"The family that plays together, stays together," said family lifestyle writer, Donna Bozzo. But nowadays, family time seems to get scrunched between a never-ending array of tasks on the "to do" list.
"Between grocery shopping, the violin lessons and all the trips to the vet, we’re just too busy. We’re scrambled," said Bozzo. "We’re doing so much. We’re having less of that spontaneity, less of that free time where we can actually enjoy each other."
Bozzo notes that several studies show fun is vital to not only to family relationships, but to each family member’s well-being.
"It increases bonding, (and builds) rich family histories," said Bozzo. "It makes us healthier and happier."
Upping the fun quotient in one's home doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming. In fact, Bozzo sees too much effort as counterproductive.
"When you start to trying to make things fun and put a big effort behind it, you often suck the energy right out of it," said Bozzo. "You never get around to it because it takes 18 steps to get there."
In a new book, "What the Fun?!," Bozzo offers "427 Simple Ways to Have Fantastic Family Fun."
The premise, she said, is to find simple ways to make daily family life more fun.
Here are a few ideas to play with:
Road trip fun
Create a vacation time capsule: collect things along the trip and put them into a time capsule together to store for later. Or, make a piñata from them along with some candy and break into it on a special day, like New Year’s Eve.
Travel Treasure Maps: Everyone gets a clipboard with a little map and add things they find on the trip, or write down the names of each state’s capitol, which also become teaching moments.
Backseat Bingo: Take cooking sheets and add squares with magnets. Go ahead and put stickers or draw pictures of things for family members to find, which kids mark off as they spot them. When all squares are filled, they call out “Bingo!”
Fun at Home
Host a Cooking Show: Kids host their own cooking show, video tape it on a phone, and can even create a cookbook out of it.
Full Moon Party: Celebrate the next full moon by making moon cakes, and moon crafts. Add some pop rocks or Swiss cheese to the mix, and then go out to watch the moon together. Bozzo suggests looking for similar, fun things to celebrate all year long.
Camp in your living room: Pull mattresses off the beds and throw them on the floor. Roast hotdogs and marshmallows in the fireplace.
Eat Under the Table: Put the plates, forks and napkins under the dining table and go ahead and have dinner under the table. “It can’t get more simple than that," said Bozzo, "and more fun for the little ones!”
Still feel like you’re under too much of a time crunch?
"When there’s no time for fun, reach for funny," said Bozzo. "Funny can be just as great fun and it can be a lot faster."
For example, she suggested declaring a "Practical Joke Week in your house. Or, leaving knock-knock jokes, written in soap, on the bathroom mirror. The important thing, she said is to surprise them."
"You don’t want to regret the time you didn’t have enjoying each other as a family," Bozzo added.
