Life gets so hectic sometimes. Kids are off to different sports or activities every night and family time takes a hit. If you know you have a time slot coming up where the whole family can be together, plan to spend quality time with one another. We’ve come up with 50 Family Night Ideas that you can do at home or around town.
Written by Aishah Eljirby & Ashley Toler
Family Night Ideas
50 Ways to Spend Quality Time Together
Whenever I ask my children about some of their favorite memories, they almost always answer about times they’ve spent with Mom or Dad. As much as I enjoy date nights with my partner, I savor the time I get to spend one-on-one with my child. It gives us the chance to connect by focusing solely on one another, all while making fun, new memories. I get to enjoy their interests and the personality traits that make them unique, plus catch up on things we may not normally talk about in a typical day’s conversation.
Making it a priority to spend quality, individual time together with your children doesn’t always have to be an elaborate adventure. We’ve curated a great list of 50 Family Night Ideas full of fun and innovative ways for you and your children to spend time together.
Indoor Family Night Ideas
DIY Pottery at Home or a Studio
Pottery is a fun activity for kids of all ages to engage in with parents. Cover your dining table with a cloth and designate that area as your pottery studio. Make sure you are equipped with tools, various cookie-cutter shapes, and if you want, a turntable. Add the clay to the tabletop and let creativity take place, anything goes! Once the clay dries, take it a step further and paint the pottery bright and bold colors. You can also explore a new pottery studio and get crafty making lots of unique original work that can be displayed for everyone to see.
Plan a Progressive Dinner
Have you heard of it? This new concept seems to be all the rage these days! It’s a dinner party where there are multiple hosts or locations to sample various foods. Each host will prepare a dish and guests move from house to house either with neighbors or friends. If you don’t want to cook, then going out and trying different foods from various restaurants is also a unique and different option. Setting up a theme for the dinner is a great way to sample foods from a specific region of the world.
No-Sew Family Blanket
Create a one-of-a-kind, easy-to-knot family blanket together, then use it to cuddle up with during a movie night! This no-sew blanket doesn’t require a sewing machine or even a needle and thread. It’s great for all ages and you can get little hands in on the fun, too. Start off your date by visiting your local fabric store and letting your child choose a fabric. Let your child pin the fabric, measure, and cut with a parent’s guidance, then work on tying it together, until you finish your made-with-love masterpiece.
Cook a New Dish Together
If your children love to help in the kitchen, why not make it into a fun and new learning experience together? Find a new recipe that everyone can enjoy, make sure to have all the ingredients on hand, and get to cooking together. Set up the table with candles and enjoy a new delicious meal that you and your family created together.
Parent/Child Dance
I love seeing those adorable Daddy/Daughter and Mother/Son dance photos. Creating a formal dance is a fun activity for all ages, especially for kids. Set up a space in your home to host an epic formal dance. Add decorative pieces like lights, fabrics, and flowers around the room. Set up a great playlist of various types of music. Put on your best formal wear and enjoy a night of dancing. Afterward, maybe order in some fancy food as a fun end to the formal dance night.
Make a Family Project
This is a great family night idea that can be displayed in the home for everyone to see and admire. All across the nation there are studios that allow individuals to create home decor using wood or metal and a bit of imagination. Making an art piece together is an activity your family will cherish forever.
Aerial Classes
Swing together from the chandelier, er, I mean silks, in one of these classes. Have you ever been mesmerized by a circus hoop performer? Why not try your own hands at it? Aerial classes are offered for all ages, including silks, hoops, and static (close to the ground) trapeze. Tricks, technique, and partner work are some of the skills taught in classes, making them a perfect family night option.
Step-By-Step Canvas
Similar to canvas and wine, step-by-step canvas has been a popular activity in the last few years. The idea is to follow a step-by-step painting process on canvas to achieve a certain picture. You can participate in an in-person instructor-led class or go the DIY route. If the latter, decide on what you want to create together, then search YouTube for a kid-friendly step-by-step tutorial.
Dessert Only Dinner Date
Dessert is the best part of the meal, right? Pick a fun restaurant and choose an item on the dessert menu to split or two to share with the family. Make it DIY by putting together a sundae bar at home and getting to choose all your favorite toppings.
