Family Fun

By cottonbro at Pexel

Looking for ideas to spend more quality time as a family or a couple during this pandemic? Search no more! Check out these suggestions that promote closeness and connection offered by the Gottman Institute. Feel free to adapt any of these ideas to fit your own comfort and safety, and that also reflect your unique family needs. Enjoy your time together!

• Make an obstacle course in your backyard or a nearby park, see who can get the fastest time
• Have a picnic indoors
• Garden
• Paint flower pots
• Share family history and stories; consider using the precious items in your home as a starting point
• Do some research and learn to identify the local fauna and flora growing in your backyard/neighborhood; try the free app, Seek by iNaturalist
• Go stargazing; try to find different constellations
• Play music outside
• Have a backyard movie night or host a Netflix Party
• Make sock puppets and put on a show
• Make popsicles
• Run through the sprinklers
• Have a chalk draw-off; invite the neighborhood to participate and have a curbside art walk
• Find ways to volunteer; clean up a park or get involved in your community
• Watch a Bob Ross video on YouTube and paint along
• Have a bake-off or make the same dish together
• Make a refreshing summer drink; try a new recipe or share a favorite
• Host a blindfolded taste test of different treats
• Have an outdoor scavenger hunt
• Try an at-home science experiment
• Learn how to tie-dye
• Dress for a specific theme and invite a family member to judge how well you did
• Paint rocks with positive messages and hide them around your neighborhood for people to find
• Tell a story one sentence at a time
• Read a summer-themed novel together