As a busy mom who loves spending time with the family making memories, it can sometimes be hard to come up with ideas. So I put together this list to help you find your family fun all year long! Some are seasonal, some require planning, while others are free, and some you may need to save up for.
Summer Ideas:
- Visit a waterpark
- Go on a road trip (print these road trip games to take with you)
- Fly kites
- Go swimming
- Enjoy a family-friendly outdoor concert
- Find a local creek or stream to splash in
- Make lemonade (take this even further and help the kids set up a lemonade stand)
- Go fishing
- Enjoy a local outdoor movie night
- Make your own bubbles
- Chalk it up (create fun games on the sidewalk or create artistic masterpieces - you can even make your own chalk paint)
- Go to the beach
- Have a water balloon fight
- Set up a slip 'n slide in the yard
- Go camping (backyard and indoor camping is fun too)
- Make a solar oven and make your own s'mores
- Visit a park with water features or splash pad
Fall Ideas:
- Visit a pumpkin patch and/or corn maze (seasonal guide will be on Macaroni KID site in the fall)
- Enjoy a fall festival
- Go apple picking
- Carve or decorate pumpkins
- Host a Halloween party for friends
- Boo your neighbors and friends
- Make homemade applesauce
- Tell ghost stories around a fire pit
- Watch Halloween family movies
- Enjoy a local high school or college football game - make a day of it and tailgate
- Outdoor movie night at home (create your own backyard movie cars)
- Bake fall treats such as pumpkin bread or apple pie
Winter Ideas:
- Bake and decorate holiday cookies
- Go ice skating
- Go on an evening drive to check out holiday lights and decor (seasonal guide will be on Macaroni KID site in December)
- Visit Santa (guide to finding Santa will be on Macaroni KID site in December)
- Visit Crippsmas Place in Fremont during the day AND at night
- Decorate your home for the holidays
- Watch holiday movies
- Make hot chocolate
- Visit an indoor play area
- Have an indoor 'snowball' fight
- Visit a local museum
- Make your own snow
- Plan a trip to the snow
Spring Ideas:
- Plant a garden
- Paint rocks and "hide" them around town
- Visit a new playground
- Plan a picnic in the park
- Play outdoor games
- Visit a local farm and pick seasonal fruit
- Go to a baseball game
Rainy Day Ideas:
- Build a fort
- Indoor picnic (invite your kid's favorite stuffies)
- Arts and crafts
- Bake something yummy
- Cook a meal as a family
- Sensory bins
- Have a video game tournament
- Spring cleaning (may not sound fun, but probably needs to be done, so get the kids involved in cleaning out their rooms and donating or selling unneeded items and check out these 7 fun cleaning games for kids)
- Make a bird feeder
- Have a tea party
- Make a fairy garden
- Create a family time capsule
- Write letters to your future self (add to family time capsule, if you make one)
- Work on a large puzzle
- Karaoke night
- Plan some future meals with everyone's input and faves
Anytime Ideas:
- Go on a hike
- Family movie night
- Visit a farmers market
- Family game night
- Make homemade pizza
- Visit the zoo
- Visit a local labyrinth
- Go on a bike ride
- Go on a nature walk (make it a nature scavenger hunt)
- Play mini golf
- Go on a photo scavenger hunt
- Host a neighborhood book, puzzle, and game swap (fun for kids and parents)
- Visit an indoor waterpark
- Volunteer together
- Make and distribute Blessing Bags
- Visit an amusement park
- Indoor rock climbing
- Visit a kid-friendly Bay Area brewery
- Plan a family trip
- Create a bucket list of the family's desired future travel
- Have a staycation at a local hotel (find one with an indoor pool in off-season)
- Take the family and family pup to a dog park
- Visit a local farm
- Go bowling
- Visit the library
- Do a science experiment
- Enjoy a family reading challenge
Hope this helps spark some fun family adventures! Feel free to print it out and mark off what you do as you go!
