Every city, town and village in the world offers a plethora of family fun sites, parks, swimming pools, sports grounds, movie theaters, shops, museums, play centers and much beyond. Each and every one of them make for great adventures and fun times, however, I would like to introduce some great family activities you can do at home without spending a fortune or having to drive for miles on end.
These are what I would call “low-tech” fun activities for everyone. Amanda, Will and I have the best fun when we create our own pastimes from scratch.
- Cook and Invite Some Friends: We love cooking with Amanda, even though the food doesn’t always turn out great! The kitchen ends up in a big mess, the ingredients are unorthodox and more often than not we disagree menu choices. But we always have lots of fun and I love seeing her pride when she succeeds at cooking eclectic dishes. Foods tastes best when shared, so we always make sure to invite Amanda’s friends as well as some of our own. There is nothing quite like sharing a meal and having a laugh.
- Going For a Walk in the Rain: This may seem rather trivial, but we all love walking in the rain, jumping into puddles, getting soaked and then returning home for a hot chocolate. Amanda puts on her wellingtons and her bright yellow raincoat, I bring an umbrella and Will just wears an overcoat. Our spirits are always high throughout and it’s even more fun when it snows. Amanda has only seen snow a couple of times and the last time it did snow, she thought it was Christmas.
- Picnic Treasure Hunt: Though this takes quite a lot of preparation, we always have great fun. Will or I put together a picnic basket, head out and hide all the food in various outdoor locations. We then design a treasure map for Amanda and she has to find all the different food items. It usually takes more than an hour to find all the foods but the picnic always tastes even better after all that hard work.
- Collecting Bugs: Amanda used to be very squeamish. If she saw a spider she would scream and cry as if she had seen a monster. To get her over her fear of bugs, we made up a “bug collecting competition. At the start, one of us would have to help her, carry the jar and catch whatever bug we could find. Now, she does it all by herself and her fears have vanished. We even went as far as to turn this game into an educational task. Every time we find a critter, we search information on it online, find out what it eats, where it sleeps and lives and I can honestly say that, by now, I know all the insect in our locality.
- Make and Do Projects: Getting creative together is always a pleasure and it doesn’t really matter whether you paint, knit or make something as long as we are all involved creatively. It’s great to see Amanda immersed in creativity and forgetting about everything – including TV. On this website there are tons of craft projects well worth checking out.
- Write and Perform a Play: When I was a little girl, we spent hours making up shows and plays. Will and I have co-created many little plays and now that Amanda understands the process, she makes up some storylines herself. She has grown in confidence because of it, learned how to speak to an audience as well as how to construct a damn good story.
- Going to See Granny and Granddad: Amanda’s grandparents on both side have been immensely influential and inspirational and Amanda loves the added attention and the kindness they shower her with. For them, having her run around in their house is hugely enjoyable and uplifting. Grandparents play such an important role in a child’s life and Will and I both would like to have Amanda spend as much time with them as possible.
My Advice: Make Your Own Fun
These are just a few very simple activities we’ve often enjoyed. The best thing is to jointly make up your own, try it and see if it’s a hit. Usually, it is! You don’t need much to have fun, just a little time, creativity, love and sense of adventure.