Spring is a time full of many activities….sports, music concerts, end of the year festivities and outdoor events. However, during this Coronavirus pandemic, none of these are happening. We are quarantined at home and have lots of down time. This “new normal” is not easy for parents or children.
One way to help combat this stress is to create a different sort of structure at home. Creating structure in our daily routine is good for everyone, especially children. Structure can be a fun way to allow kids to feel more in control of what’s happening and have a familiar, predictable routine.
Here are 5 “Fun Family Night” suggestions for ways that you can bring routine and order and help your kids look forward to the things they enjoy.
1. Monday Movie Night—Each week a different family member gets to choose the movie that he/she thinks everyone would enjoy watching. It can be an old favorite or something that would not normally be picked. After watching the movie, you can talk about what you liked, what you didn’t like, the message of the movie or theme. This creates cooperation, flexibility, communication skills and helps develop critical thinking skills.
2.Tuesday Take Out—This is a great way to take the night off from cooking while supporting your local restaurants. Each Tuesday let someone choose the restaurant to order from. You can come up with a list of choices to make it easier for your kids. Many restaurants will deliver for free or provide curbside delivery and bring the food right to your car. You could make this dinner special by dressing up, getting your good dishes out or sitting in your Dining Room and lighting candles. You can google Uber Eats and get free promo codes for delivery. This night promotes social skills, builds connection and communication skills and flexibility in trying new foods.
3. Wacky Wednesday Night—Make it a book night! Family members can read one of their favorite children’s books . Everyone can dress up like a character in the book or just wear a wacky hat or outfit or use different accents or voices as they read. Or you can listen to an online book by Dr. Seuss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b653k3-_wIM read by Ms. Sophie’s Story time. This promotes listening skills, reading skills, cooperation, creativity and silliness.
4.Thursday Trivia Night – This can be a fun night of having your family gather, create and try to answer trivia questions. Each person or family team, must come up with 10 trivia questions to ask the others. There are many trivia questions for kids on line so if you’d rather, you can just read these. https://parade.com/944584/parade/trivia-questions-for-kids/. This promotes listening skills, learning, reading, cooperation and social skills
5. Friday Family Fun Night- This could be a night where each week a different family member decides on the family activity. It could be playing a game, doing a craft, a science experiment or baking….the sky’s the limit! The only requirement is that everyone needs to commit to doing the activity for 45 minutes. (You can always spend more time if everyone is having fun!) Here is a fun activity of making Elephant Toothpaste to get you started: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/63191201008351422/. This promotes cooperation, flexibility, creativity , social skills, family bonding and lots of fun!
During this Pandemic it’s important to find ways to have fun and spend quality time together.
For more ideas: Check out the Crossroads Family Counseling Center Pinterest page.