Family Night Finalists

Thanks so much to those of you who sent in ideas for memorable family activities. Here are a few of our favorites:

"Sometimes for our family night dinner, I have the kids design the center piece. It is usually made of lego spaceships, k-nex robots, lincoln log cabin, art work, playdough sculpture, etc. They LOVE this. Each child (3 boys, 1 girl) takes turns explaining his or her contribution to the center piece. (Another benefit is that it keeps them occupied while I cook.)" --Laurie Reyes

"One of my favorite family activities has always been birthdays.  From the time we were very young, my mom was very intential about how we celebrated birthdays.  She wanted it to be a day where we celebrated the life of the birthday boy/girl and showed them how much they were loved and cared for.  So on our birthday we were allowed to choose the menu for the entire day; a cake decorated however we wanted; and an activity for the whole family such as putt-putt, games, swimming, sightseeing, bowling, etc.  As homeschoolers, we even got the day off school!  Birthdays were set aside as holidays and were something the entire family was excited about.  Looking back, my mom put a lot of time and effort into making it special; but those days are some of our most treasured memories.  Now even though some of us are adults with jobs or children, we still make every effort to keep each birthday completely open on our schedule so that we can keep up the tradition!"  --Alyssa Sieb

"My special memory was a one-time event. We were traveling from Iowa to Denver, Colorado for a family vacation.  Just as us kids were starting to get bored in the car, Mom pulled out a fancy book with blank pages.  She had put it in her purse just for this purpose!  She wanted each of us to write or draw pictures about the trip, as we were traveling.  We each took our turn at that time.  Then we would take the book again, as the mood would strike, throughout the trip.  By the end of the week, the book was filled with stories and pictures and 'inside jokes' that everyone knew about.  That special book made such an impression on me, because Mom had planned it as a special secret to keep until just the right time.  It was a treat that lasted the whole week and beyond.  It may have not been the most exciting thing we did on that vacation, but it turned out to be the most memorable." --Dawn Brincks