Our children are now 7, 5, and 2 and  I find that on the weekends we’ve been spending more and more time with them rather than putting them to bed and going out with friends.  It’s a fun new stage that we’re entering where we can hang out and play games and enjoy this family time together.

We’ve had movie nights for a couple year now, and it seems like that is the main activity we resort to. Some weekends it feels like we’re running out of movies!   It got me thinking that we need to gather some more Friday night family activity ideas so it’s not always a movie night.  I started compiling this list that I hope will help you as well and give you more ideas of ways to spend time with your kids.

1. Game Night: We did this just last night.  We have the pleasure of having grandparents upstairs (we live in their basement apartment) so the kids were excited to invite Nan to play a new game with use.  These are some of our current favorites: Qwirkle, Farkle, Wig Out, Zingo and Can You See What I See?

2. Campfire: You can cook tinfoil dinners or s’mores and enjoy the light of the fire and some good conversation.

3. Craft Night: You can paint together or play with play dough or a specific project like create a bird feeder, or a sculpture with clay that you can bake and paint, or make necklaces and bracelets.  My daughter got Loop Bands for Christmas and both her and our 5 year old can make bracelets with them.

4. Reading Night: Lay out blankets and pillows and some snacks and cuddle up while you read together.  Some of our favorite read aloud books are Little House On the Prairie, The Magic Tree House, Charlotte’s Web, The Magic School Bus books, The Berenstain Bears and really any that my kids pick out from the library.  You could even make a trip to the library part of your evening. (If you have any other reading suggestions comment below)

5. Spending Time Outside At Night/Campout: Set out some chairs in your backyard, or a tent, and just hang out, listen to the sounds, take a walk or watch for shooting stars.  You can set up a tent in the backyard and sleep out there or watch a movie outside.

6. Make A Home Movie: My kids love to do this, all we have right now is my little point and shoot that can take short videos but kids just love to watch themselves be silly.

7. Cooking Together/Competition: Let your kids look through your cookbooks. I bet your public library probably has some cookbooks for kids. You can also peruse pinterest for kid friendly cooking ideas and let the kids call the shots in the kitchen. Granola bars or cookies are always a hit! If you want to jazz it up you could have a cooking competition, kids against adults, boys against girls, and see what team out-cooks the other. If you make some cookies you could bring them to neighbor who you know might enjoy a visit.

8. Take A Drive: We would spend so much more time driving in our car if only we had the gas budget to do so.  We love to drive and explore and just be out.  There are so many places around us that are scenic and fun to go see. If you have rural areas around you can drive off the beaten path and watch for animals, they are always more active at night.  We’ve seen great horned owls, moose, deer, foxes, jackrabbits, voles, skunks, porcupines, coyotes and other animals at nighttime.

9. Go Out For Ice Cream: In our town there are a bunch of ice cream shops as well as some that serve 1 dollar cups of ice cream. You can also just go for a cone at a local fast food joint.  It doesn’t take much to excite kids.  You could also try your hand at making your own ice cream at home.  It’s really easy and way more healthy, my sister in law has this little ice cream maker that works like a charm, it’s super fast and makes a perfect little amount so you’re not eating ice cream for days. (It’s on my wish list)

10. Dollar Store Shopping: Give each of your children a dollar (or have them earn it first) and let them pick out their own little trinket.  This is the biggest thrill for a kid, it’s pretty funny, but it’s good to let them make their own choices about how to spend their money.  Mine usually gather about 5 things and have to really think about it for a while before they make a decision.  Don’t cave and buy it all for them though!  Let them make a choice and put things back…it’s good for them.

11. Cheap Movie Theater: You may or may not have a cheap movie theater near you, we do, and we just went and watched Despicable Me 2 during Christmas break.  Even though it’s still a movie, kids get excited about watching one on the big screen.

I’m sure as time goes on I will be adding to this list.  What kinds of activities do you do on the weekend nights with your kids, I’d love to hear in the comments below.

This article was shared on the following blogs, go check them out for more great reading! A Little R & R, Time Warp Wife, Growing Home Blog, Raising Homemakers