Spa Day
Whether you set up an appointment for mani/pedis at a local salon or prefer face masks at home, everyone enjoys being pampered. If you are going the DIY route, chop up some cucumbers for your eyes and your water, and maybe a few extra to nibble on. Then YouTube some background white noise, sit back, and relax together. Not all dates have to be about communication, some can just be enjoying being in the presence of each other in silence.
Laser Tag
Run around and burn off some energy with some friendly laser tag competition! You can head to a local business or purchase your own set online to keep at home. If you are heading out, call ahead and make reservations. Either way you go, be sure to bring plenty to drink! These matches can get intense, so be sure to hydrate.
Bake Delicious Treats Together
Whether they are old enough to read the measurements on a recipe card or young enough that their only contribution is to pour and stir, baking together is a great activity to connect at any age. Learn how to make each other’s favorite dessert or work your way through a cookbook together. Once your creation is in the oven, play a couple of rounds of Would You Rather questions while you work together to clean up any messes made in the process.
Escape Room
This cool concept is essentially where you and a group of people get locked in a room and you must solve a series of clues to try and escape before times up (60 minutes). There are designated places to try an escape room, each with different themes. There is also an Escape Room game that can be hosted from the comfort of your home.
Tea Party Date
From little kids and their stuffed animals to big kids and poetry, tea time is for everyone. It’s an easy date to plan for an afternoon tea at home or at your local tea shop. First set the table with a teapot, teacups, plates, and utensils. Adorn the table with flowers, tea sandwiches, mini veggies, and small finger foods. Put on your best outfits and enjoy an afternoon of tea time.
Outdoor Family Night Ideas
Squirt Gun Painting
Squirt gun painting is a fun and easy project that can be done together. Grab those summer squirt guns and fill a few with various food dyes or paint colors (you may need to thin the paint with a bit of water first). Set up either a canvas or large paint paper and have fun creating various masterpieces.
Have a Water Day
Put on your swimsuits and sunscreen, then plan to make a day of it with your water baby. Break out the sprinkler, make a slip and slide, or fill up some water balloons, and have a battle royale! Grab some water squirters, go big with a water slide inflatable, or go old school and let them run through the spray of a hose. It’s all fun, as long as they get to play in the water on a hot day!
Stargazing Picnic
Create a magical night for your child with a stargazing picnic. Pack up a soft blanket, a dinner picnic, and a constellation or star map. Look up the stories behind the constellations you are likely to see so you can share them later. Enjoy a night of spotting different planets, stars, and even the international space station.
Chalk Art & Games
Get ready to let your inner kid out to play. First things first, decide on your canvas location. Are you using the sidewalk or driveway at home? Heading to a local park? We have even used a wooden fence in the backyard before! Once you have that figured out, grab a box of chalk and let your imagination run wild! Draw to your heart’s content, create resistance art, make a hopscotch path, or doodle an obstacle course.
Tie-Dye Date
Tie-dye is an excellent and creative DIY family night idea. You can use a tie-dye kit to make a groovy colorful shirt. Making a tie-dye shirt can be messy so finding the right space outdoors is a great option. Look up different folds and wraps and the designs they make, choose a favorite, and start creating your shirts together. You can make them match or create custom designs for each person. The possibilities are endless!
Enjoy a Sunny Beach Day
Are you and your family craving some sun and sand? A beach date would be the ultimate way for you to spend quality time together all while soaking up some sun. Pack up a beach bag equipped with sand toys, towels, and sunscreen. If you live away from a beach, then bring the beach to you. Having a backyard beach day can be as easy as grabbing some sand, seashells, and an inflatable pool to create your own backyard beach oasis.
Nature Scavenger Hunt
I love spending time outdoors with the kiddos, and a scavenger hunt can add some spice when I have run out of ideas. Try spotting birds, animals, plants, insects, colors of the rainbow, or even fun-shaped clouds! The nature scavenger hunt can be something as simple as visiting your local park or going the extra mile to plan to hunt for specific things on a trail. Make it a day trip and pack a picnic to enjoy after the scavenger hunt.
Explore a Cave
There are lots of great caves to explore and learn about all the different formations. Kids seem to like the ones named after food items the best, so be on the lookout for some cave popcorn, cave bacon, or the fried egg formation. Caves maintain pretty consistent temperatures, making them a great option to visit any time of year!
Watch for Aircraft
If you have an aircraft enthusiast in the family, why not go on an airport date with your children? Many airports have cell phone lots that are great for viewing aircraft take off and land. Test out your child’s airline knowledge by asking if they know a certain type of aircraft or the specific airline. You can even enjoy lunch inside the airport food court and spot pilots and flight attendants.
