Saturdays for us have pretty much always been work-days. Even growing up, Saturday was family project day. One time, a neighbor boy that I really did.not.like.at.ALL invited me over to play on a Saturday and I was so desperate to get out of yard work that I went! My husband grew up hating Saturdays too for the same reason. So, when we had children of our own, we had to do things a little bit differently because we didn’t want our kids to hate and dread the weekends. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with kids learning how to work and helping out with the yard work and the chores! We just wanted to make some time for family games and fun too. So, we chose to live in town instead of the country. There’s a lot less land to keep up in town!
That’s not the only thing we do differently though. Because I stay at home with our kids and homeschool them, we can get more done during the week than my family could when I was growing up, because my parents worked full-time outside the home. We still want our kids to work and to pitch in and help, but we do want to reserve some time for weekend fun too! I have been giving you a lot of tried and true family activities this month, but now, I’m going to give you a few of the best family games that I hope to do with my kids soon for epic, weekend fun!
But first, how are you doing with this challenge? Are you over-achieving? Under-achieving? Nowhere near achieving? Here’s where I’m at. We have made it a point to do something fun each day so far. I definitely have not done everything on the lists I’m giving you, nor do I expect you to! Remember, one fun thing every day! I just want you to have options.
We have only had family movie night once and that was because my daughter wasn’t feeling great. Otherwise, we held two family paint nights, played hide-and-seek and tag, walked to get ice cream, and played several board games. We’ve also had family pizza night and walked up to one of the parks for a picnic. For me, this is doing really well! Especially, considering that some conflict or other has threatened almost every plan I’ve had. Nevertheless, we have pushed through because…THIS MATTERS! My children’s upbringing and childhood memories matter! I want them to have good memories, so I press on.
Okay, onto the weekend games. First of all, my husband and I almost always work Saturdays. I’m done with my morning shift by 7:30 am. Usually, our kids rise fairly early, but take a little more time getting ready in the morning than they would on a normal weekday. By 9:00 am, we are starting on Saturday morning chores. Usually, we work hard and fast on the inside of the house as a family for one hour. If they do a good job on that, they pretty much just need to be available to “put this away” or “bring that up to your room,” etc.
Sometimes, we need to have a “work-day,” which is mostly in the morning because we try to spend time as a family once my husband gets home around 4:00 pm. I try really hard, though, to reward my kids’ work on their daily chores during the week by not making a full day out of Saturdays. If they have kept up their chores, it shouldn’t take more than an hour as a family to whip the house back into shape.
Then, we can have fun. Remember, you can get your projects done and still have time for fun! Project Planning–Get Done and Still Have Time for Fun. Sometimes, we head out of town just for something different. Often, we don’t do anything structured or intentional though. I can handle unstructured, but there has been too much “unintentional” happening at our house and before you know it, we haven’t done anything fun! I’m not a fan of a wasted weekend. If we’re not going to be intentional about having fun, we might as well just have a work-day! That’s something that definitely needs to change this summer.
The Best Family Games for Epic, Weekend Fun:
- Shaving Cream War—
My family has not had the pleasure of this activity yet, but when I was a teenager, we did this for youth group and it was epic! I kid you not, the t-shirt I wore to this event smelled like shaving cream for years afterward! What kid would not love to be able to do this? And right, what parent wants to do all that laundry afterward? But think of it this way, the mess is all outside and will go away on its own. Your kids need baths and showers no matter what, and their clothes need to be washed whether they are covered in shaving cream or just sweat. It doesn’t really matter. So get a few cheap cans of shaving cream, and make your kids’ dreams come true with this epic battle! I’m pretty confident this will make your kids’ lists of the best family games!
How to play:
Well, it really is what it sounds. There are a few rules though:
- Be sure that everyone wears some sort of eye protection—IMPERATIVE!
- Lay out and communicate the boundaries before the game starts
- Make sure you use shaving cream, not gel
- Do not aim for the face (you’ll probably get hit there anyway, but just try not to)
After you lay out those rules, it’s pretty much a free-for-all! And a lot of fun! This will be happening in our family soon!
- Frozen T-Shirt Contest—
We haven’t had weather warm enough for this one yet. It’s June and it still has been hanging around 40 degrees at night. But if you know a hot day is coming, this is definitely a great game to play with your family! It takes some prep time, though, so plan ahead—just one overnight.
- Collect a t-shirt of each of your family members.
- Put it in a Ziploc bag, fill with water, and freeze.
- The object of the game is to smash your t-shirt out and put it on your body.
- Whoever is first, wins!
- Bed Sheet Ping-Pong—
You can do this with a ping-pong ball, or for some added fun, with a water balloon. For an extra challenge, add several to the game. We have not played this, yet, but I also think this would be a fun birthday party game.
- Divide the family into two teams.
- Each team takes an end of the bed sheet
- Place the ball (or balloon) in the middle.
- The object of the game is to roll the ball off the end of the other team for a point
- Stuff It and Hug It—
This one seems hilarious! I cannot wait to try it! Picture it, your whole family, soaking wet, rolling on the ground in laughter. I will say I absolutely hate getting wet, so I’m really going to have to mentally prep for this game! I have to really work hard to do some of these activities and keep telling myself, “It’s not about me.” And every time I do, I’m glad I did! To see my kids bonding, getting along, having fun, and laughing together is my dream come true. (And yes, it’s often short-lived, but still so worth it!)
You need to fill water balloons ahead of time for this one.
- Divide your family into two teams
- Choose one person from each team to be the volunteer to wear an oversized t-shirt with a belt around the bottom (One parent for each team would work well here)
- At the start, each team fills the volunteer’s t-shirt with as many water balloons as possible. It will get heavy, which is why parents may work best for this.
- After all the water balloons have been stuffed into the shirt, the team members must hug the volunteer in order to pop as many balloons as possible.
- The first team to have all of their balloons popped wins!
- Sardines—
This is a popular, old twist on Hide-and-Seek. Our family loves this game and we laugh so hard whenever we play!
- Only one person hides
- Everyone must find the “hider”
- Once one person finds the “hider,” he must join him in his hiding spot.
- Before long, you’ll all be crammed into a tight spot like sardines trying not to laugh!
Some of these may not make your list of best family games, or seem as epic as others, but I want to offer you some activities that require very little effort on your part too, because I know you’re busy and tired! Epic is what you make of it. If you set out for it to be great fun, it will be! Your children are lucky to have a mom who cares about having fun!
I can guarantee that memories will be made and these activities will not soon be forgotten. When your child has to write a “What I Did Over Summer Vacation” paper this fall, you’ll be on every kid’s list as a fun mom! But don’t do it for the approval of others. Do it for the Lord, and the children He has entrusted to you! Have some extra fun this weekend! I plan to make use of all of these ideas at some point this month.
