I always try to look at the positive side of things so I believe that given the current circumstances this is the perfect opportunity to reconnect as a family. Since we are not supposed to be venturing out to our favorite local events, why not bring those events to us? Below are some ideas of mini events you can have in your home with your family and the best part is the admission is free.
Turn your living room into an art gallery and have an art show.
Each family member can create an art piece or two in the media of their choosing. You can create a deadline for when pieces should be done but do not show your work to each other until the show. Hang a piece (or pieces) of string across the room and use paper clips or binder clips to attach everyone’s artwork to it. You can also use painter’s tape if you have it and tape the art directly to the wall. End tables work well to display any sculptures that were made. Make it even more like a gallery event and let everyone dress up and act fancy or you can serve little bite-sized sandwiches during the exhibit with cups of juice. Take time to look at each other’s work then sit down and talk about what you liked the most about each piece.
Have a fashion show.
When I was a child, this was probably my favorite thing to do. We had a sunken living room so my niece and I would dress up while our audience (our moms) watched our fashion show from the couches. Not sure what kind of fashion show to have? You could raid each other’s closets and dress up as a different family member. Get your box of old Halloween costumes out of storage and have a monster, princess, and superhero fashion show. Choose one color that the models can wear on the “runway” and have a green show or a purple show. Dress like you live in the future. Get the pets involved if they are into that sort of thing. The possibilities are endless.
Depending on the ages of your children you can choose a topic as a group and everyone can write a paragraph or a page about the topic. You can choose to read your own or maybe put them into a box and you read the one you pick from the box. It’s amazing what you can learn about others through their writing. Another way to do this is the first person writes a paragraph about anything they want. They fold the paper so the next person can only see the last sentence of their paragraph. That next person will add another paragraph to the story and also leave only the last sentence visible to the next writer. Keep passing it around until everyone contributes to the story. Read it as a group and watch the hilarity ensue.
Have a “The Smiths Got Talent” Show.
Even though some people don’t think they do, everyone has some sort of talent. Maybe you can twist your tongue into a shape or fold back your eyelids. Maybe you can do the floss dance really fast or spin around on one foot three times. Perhaps you can play an instrument or do magic tricks. Whatever the talent, host a show in your living room where each family member can show off what they can do. You can vote on a piece of paper and put it into a hat or if you have a larger family, you can even have 2-3 judges and the rest of the members can dazzle everyone with their special abilities.
Dance Party!
Listening to music and dancing is a great way to relieve stress. Don’t worry if you’re doing the moves right or what you look like. As the famous quote says, "Dance like nobody is watching". Just turn up the tunes, let loose, and have fun as a family. If you have one of those whole house light projectors from Christmas, bring it inside and have a disco party.
Follow the clues.
We did this with my son for his Easter egg hunt last year and then it became his favorite thing to do for about a month after the holiday. Write up a bunch of clues and hide them throughout the house or in your backyard. Each clue should direct them to find the next one and so on and so forth. Maybe have a special prize like some candy or a coloring book at the end for the winner.
Whatever you do, just try to think of this as a time they will remember happily and strive to make some memories with each other that will last forever. Making life seem as normal as possible right now is the best thing we can do as parents for our children.
