you can be left feeling unappreciated for your efforts if your family doesn’t enjoy it. With small, micro activities, it’s really not a big deal if it turns out not to be for your family. You haven’t invested much time or money so if its not a good fit, move on and try something else. If everyone has fun, you’ve not only had great bonding time with your family, but it’s easy to incorporate it into your life more frequently.

Admittedly, none of these are new ideas… (sorry if you thought I was going to come up with some amazing ideas that thousands of years of families have not thought of already – I am flattered!) Sometimes, like kids, we need reminders of the simple things that are right in front of us. For instance:

SLEDDING! We ski as a family and really enjoy it but if I’m being honest, I think my kids have way more fun sledding. Its basically the same idea (you trek up the hill slow and come down fast) and costs nothing! I admit I am usually lazy and don’t want to trek up with hill with my kids at first, BUT, one trip back down the hill cures me of that! It’s the perfect combo of exhilaration and joy.

We feel so much better after fresh air and exercise, and sledding provides both. Since each community normally has its designated “best” hill for sledding, it’s a good opportunity for kids to hang out with other kids and families to connect with people in the community. We almost always run into someone we know at the local hill.

Other underrated winter fun includes:

• Building snowmen
• “Painting” the snow (water with food colouring)
• Making and hanging bird feeders
• Snow forts
• And of course, snow ball fights!

All of these provide fresh air and exercise which are so important for our mental and physical health. Hot chocolate afterward is a must (as well as a bribe if necessary…)

Warm weather activities can include

• Hide and seek at the park
• Splash pad – WITH parents joining in!
• Play a sport together like soccer or basketball – switch up team pairings so everyone gets to play with/against each other.
• Have a water fight on a hot day.
• Make an obstacle course in your back yard.

During pandemic we started doing outdoor movies with friends and it is definitely staying in the repertoire.

Sometimes outdoor time is not feasible (or desirable as it’s -15 while I’m writing this) but there are lots of easy indoor activities that don’t require many resources.

• Lego
• Science experiments (bonus points for the exploding variety)
• Have a dance party or learn the latest Tic Tok dance together.
• Build a pillow fort and watch a movie or read a book as a family (everything is more fun in a pillow fort)

BRING BACK BOARDGAMES!

I’m sure you all have boardgames, puzzles etc lying around your house that you bought with high hopes and are currently serving as dust bunny colonies. The key with board games is to choose ones everyone in the family can easily understand and play. This may mean keeping it very simple depending on the ages of your kids. It will not be fun if you have to keep explaining the rules again, and again…aaanndd again.

Another option is to pair up in partners with older siblings or adults partnering up with younger kids as they learn the rules. I find younger kids really don’t care, they just like being a part of the game. Extra points for games that involve humour, like Apples to Apples, Fart, Twister, Speak Out, or if your kids are a bit older, there is a Cards Against Humanity Family Edition (HIGHLY recommend!)

Card games are another great option

• Crazy 8’s
• Memory
• War
• Go Fish

Charades and Pictionary are easy options for most ages, and of course Hide and Seek! Someone once told me about playing hide and seek with their kids while they were cleaning or trying to get something done. It’s brilliant.

I did this with my daughter when she was young. She would hide and I would do one quick task and then go find her. It took me an hour and a half to actually clean the kitchen BUT my daughter had the best time! In her eyes, I played with her that whole time!

Even as they get older I don’t think it matters if they know you are doing a task in between finding them, as long as they still get to play a game they will be happy. While this doesn’t fall into family together time exactly, it is a great option for those days when you are trying to get some household tasks done but your kids are begging you to play.

Of course as a kids’ yoga teacher I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some yoga options!

• You can make a yoga dice block and roll it to see what poses to do
• You can try something new together like acro-yoga (it’s so fun and there are lots of videos on YouTube)
• Take a family yoga class in person or online
• Yoga pose freeze tag
• Yoga Bingo
• Or try some partner yoga!

You can also use yoga pose cards to play games:

Musical yoga poses
Put the cards face down, play music and dance all around. When the music stops everyone has to find a card, turn it over, and do the pose on the card.

Truth or Pose – Spin off of truth or dare. The person who’s turn it is can either answer a question or do a yoga pose.

If you have two matching sets you can play Go Fish
Each person has 5 yoga pose cards with the remaining cards in the middle fanned out to make “the pond” ask your opponent if they have a card that matches one of your own. They will either answer yes and give you the card, or “go fish” and you pick up from the pond. Each time someone gets a match, you all do the yoga pose.

Memory
Flip the cards upside down and pick two, trying to get a match. You don’t have to use the whole alphabet, just pick certain letters and make sure you have two of each for younger family members.

You can download a free Young Yoga Masters yoga alphabet sheet here. Print off two and cut out each of the poses. You can also use the alphabet sheet to play Stickman (formerly Hangman) – choose a word and mark out a space for each letter. Each person takes turns guessing a letter, and you all do the pose associated with that letter. If the letter is in the word you mark it in the corresponding space. If not, draw a part of the stickman. Your family has to guess the word before the stickman is fully drawn.

For a more mindful activity I really like these Love Powered Co. cards. I came across the Connection Conversation Cards at Chapters and they are great for getting family members to engage in deeper conversations and build connections. You might be surprised what your family members answer!

I keep them on the coffee table to remind myself to use them when we are just sitting around. I don’t receive anything from these companies, they are just things we actually use in our own house.

These are just a few options that work in my house, of course there are hundreds of family fun ideas on the internet, so if you’re ever stuck hit up Pinterest!

In honour of family day I have created a free family yoga class on Youtube. Fair warning, it is not edited because in real life it will not be perfect, nor should it! It’s just about spending time together and having fun. We DID actually have fun doing it, despite the fact that it looks like I am angry and annoyed half the time – that’s just my resting “mom” face…

I have also created a Yoga Bingo PDF that will be sent when you sign up for the email list below. There are 8 different bingo cards, and one sheet of calling cards. The email will have details on how to play (pretty straight forward).

I Hope you found this post helpful and leave a comment to let me know your favourite family fun or yoga activities, I’m always looking for new ones!

Stay Salty and Wild,

Meghan