Throw Back Family Night

More people are finding themselves with extra time at home. Schools have been canceled and you may be climbing the walls. Don’t fret! I have some fun ideas that you can use with your family.

My family and I would do planned family nights consistently when they were growing up. As they have gotten older, we do not have them as often, but we plan on reinstating them again as our entertainment options are limited. I would like to share some of what we have done with you. Feel free to adapt them to fit your family.

Try a throw back family night (or morning/day -whatever works for you). What do I mean by “throw back”?  This is anything that is from the past.  The funny thing was that I didn’t have to hunt down anything that we did-I just looked in our game cupboard. I’m not sure what that says about us, other than we must hang on to great stuff that must not go out of style-at least that is what I would like to think! I also planned some fun food-as a side note, I didn’t let them know what we were going to be eating. They had to guess clues from the games we played.

Our first game was Pick Up Sticks.  That was a blast from my past.  Do you remember playing this game when you were little?  Somehow we acquired this game, but I don’t recall where, possibly the dollar store. I emptied the cylindrical container of sticks on the table and each one of us in turn had to use the black stick to pick up another stick without moving any of the other ones.  We had fun doing this the first time so we gave it another go.  Actually it was probably more the competitiveness of my family that we tried it again-we all wanted to win! 

The next game we played was charades.  I wrote clues down on pieces of paper that had something to do with the past.  For example, leg warmers, pop rocks, Kool Aid, Happy Days……one of the clues was elephant, which has nothing to do with my theme, but it was a clue to what we were having for dessert: Homemade Elephant Ears! I took flour tortilla shells and fried them in vegetable oil until crispy.  Then you brush the tortillas with some melted butter and put cinnamon sugar on top.  Very tasty!

After dessert, we played the game Pit.  I have fond memories of this game from my youth, so I wanted to share it with my kids.  Do you remember having to trade grain cards with each other, wondering where the bear and bull were, hoping you wouldn’t get stuck with them? You also had to have a certain amount of a grain (the Bull was alright to have if you went out with it) before you ring the bell.

Our family then finished off the night by watching an episode of Happy Days.  Not quite as good as I remember it being, but it is fun sharing old shows with your kids, especially the ones with “special effects”.  It is amazing how far technology has come.  Another old show that is fun to watch with your kids is Home Improvement. My grown up kids even think the show is funny.

Have fun revisiting things from your past.  One game that hasn’t gone out of style is Twister!  That is always good for a laugh, especially playing it now as an adult-I am not quite as flexible as I used to be.  Let me know what activities you can unearth from your past and share with your family. They could be hiding in your closets!