Check Out a New Swimming Hole
There are lots of amazing places to explore within cities and towns for a nice swim and a day in the water. Check out new to you and your kiddo splash pads, and indoor or outdoor pools. During the summer months, there are a number of unique natural places with water to check out at local and national parks.
Go-Karting
Who doesn’t love a good race? Whether you’re a huge fan of the famous INDY 500 or have a kid who loves race cars, Go-Karts can be an incredibly fun way to create a stronger bond between kid and parent. Enjoy a day of racing outdoors or indoors, test out your driving skills, and make it a memorable date your kids will remember.
Hit Up The Playground
And, this time don’t just sit on the sidelines! Attempt the monkey bars, climb the tower, go down the slide, or play a game of tag. (“The picnic table is base!”) You could also bring along a bottle of bubbles and take turns, seeing who can blow the biggest one. There are so many great playgrounds in the area to choose from.
Geocaching
Have you heard of geocaching? It’s like a modern-day treasure hunt and you can do it almost anywhere. Geocaches are often hidden in plain sight and typically contain a logbook and treasures of some kind. If you bring a treasure of your own, you can swap it with one in the container once you locate the geocache. The most important thing, besides leaving no trace of your visit, is to put the geocache back exactly as you found it, so the next person is able to locate it. You can find a geocache near you at geocaching.com.
Archery
Spending time at an archery range is another great sport option. If you’re an experienced archer then a dare to show your kid some skills. Teaching him or her a new sport is a great way to connect. If you are all new to the sport, you can bond by learning it together.
Explore a Hiking Trail
Grab your hiking boots, a bottle of water, and print out a map, since GPS can get kind of spotty on some trails. Wind your way through the woods on a family hike to enjoy Mother Nature and each other’s company. Download an app like Seek by iNaturalist or Picture This ahead of time, so you can snap photos and identify some of the flora and fauna along your path.
Float on the Water
Water dates are hands-down one of my favorite family night ideas. You can’t go wrong with kayaking, canoeing, or floating lazily in an innertube down the river. You get the opportunity to work together and communicate while taking in the sights of the beautiful nature surrounding you.
Plant a Flower or Vegetable Garden
My kids love to get their hands in the dirt and it makes them feel a sense of pride to watch something they planted grow. Use your child’s input to decide what you are going to plant, shop together for supplies, and set off to work. If your thumb is more brown than green, shop together to choose a blooming plant, then make a plan on how you will work together to keep that plant baby alive.
Helicopter Ride
As an aviation family, this is a great one we love incorporating into our list of family night ideas. Helicopter rides create a unique experience to be able to learn about the cockpit, check out the city view, and get some great parent-kid bonding time in the sky.
Toss Things
Say what now? I’m not talking about getting rid of stuff, but actually throwing things (in an organized fashion, of course.) From ladder toss, horseshoes, cornhole, magnetic darts, and more. You can do just one of the activities together, or set several up field day style for an all-day date.
Drive-In Theater
My kids adore going to the drive-in theater to watch movies. There’s something magical about setting up a blanket on the ground or getting to watch a movie on the big screen from the back hatch of your vehicle. There are over 300 drive-in theaters in America right now, and one in every state! Find the closest one to you here.
Horseback Riding
If your child loves all things horses, why not take them on a trail ride? It is so relaxing to be led through the woods and can make your little one’s dream come true. If they aren’t quite old enough for a true ride, leading them on a ponywalk might be more their speed.
Aerial Obstacle Course
An obstacle course on flat ground is one thing, but high up in the air? Even better, in my book. Most aerial obstacle courses have features like rope bridges, lookout platforms, ladders, tightropes, and swings. Take your little thrill-seeker to the tops of the trees and explore a course local to your area.
Family Night Ideas: Anywhere Activities
Outdoor/Indoor Nerf Gun War
If you’ve got a kid who loves Nerf guns, creating an epic Nerf war battle is sure to make any family night the highlight of your child’s week. Whether it’s indoors or outdoors, you can set up your home as a battleground with cushions, chairs, printed targets – anything your heart desires to make the battle a fun experience indoors. A Nerf war battlefield can also be held outdoors in your own backyard.
