Great family times don’t need to cost a fortune
In today’s world, it’s difficult to find time to do things with your family. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles struggle to find ways to help their children and relatives create memories that will last a lifetime and beyond.
It can be hard to appeal to all the age groups in a family while still coming up with ways to keep activities affordable.
Here are a few inexpensive ways that you can spend time with your family and help every member make memories that will stick with them for years to come.
Launching rockets. Now, this may at first sound expensive, but it’s not what you think! All you have to do is get some small plastic containers, Alka-Seltzer tablets and water. Once you put all the ingredients listed into the plastic container, the container will explode, the lid will detach from the cylinder, and the latter will fly through the air.
Be careful not to take anyone’s eye out! These rockets are fun for everyone because the teenagers are simply entertained by the young kids’ reactions, and then end up, through their stubbornness, wanting to try launching rockets themselves!
Water kickball. This is another event that I remember from my childhood that we played in my grandparents’ backyard. You can reach kids of all ages with a little bit of soaking wet fun! Whether you’re using squirt guns, sprinklers or a blow-up pool, on hot days, water can cool the whole family down.
Water kickball is a blast, and can be played in many different forms. Each base has some kind of water obstacle, and you have to go around it, go through it, or slip into it in order to win. Anyone can play as long as you have lighter materials for the little ones!
Movie mania. Additionally, I really enjoyed watching funny movies with my family. A lot of the older members of my family didn’t enjoy doing things like this because it was hot, and we were all crammed in one small room together, but I have some of the best memories with my cousin cramped in a small living room watching television together. It’s always fun watching a comical show and enjoying a treat together.
Game time. I also loved playing board and card games with my family. I loved when I would win, or when I could help a younger kid on their way to victory. It was always fun to watch everyone get competitive, and a lot of times, we would catch my uncle cheating and call him out on it. This is one of my favorite memories, and there are a lot of games that I will never forget.
Another idea I would recommend to anyone looking for something to do with their family is playing yard games, with the addition of things like hide-and-seek and sardines.
Sardines is something I’ve played on both sides of my family that gets everyone laughing so hard that they cry. Basically the game goes like this: One person hides somewhere in the house or wherever you choose to play, and the rest of the family counts to 30 or so. Then, after waiting a sufficient amount of time, the family splits up and goes to find the person who hid.
The first person to discover the hidden relative gets to be the next person to hide. You have to keep cramming people into the hiding spot as they discover the player, and finally, after everyone has crowded into the closet, bed or attic, the game starts all over. This will keep you laughing, and sometimes, the memory will even come back several years later and make you chuckle.
Regardless of what you choose to do with your family to create special memories, it’s important to remember that family is always first; your family shapes you and can be your biggest supporters. Take time to try some of these inexpensive activities to build memories — or brainstorm some of your own!
Kaia McClure is a senior at Syracuse High and one of four girls in her family. Aside from reading and writing, she loves going boating and playing tennis. Email her at kaiaxmc@gmail.com.