I heard on the news that this was susposed to be the "Most Depressing Week" of the Year! This is due to the fact that we are deep into the winter-weather blahs, sunshine is scarce, there's not really anything going on to look forward too (emotional let-down after spending months preparing for the holidays), credit card bills from December are coming due (not here!), and the talk of economic recession everywhere! Well, those are depressing!
But look around you and see how very blessed you are! Right now is a great time to focus on family. I love this time of year when we are forced to spend more time together as a family due to weather and it is a really slow time for us. There aren't any sports that we are involved in going on now, no big functions taking place at school or church, and because we are trying to save money there aren't any big trips or excursions. What we do have is home time.
What can you do as a family to beat the blahs while being mindful of your home economy?
Here are some ideas that we like to do as a family:
- put a jigsaw puzzle together (we just finished a 1000 piece NASCAR puzzle)
- build houses out of cards, see who can make the tallest one
- play board games (Deal or No Deal and Clue are our current favorites)
- fly kites (Wal-mart sells these for $1)
- Watch Wheel-of-Fortune (great for beginning readers!)
- rent a redbox movie for $1
- bake cookies
- plan a scavenger hunt (I usually plan the first one and then the kids take over)
- we play on our trampoline and with our pool table
- wrestle with daddy
- use sidewalk chalk to draw pictures
- plant seeds indoors to be ready for Spring
- play video games together
- have a jump rope contest, do fancy tricks
- invite another family over for a playdate
- paint with watercolors, make personalized stationary
What activities do you and your family like to do together at home?
Please share an idea or two with us so we can all share in the fun.
6 frugal-minded friends say:
Great ideas! We do a lot of those also.
Our family has family night once a week.On that night we make homemade pizza and either watch a family movie or play a board game.
It is a great time for our family to just slow down and enjoy each other.
Also, it is one set night a week when I don't have to worry what is for dinner.
Last night we watched Robin Hood (Disney's version) for family night. It was so funny to watch how each of our girls responded to different things in the movie.Our 3 year old was cheering for Robin Hood at the archery tournament and our older girls laughed at Prince John sucking on his thumb. Our 3 year old would not laugh at the thumb sucking, that is a serious issue for her. We are trying to break that habit right now.
Just spending time with family is great.
I guess that is one of the good things about living in Florida. The temps here are fabulous right now. This is the one time of year that I love being outside. In a couple of months it will be unbearably hot!!
We also enjoy a good movie or game night. We haven't done puzzles in a while. The 3 year tries to "help" and it doesn't usually work out that well.
Wow this has definitely been the worst week for me. The "winter blues" have hit me hard. We are temporarily living in a very small place with three active little boys--In Iowa no less. I usually bundle them up and send them out for a bit, but our cold has been so extreme it has not been possible. So the dilemma is how to get their energy out without driving me crazy! Thanks for the ideas!! (-:
We love to play the game Pass the Pigs. It is fun and exciting for the 5-year-old,the 45-year-old, and everyone in between. No one needs help to play, and best of all, no one gets bent out of shape because there is absolutely no strategy to it.
We like to play dominos with our grandchildren. Even the younger ones can play with the ones with the colored dots.
When my kids were little, we played UNO a lot, too. When they were older, in their teens, we read aloud from books. That was one thing they loved.
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