When life is demanding we have a tendency to give our loved ones our leftovers rather than our best. Whatever it is that may pull you away from your family, make sure you’re scheduling family activities over the weekend. Doing things together creates opportunities to bond and share deeper thoughts about life.

All kids love to see themselves when they were younger. Break out videos of their younger days or create a slideshow using pictures of them growing up. Kids are also fascinated by their parents’ wedding tapes. Just make sure to fast forward if your video is 6 hours long. The point is not to bore them to death.

Surprise your kids by eating dinner at home and announcing that you’re taking them out for dessert! If it’s warm, head to an outdoor ice cream parlor and if it’s colder, go out for warm apple pie.

This night has a lot of possibilities: Invite a grandparent over to tell stories of their life when they were young or tell your kid’s stories about you and your siblings when you were growing up. You can even set up a family history interview with the use of these questions. Another option is to invite a friend over to share their experiences with your kids.

Learn something together! Some ideas could be how to cook a certain kind of food, change a tire/the oil in a car, plant a garden (the kids can pick out the seeds), start a campfire, create a budget (save money) or play a sport (golf).

Painting can help your children communicate their emotions or feelings. Through the use of different colors, they can express themselves without the use of words. Painting together as a family gives an fun opportunity that is also exciting.