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5 Awesome Family Day Activities for All Ages

by Katie Wallace | Updated: April 18, 2019

One of the best ways to make family memories is to spend some good old fashioned time together. Kids will often remember that awesome game night or classic book you read together as a family. We’ve been making more of an effort to disconnect from technology and enjoy an occasional family day with our kids. These 5 awesome family day activities are great ways to connect with your kids and encourage some new family hobbies!

Fun ideas to spend time together as a family

Play a Board Game

A family board game night is a fun and interactive way to make family memories. Kids will love competing to win the game and watching mom and dad join the fun. Roosterfin Games makes a variety of easy-to-learn educational games with fun characters such as ninja squirrels, roosters, rabbit pirates and monkeys.

Monkeys Up is a fun family game that reinforces counting, memory and strategy. Players compete to get the highest set of three monkeys. Each monkey has a hidden number under its feet that is only revealed when flipped. Take turns rolling the cube and completing the action; switch, steal or flip. The game moves quickly and keeps the whole family engaged!

Family Day Activities Roosterfin Games

Or take turns flipping Ninja Squirrels cards into the center of the ring and snatching nuts when the colors match. Whoever collects the most acorns wins! Ninja Squirrels is a fast paced game and helps kids learn color identification and practice quick response motor skills.

My kids love playing board games and they are delighted when they can easily understand the goals of a game. Easy board games that repeat simple actions take the focus off learning the game and maximize the fun!

Family Day Activities Roosterfin Games Monkeys Up

Read a Book Out Loud

Another special way to spend a family evening is to read a book out loud. We enjoy choosing a family classic such as The Hobbit or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Weekend afternoons are a great time to get the family together and read a few chapters of a book out loud. Listening to the story will encourage kids to use their imaginations to visualize the story. I find reading to be much more relaxing than spending time watching a movie or a TV show. Reading out loud stimulates the brain and an imaginative storyline provides thought-provoking entertainment.

Go on a Family Hike

Looking for an outdoor adventure? My kids also enjoy hiking together as a family. We live near many hiking trails that are easy to explore. I love being able to choose a 30 minute hike or a 2 hour hike, depending on how energetic our family is feeling. A family hike is an interactive way to spend an afternoon and enjoy time out of the house, especially when visitors such as grandma and grandpa come to visit. We have spent many memorable hours hiking and casually exploring the outdoors in Idaho, Oregon, Colorado and California.

Family Day Activities Go on a Family Hike

Bake Cookies Together

Baking cookies together is one of our favorite cozy family day activities for all ages. Kids can learn some practical kitchen skills too! My kids enjoy helping me add the flour and baking power to our homemade chocolate chip cookie dough. I usually give my kids a turn to stir the dough and they like to lick the spoon. Incidentally, my husband is the biggest culprit who samples the most of our raw cookie dough, despite protests. You can easily include the whole family in making homemade cookies, and enjoy freshly baked cookies while you play a family board game!

Family Day Activities Painting Day

Paint & Create Custom Art

A painting day is an awesome way to spend the afternoon together with your family. Kids love to be creative and get messy, and what better place to do so than on a canvas?? Plus, if your kids’ art turns out interestingly, you can create a family art wall! I love inspiring my kids to create their own art, think through the design, and fill in the details. All you need for a family art day is some basic art materials:

Art Materials:

  • acrylic paint paper or small canvasses
  • tubes of acrylic paint
  • medium paint brushes
  • jars of water
  • paper towels

Family Day Activities Paint Party

A family day having fun is always a great idea. Which activity would be your favorite to do with your family?

Katie Wallace
Katie Wallace

Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!

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Travelogy
Travelogy
7 years ago

Wow! Lovely ideas for kids. You have described them very well. Kids can enjoy a lot of those activities, like painting. Thanks!

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Hi, I'm Katie and we are the Wallace family! We homeschool, go on adventures, and travel internationally with our four kids. I hope you enjoy our creative ideas on Create. Play. Travel.

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Travel with kids tips & inspo 🌍🌺 Creative family ideas 🌟 Saved by grace ➡️ Follow our adventures!

The struggle is real when charging our family’s de The struggle is real when charging our family’s devices! 😀 We try to balance screen time with learning and adventures while traveling. 

Phones & tablets can be helpful for language learning and some games/entertainment. 📱

Our watches double as GPS tracking for our kids, and the drone is fun for capturing unique video content!

💬 Which devices do you bring when traveling with your kids? 

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschool family, worldschooling, exploring with kids
The struggle is real when charging our family’s de The struggle is real when charging our family’s devices! 😀

We try to balance screen time with learning and adventures while traveling with our kids. But phones & tablets can be helpful for language learning and some games/entertainment. 📱Our watches double as GPS tracking for our kids, and the drone is fun for capturing unique video content!

