4 Ideas for Making Memories With Your Kids

Some of the best childhood memories are the ones that you don’t even necessarily plan out, they just happen. Like that one night when your mom woke up at 2 in the morning because the family decided to go on a spontaneous weekend getaway. And then there are others that are more planned out, like setting up a campsite in the backyard or going to a water park and riding the zip lines or some other kind of family adventure. Here are a few ideas of ways that you can make memories with your kids and still stay close to home.

Tree Houses
There is just something about tree houses that is particularly magical to kids. They feel like anything is possible when they get up in their tree house. Building is a great bonding experience especially between fathers and sons. You don’t even have to just stick to tree houses, you could attach a ropes course and a rock climbing wall that helps you get into the tree house. The harder it is to get into the tree houses, the more fun it will be for the kid. The whole idea is that this will be their little sanctuary and the only people permitted to enter are the ones that they allow.

Scavenger Hunts
You don’t have to go out into the city to hold a decent scavenger hunt. It could be as simple as doing something around the house. If you want to extend it out in to the yard or the neighborhood if you have older kids, they will probably find that fun to. Depending on the age of your kids you could either leave clues just telling them where to find the next clue or you could turn it into a riddle for them to solve together. Not only is this a fun memory for the kids but it will give them a sense of unity as they try to work together to solve the clues.

Movie Nights
This doesn’t mean parking your kid in front of the television for the evening. This is a family event where you pick out a movie together, get into your pajamas, make hot chocolate, get some snacks and set up a blanket fort all ready for your movie night. It’s a family affair so everyone should be involved and be able to agree on which movie that you all are going to watch. While it should be a family friendly movie, especially if you have little ones, make sure it’s not so childish that your older kids won’t enjoy it.

Ongoing Projects
A great way to guarantee quality time with you kid is to have some sort of activity or project that you are working on together that can not just be done in one night. Spread it out over a couple of weeks and see how things develop. For example, you could have something that you are trying to grow or you could be building an elaborate Lego world and working on a complicated puzzle. Whenever you are done with your project, make sure you frame it or display it and show your child what a great job that they did and how proud you are of them. That will mean more to your child than all the presents and toys in the world.

It’s easy to get so caught up in life and you really forget about taking time out to invest in your kids. They just get swept up in everything. Well, don’t fall into that trap. There are plenty of things that you could do that your kids will treasure, and you won’t have to even leave the house. Pick one of the above suggestions and make an evening out of it. Your kids will be sure to appreciate the quality time with you and will remember it forever. Just make sure that you aren’t on your phone the entire time. Switch off the electronics and really be present with them. Sometimes kids don’t want more toys and stuff, they just want time with their parents. Take advantage of that while they still want it; there will come a day when they’ll be too independent to spend time with you!