Movie, Pizza, & Popcorn Night
This fun family night can be done indoors or outdoors. Choose a favorite cartoon or movie, bake or order pizza, and pop some buttery popcorn. Make the room dark and set up a movie theater vibe indoors with comfy pillows and yummy treats. Have a projector? Take it outdoors with a large outdoor screen or even just a white sheet. Grab lots of soft comfy blankets and pillows and get cozy for an outdoor movie date night.
Plan a Getaway
And actually go on it! If that isn’t in the cards for you right now, no worries. There is still much fun to be had in the planning portion, and it gives you something to look forward to. Choose a location to learn about, set and plan how everybody can contribute to the budget, plot your route, and find attractions you will all enjoy along the way. It can be a day trip, overnight experience, or weekend adventure. The options are endless!
Go Camping
This is one of those family night ideas that you can do simply or really go all out. Hop on a rental hosting site and book a camping trip in a treehouse. Head to your local state park’s campground and rent a cabin. Or, just pitch a tent in your own backyard. You can even keep it cozy and camp out with tons of pillows and blankets in your living room or basement. No matter where you choose to go, don’t forget the s’mores!
Paper Airplane Competition
Paper airplane competitions are the perfect indoor, rainy date activity. Set up a paper airplane-making station equipped with various sizes and colors of paper, markers, crayons, stickers, and stamps. Add paper clips for weight, if needed. Build and decorate various paper airplanes, use some painter’s tape to set up a runway or bulls-eye landing zone for them, and take all of them on a test run.
Strike a Yoga Pose
You can do this family night anywhere! Grab some mats and set up in the living room with some Cosmic Kids Yoga. Take it outdoors and head to a group meeting in the park. Another winner is yoga with animals, a guided yoga class featuring some furry friends like bunnies or goats.
Make Things Explode
With science, of course! You can set up different science experiments to do together using household items and make a hypothesis (guess) on why the explosion occurred. Research their answer together to see if they were right, or explain what really happened, if not. Check out some of our favorite science experiments here.
Go Ziplining
Feel like your own personal Superman or Captain Marvel as you fly about! There are tons of locations for ziplining, including indoors, through the trees, across a lake, and even through caves and caverns. Definitely talk to your kiddo ahead of time and make sure they know what to expect and are completely on board for this type of family night. This is a hard one to stop in the middle of if they happen to change their mind!
Take the Family Out to a Game
What is your little love’s fancy? Football, soccer, baseball– let them choose! Snag some tickets and head to the field. Check ahead to see if there are any special, kid-friendly events going on. Some local stadiums have character visits, fireworks, or kids-eat-free nights, which can help add to the magic of your date night.
Go Paintballing
This is a unique and fun activity, especially for parents of older kids and teens. It’s a great competitive sport and can leave an unforgettable memory. In this epic sport, you’ll learn to channel in some tactical mission-based combat play. It creates new challenges and adventures for you and your children to conquer together.
Explore an Historic Site
As a history buff, my kids have not been shy about wanting to learn and experience history from all the amazing historical sites within the United States. Start by learning something new about your state and then make a date to go exploring a coordinating new historic site. It’s a great way for you to connect with your children while teaching them something new and maybe learning a bit yourself!
Volunteer Together
Where does your child’s passion live? Are they concerned about the lack of drinkable water? Food shortages? Helping animals? Befriending the elderly? Look for volunteer opportunities you can do that speak to their heart. If they are uncertain when asked, research local opportunities to volunteer and allow them to choose an activity for you to do as a family.
It’s Showtime
Whether it’s a Broadway show, concert performance, or magic show, there’s something to fit everyone’s interest. Plays and performances create a different and unique opportunity for family time. They can be bold and loud experiences or calm symphonies. There are lots of great choices to choose from that fit your family’s interests.
Share Their Interest
Whether it is learning to battle in Pokemon, doing the latest TikTok challenge, or hitting up the batting cages… Even if you can’t tell Charmander from Charizard, are less than coordinated, or have zero athletic ability—it doesn’t matter. It’s all about being there to share what they love and learning from them, all while making memories together.
Being a parent is one of the most rewarding and important jobs out there, and spending intentional, quality time as a family helps create a solid foundation for strong and lasting relationships. We hope you were inspired to pick out new family night ideas and create lasting memories together.
What are your favorite family night ideas? Share your comments and pictures with us below or tag us on social media using #PLAYindy. Follow Indy with Kids on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest for all of the best ideas and things to do with kids in Indy!
