Valuable Ways to Connect as a Family
- Have family home evening once a week
- Have as many meals together during the week as possible
- Create bedtime rituals
- Focus a certain amount of time each day on the kids--TALK to them
- Be more aware of time being spent watching t.v., surfing the internet, talking or texting on the phone and listening to music and try to cut down
- Create family traditions
- Celebrate holidays together
- Play together--unstructured time
- Plan family activities
- Work together
Recreation Ideas
- Visit a park
- Go for a walk
- Play "Don't Eat Pete!"
- Make lunch/dinner and go outside somewhere for a picnic (even if it's just in the courts)
- if the weather isn't great, grab a blanket and have an indoor picnic on the ground
- Wake up early to watch the sunrise
- Go on a hike (can plan to watch the sunset)
- make it educational by bird watching or looking for certain types of plants
- Make playdough
- Sidewalk Chalk--be creative and draw pictures and share with the rest of the family; tell a story together through drawing pictures; hop-scotch; 4-Square, etc.
- Sculptionary
- Build a campfire and roast hot dogs and s'mores
- keep it indoors and roast marshmallows with candles or oven burners
- Family movie night--spice it up with popcorn and M&Ms or root beer floats
- Find any grassy area to play games
- Frisbee, soccer, wiffle ball, kickball, etc.
- Fly kites
- Plant a Garden and take care of it together
- great to use to teach kids about faith, working hard, the potential we all have as sons and daughters of God, patience, etc.
- Spin the Bottle
- Body Art
- Themed dinners
- Volunteer
- at a race, assisted living, shelter, nonprofit organization, community activity
- Sign up for a race and train together as a family for it
- Snow sports
- sledding, skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling
- Go swimming
- Go fishing
- Play "The Sing-Off"
- Cook dinner or a treat together
- can take the treat to a neighbor
- making pizza can be especially fun
- Heart attack someone's door
- Go for a bike ride
- Create an obstacle course
- Scavenger Hunt
- Go paddle boating
- Start a water fight (get the neighbors involved!)
- Go to the fair or rodeo
- Country dancing
- Take a road trip to somewhere new
- Play board games or card games
- Act out stories from history or from the scriptures
Local Sites to Visit
- The Clark Planetarium
- Discovery Gateway
- Hogle Zoo
- 2600 East Sunnyside Ave., Salt Lake City, UT 84108
- The Leonardo
- LDS Church Museum of History and Art
- Liberty Park
- Outdoor Movies (for free!)
- Salt Lake City Friday Night Flicks
- Utah State Capital Movie Under the Stars
- Red Butte Garden
- 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108
- Free Admission to:
- Sundance Films; shows start at 9pm; schedule coming soon
- Arbor Day: April 27th; admission to see the gardens for free plus fun activities
- Monday Family Night: music and dance from different cultures
- Salt Lake Public Library
- Seven Peaks
- Temple Square
- Utah Film Center
- Utah Museum of Contemporary Arts
- Utah Museum of Fine Arts
Places in Utah to Visit
- Aspen Grove
- Jump On It
- Kangaroo Zoo
- Lagoon
- The Living Planet Aquarium
- Seven Peaks
- Thanksgiving Point
- Trafalga
Quotes about Family Time from the book The Intentional Family:
- “Consistency is at the heart of family rituals.” p.39
- “A family’s going-out rituals, whether to the ice cream store or to the other end of the continent, are at the heart of a family’s identity. They can profoundly define childhood memories of family life. They are when families have the most fun, the most vexation, and sometimes the most connection.” p.63
Articles Worth Reading:
Of Things That Matter Most
Taking Time to Talk and Listen
T-I-M-E Spells Love
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