How to Have the BEST Family Fun Night

My family looks forward to family fun night every month – especially my kiddos. My seven-year-old has even now decided that he would like to help plan them. After all the years of doing these fun family events, I have noticed what the kids look forward to the most, and if I do those things, it turns out to be a really great night. The following is a list of my absolute must-haves for a night of fun and frivolity with your favorite peeps.  (1) The food. When I sit down to plan our FFN, I always begin by thinking about what we are going to have for dinner. Occasionally we will take the easy route and get takeout or order something to be delivered, but I like to get the kids involved by fixing something they can help make – like homemade pizzas!  In the past, we tried different pizza-making methods like using English muffins or buying pre-made dough at the store. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten a bit more brave and now we like to go GOURMET! My sister gave me a sweet kit called Gourmet Pizza Made Easy, and it’s awesome! It comes with a really nice pizza cutter, pizza stone, wooden peel (had to look this up, didn’t know what it was called – hehe), and a cute little cookbook. I use a very fancy recipe found on page 80 (ahem… it’s called “Party Pizzas”).   For dessert, what I have found to be most exciting for the kids is having a fondue night. There is something so fun about being able to poke your stick in some delicious chocolate sauce or cheese and eat as much or as little as you want. The fondue set that we use comes with four sticks.  This is perfect for us because our fifth family member is still a baby and does not participate. The sticks come in different colors so everyone (especially the little tikes) knows which is theirs. No slobbery sticks for Momma!   I usually slice up bananas, strawberries, and delicious poundcake and then I melt chocolate and we do that for fondue. It’s usually very messy but a whole lot of fun. THIS is the set that we have used since, like, forEVER! Literally… I think we got it when we got married. Er, or maybe it was a much older version, but still, same diff! (wink)

(2) The activities.

My husband and I love to play games, so it just makes sense that our family fun night centers around that.  This could be anything from a computer game like a Gazillionaire, to a video game like Wii Party, or from a hilarious game like Touchy Feely to a board game like Forbidden Island. We love all of these and some are ones that we play over and over again! But I have quite a few more on my list that definitely rank up in our top 10. Other games include the following: Bee Alert, Forbidden Desert, Shadows Over Camelot (and the amazing expansion pack Merlin’s Company), Hand and Foot (an awesome 14-million-hour-long card game, but it’s fun – trust me!), Things, and oh… so many, many more. Trust me when I say you’ll never regret getting any of these games. They are the ones we play every chance we get.  Be sure to check back soon for a post about how to play our favorite games!

(3) Additional fun.

Make family fun night memorable by adding a secret game on top of all the other fun. Decide on a special word, and anytime someone says the word, give them a kiss or a special little piece of candy. By the end of the night the kids will be wondering why they’re getting so much attention and affection.  It will definitely be a night to remember!