Mecklenburg Community Church

To have quality family time, you need to be intentional. The relationships with your spouse or kids will not just grow. You have to put effort into each one of them to help them grow and deepen.

Family Time

In order too have the fun, memorable, relationship building kind of family time, you need to have intentionality. You have to be intentional to plan something like a hike or game night. You also have to be intentional to seize the random out of the blue moments - like when the power goes out or when a child comes home from school discouraged and needs a special snack and conversation.

We polled people around Meck and picked a few FAMILY TIME ideas to share with you.

Ground Rules of Quality Family Time:

Rule #1: Put away the phone! It's too tempting to get sucked into texts and/or calls. This time is just for your family!

Rule #2: Be flexible! Go with the flow! If the plan changes last minute, that’s okay! Remember the main goal is to spend time together as a family so don't get stressed out by chaos or things not going according to plan.

Rule #3: Avoid the Perfection Trap! One family went to the mountains and it rained the entire time. The kids LOVED it - although they whined about it and the parents were miserable. A year later, the kids talk about that day like it was the BEST day ever and have asked to go back so many times. A family day that is imperfect is a normal and great day. Make the best of any situation.

Rule #4: Set a budget. Set aside some budget money and then spend it! But, FAMILY TIMES don’t need to be expensive either. There are plenty of free experiences out there!

Now that we got the ground rules out of the way, here are some FAMILY TIME favorites from some Meck families.

Family Breakfast Time

Hit the grocery store the night before as a family. Let the kids pick out the food - YES, the kids! You can give them a budget but let them decide the menu - even if it's ice cream! The crazier the menu is, the more memorable it will be!

Cook the food together as a family. And let them get a little messy. There is no use crying over spilled milk! ;)

Don't forget the music! Play THEIR music at THEIR volume while you cook. They get to be the DJ! Dancing is allowed! :-)

While eating your delicious breakfast:

For younger kids: Play Charades Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down (i.e. they share their thumbs up and thumbs down from the week, but without using words).

For older kids: Each person comes up with a question everyone else has to answer (i.e. what is your most embarrassing moment).

Hit the Outdoors

Go on a Photo Scavenger Hunt around Charlotte. Here are a couple ideas:
- UNC Charlotte Scavenger Hunts photo-scavenger-hunt.pdf
- Art Walks for different Charlotte Neighborhoods
Go on a hike. Here are some kid-friendly hikes close to Charlotte:
Scavenger Hunt Ideas:
- Gratitude Nature Scavenger Hunt
- Outdoor Bible Scavenger Hunt

Rainy Day Fun

Have a Board Game Tournament in your home. Create a bracket or set a point value for each game. The prize? Winner chooses the movie you watch that night. Tiebreaker? Pull up social media, the first Challenge/game you see, you play head to head between the winners.

Don’t have a board game? Get the whole family in the car, go to target with a budget (10-15 dollars). Choose a game as a family. If there is a disagreement, solve it with Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Build a fort out of blankets and pillows, grab a snack and make up silly stories. One person starts the story. Let each person have a turn to add a little bit more to the story until everyone has had a turn. The last person finishes the story and says "The End."

Have a paper airplane challenge. Go online for instructions on how to make paper airplanes. Here's just one site to get you started.

Some Favorite Websites with Family Fun Ideas

The Bottom Line: just have fun as a family! It will look different for each family, so there is not a one size fits all. It does not take a lot of money to build lasting, fun memories with your family, but it does take intentionality.