Inside: Use this list of free family activities to do together to connect as a family and build an even stronger family connection.
Family is everything.
And as my kids are growing up way too fast, they’re all headed in more directions, spending more time away from me and our home.
Which means it’s more important than ever to build family connections when we are together to continue to build our strong family identity.
So to connect, we can do these 12 Family Bonding Activities at Home and we have grabbed a bunch of items off this gift list to create more family bonding time.
But we also love this list of free family activities we do together as often as we can to connect.
Free Family Activities to Do Together to Connect in Meaningful Ways
1. Game Night
We love playing games as a family (many public libraries will loan out games or offer a trade with another family to try new games).
Our current favorite family games:
When my kids were younger, we loved playing these:
2. Hike or Night Walk
We love taking family walks and hikes, even in “inclement” weather. Some of our favorite times are night walks after dinner or hikes during snowy winter days. We end up getting fresh air and having great conversations as we walk.
We use this family scavenger hunt sometimes to spice up our walks (my kids love the night walk and photo scavenger hunt best)
3. Movie Book Club
We love reading books and then watching the movie together…it encourages them to read the books even if they’re reluctant.
We cozy up on the couch or use our new movie projector we got last year for outdoor movie nights or movies in our garage (we painted a wall white for year-round movie watching).
Some of our favorites: Charlotte’s Web, Holes, Stuart Little, and Harry Potter.
Related: Get our Movie Book Club Ideas here
4. Volunteer
Volunteering as a family is a great way to spend time together as a family and do good for others at the same time.
Not sure where to volunteer with young kids? You’ll love this list of 12 kid-friendly volunteering ideas.
Or you can start our Family Volunteer Challenge with one kid-friendly volunteer activity each month.
5. Art Projects
Our favorite day to do art projects is the day after Thanksgiving…it’s a long standing family tradition to make Christmas and Hanukkah crafts instead of heading to the stores.
Here are the best family-friendly crafts everyone will love to make.
6. Disc Golf
I can’t lie…this isn’t my favorite one. But it is my husband’s favorite hobby and he’s hooked in my three kids. So we often go together because it’s free, it’s outside, and it’s a great chance to sneak in some exercise.
See how close a disc golf course is to you here.
7. Geocaching/Letterboxing
We got started on this when my eldest earned her Letterboxing badge in Girl Scouts and now my youngest is earning her geocaching badge. It’s a puzzle, it’s a fun hunt, and it gets your family outside.
You can learn how to geocache with kids here.
8. Gardening
Again, not one of my most favorite activities, but my husband and kids enjoy doing this together. We especially enjoy planting vegetables because the satisfaction of watching them grow, picking them, and eating them makes it all worth the work.
9. Baking
We love to bake as a family and more importantly, eat the baked items together. We make family recipes and pass down traditions on holidays and go over the top baking in December especially with Gingerbread Houses and decorating.
10. Picnics
Anytime we can take our food outside and eat it on the ground, it tastes better. When we lived in California, we often trekked to the beach for a picnic dinner. Now that we’re more landlocked, we find rivers, creeks, and lakes, but we still love it.
11. Scavenger Hunts
We love going on scavenger hunts as a family because these fun ones keep us a little more entertained on our family walks around our neighborhood.
Family Scavenger Hunts You’ll Love
12. Dance Party
We have a playlist we all created just for our family dance parties that almost always take place in our kitchen. We turn on a mini strobe light we bought just for these occasions, blare the music and dance together. When they were younger, we also threw in a ton of glow sticks. We often sneak in a slow dance too.
13. Snow Play/Water Play
In the winter, we love to go tobogganing, ice skating, snowman building, and usually end with snowball throwing.
But in the summer, we turn to water play with water balloons, sprinklers, trips to the lake or beach or hanging in an inflatable pool in our backyard together.
Want more support than this list of Free Family Activities?
No matter what you do or how you do it, family connection is essential for the overall mental health of our families.
Leave a Reply