Create Your Own Holiday and Celebrate
Who says that you can't create your own holiday!?! Have the family sit down and pick out a holiday for each month. Then celebrate them!
November 5- Cuddle on the Couch Day. Dedicate at least 15 minutes to cuddling on the couch with no t.v. You can talk to each other or read some passages from your favorite story. What better way to keep warm as the days get cold?
Designate a day as Family Day (Every Wednesday is Family Day or whatever day you choose)
Family Art Day One day could be Family Art Day. Pick a day of the week that the whole family can get together and be creative. Draw with colored pencils, paint with water colors, color with crayons, or make a collage. You may not create the prettiest artwork, but the time together will be well spent.
Freeze/ Defrost
Have the whole family sit in a circle. At the count of three, everyone precedes to make their silliest faces. When one of the players says "Freeze," every one must hold their silly faces until someone laughs. What great fun!
Operation Spring into Clean Day Write a mysterious note and put it in a conspicuous place. The note will instruct each family member to meet their fellow spies in a designated location in the house (one of the kids bedrooms, or the living room, etc...). As the lead agent, arm your commrades with old rags or mix and match socks. Their mission, should they chose to accept it (and they must because it will be so much fun) is to dust all of the surfaces in the house that they can reach. Everyone stays in the same room, so that those that needs supervision can be helped when needed. When the room is completely dusted, then another note will be read instructing the team to go to another location in the house. When they are finished dusting that room, then another note will be read. Then move on to the next room until the mission is complete.
Sitting Down and Eating a Meal with the Family
Sitting down and eating a meal with all the members of the family can often be a difficult task. Between work and shuffling the kids off to soccar practice or whatever activity that they're involved in, take the time to sit down, eat a meal together, and talk. The whole family can help in preparing the meal and cleaning up after the meal is over. Whether the meal is breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the communication and bonding that occur are the same no matter what time of day. To read an indepth report about the importance of eating meals as a family and the significance that it plays in detering youth from drug and alcohol use, please go to http://www.casafamilyday.org/pages/stuffyoucanuse.html.