by Avril Defleurey

Created on: April 20, 2010

Getting together with the family should always be a pleasure. But having fun as a family can become expensive or repetitive. Well, it need not be. If there is a back garden or yard there are lots of ways to entertain, play, or generally have fun together. Depending on the size of the garden or yard and depending on the families’ interests there are always options for amusement. Take for example a family who are football mad! There may be room for a goal post or two. Better still, football is more fun when substitute goal posts are used. Remember the days of fun on the school field or at the local park? Where were the goalposts then? More often than not coats and jumpers placed strategically did the trick.

Depending whether there is a solid enough wall in the garden (preferably not a neighbours adjoining wall) and if the appeal is there, it is well worth the expense of fitting a basket ball net on the wall. Basket ball or any active sport is usually fun, and good exercise to boot. Games of bowls or skittles are great fun that even the younger members of the family can join in. The game of darts can be fun for all; obviously nobody wants to throw sharp objects around where there are young children playing, so invest in a board with sticky darts and a Velcro board. If there is a patch of concrete, paving slabs or similar in the garden or yard, buy a packet of chalks and play hopscotch, or hangman. Draw you own snakes and ladders big enough to walk on.

If the garden is big enough and interesting enough with lots of good hiding places, set up a treasure hunt, use clues and riddles and as much of the space in the garden as possible. For those of you who are nature lovers hold a nature hunt, use a notebook and note which member of the family finds the first item/bird/insect on a list. But for those not so energetic or agile have a game of eye spy, while outdoors the eye spy ideas are endless. Vary the theme slightly, for example; choose things that are only living organisms, or to make he game even harder; whilst outdoors choose things that are not living organisms.  

Apart from holding a barbeque in which young children inevitably get bored, the imagination can be limited when it comes to outdoor fun for all the family. So, instead of planning a barbeque plan a proper picnic. A proper picnic must have the blanket to sit on an of course a variety of finger foods to eat. And, if the children are very young have a big teddy bears picnic. Whether the members are young or old sing or tell stories, give each family member a chance to make up a story, or tell a real tale. Where grandparents are concerned story telling is a great way to form bonds with the younger generation. Generally being together happily as a family will make happy memories for you to take well into the future.

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