💬 Which devices do you bring when traveling with your kids? 

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschool family, worldschooling, exploring with kids
Girls spa day! 😊🌸 We got pedicures at a nail studi Girls spa day! 😊🌸 We got pedicures at a nail studio near our house, and it was such a fun way to spend time together. 💕🇲🇽 @teenglowtravel @just.sylvie.xo 

💬 What activities do you enjoy doing with your daughter? Comment below👇

One thing we love about living in Mérida, MX is how affordable beauty treatments can be. It’s easy to enjoy a little pampering without breaking the budget!

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschooling, exploring Mexico, worldschooling
The house search is on! 🏠🌴 We’re looking for a lon The house search is on! 🏠🌴 We’re looking for a long-term rental house in Mérida, Mexico. Our wish list includes:

 • 4 bedrooms
 • spacious family room
 • workspace / homeschool room
 • pool to cool off from the heat
 • space for hosting! 

Do you think we’ll find our dream home in Mérida? 😁☀️🌴 We still have one more house to look at!

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschooling, exploring Mexico, worldschooling
Cerrado los lunes! 😟☀️ We showed up at the zoo onl Cerrado los lunes! 😟☀️ We showed up at the zoo only to discover it was closed on Mondays. 

Thankfully, our family has gotten pretty good at pivoting when plans change. Instead of heading home, we set off on a mile-long walk to Centro Histórico Mérida and turned an unexpected detour into an adventure.

We explored local markets, enjoyed tacos and sopa de lima for lunch, and let the kids burn off energy at a park. The Mérida heat definitely called for a treat, so we stopped for fruit bars that cost just 40 pesos (about $2.50) each. We made it home just in time for Juliet’s nap!

Next time, we’ll check the zoo schedule before we go. But honestly, this unexpected change of plans turned into a pretty great day!

✨ Takeaways:

• Travel helps build resilient kids. When plans change, they learn to adapt, stay positive, and enjoy the adventure anyway.

• Some of our best experiences happen when things don’t go as planned. The zoo will still be there another day! 🦓🐊🦛

• We’re growing in Spanish every day. The kids are becoming more confident with pronunciation, casual phrases, and new vocabulary as we navigate life in Mexico.

💬 What do you want to know about our life in Mexico?

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring! 
➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures 🌎🩵

homeschool family, travel with kids, adventure family, worldschooling, kids who travel, merida mexico, family travel
Hola from Mérida! 🇲🇽☀️ Our first week has been cha Hola from Mérida! 🇲🇽☀️ Our first week has been challenging and rewarding as we settle into life in Mexico with our 4 kids!

• We’re finding our new normal, discovering favorite stores, trying grocery delivery, getting used to air-drying clothes and doing dishes (no clothes dryer or dishwasher). 

 • We’ve almost finished all steps for receiving our family’s permanent residency cards. Praying for successful completion!

 • Also experiencing frequent tropical afternoon downpours, magnificent and soaking! 🌴

 • Being without city water for 20 hours, which impacted washing dishes and taking showers. We used our rooftop water tank sparingly. 

 • House hunting & touring several long term rental houses; we hope to find a good fit for our stay-at-home lifestyle and hosting too!

I keep reminding myself that we moved here! We’re not just visiting for a few weeks. 🤯😄

Overall, we’re grateful. ☀️🙂 It’s been a good first week, and we’re excited to continue settling in and discovering what life in Mérida has in store for our family!

Hi! We’re the Wallace family. 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

🌟 Inspiring families to live creatively and make memories, through adventures! 🌎🩵

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschooling, exploring Mexico, worldschooling, Mérida Mexico
I can’t believe in 2 days, we head to Merida, Mexi I can’t believe in 2 days, we head to Merida, Mexico to live there for two years! 🇲🇽 Our goal is to gain dual citizenship, work on learning Spanish, and get to know the local culture. We also look forward to welcoming baby # 5 in October, another GIRL! 🩷🦩🥰

North Idaho has been so good to us, and we will miss our friends and family! 

Thanks for praying for our family on our journey! 🩵🌎

Hi! We’re the Wallace family 👋😀 We love traveling with our 4 kids, homeschooling, and exploring. ➡️ follow along! @createplaytravel 

traveling with kids, family adventures, homeschooling, exploring Mexico, worldschooling
So many fun squishies, NeeDohs, and dumplings! 🥹🍕💧 So many fun squishies, NeeDohs, and dumplings! 🥹🍕💧 @needohofficial @hallmark
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