The Simple Life at Home

Moving on to the second way of interpreting being happy at home, today we'll look at some ideas for being content to stay home, rather than going out and spending money when you or the kids are bored. Here are some ideas I have:

• Watch a sunset together
• Go for a family walk
• Go to a local park or school grounds and play basketball or HORSE
• Turn on the sprinklers and run through them together
• Put up a tent and have a backyard camp out, complete with roasting marshmallows
• Have a water balloon or water gun fight
• Hold a karaoke contest
• Have a board game tournament over the course of several days
• Teach your kids to play a card game other than Go Fish
• Play dominoes together
• Make popcorn balls or some other special treat together
• Plan a "trip" to another country - find music and maybe a video at the library, and cook up a meal with that country's cuisine. Maybe you could even decorate and dress up!
• Spread a blanket in the yard and cloud watch...
• Or read a book to your children...
• Or have a picnic
• Hang a bird feeder and enjoy seeing your new visitors
• Plant a vegetable garden and make it a family project
• Teach your kids to cook
• Learn how to use a compass then go and use your skills
• Play Frisbee at night
• Try to break a world record
• Act out a play with costumes and make up
• Ask a grandparent about their wedding day or some of their most favorite fun moments
• Ask each other what your goal in life is
• Attack a household chore as a team then and celebrate as a team
• Build a fort with pillows from the couch
• Buy a telescope and stargaze together
• Go for a walk together
• Go to the playground
• Have a lemonade sale
• Make up a funky dance with your children
• Make up some instruments and start a band
• Play Twister
• Research your family tree
• Try to get as many family members together in one place
• Have a paper airplane distance contest
• Make a house out of card board boxes
• Next time you see a rainbow, stop and really admire it
• Play jacks or pickup sticks
• Positive daydreaming
• Sing even if you can't
• The next time it's really windy, find a safe place to lean into the wind
• Watch the moonrise
• Build a tree house or fort
• Get all the children to perform a skit
• Have a back yard talent show
• Host a yard sale as a family - use the proceeds to do something as a family
• Make a slip and slide in your back yard
• Make an entertaining phone answering-machine message
• Put a pond in your yard - with fish
• Wash the Dog

These are just some ideas I had - I'm sure there are tons more out there. Please share if you have a great idea!

The idea is to make your home a haven for your family. You want home to be the center of the family's life - but it's only going to happen if it's a place the family enjoys. Home needs to be more than just a place to eat, sleep and change clothes. It needs to be the place we can go to to escape the pressures of daily life and to renew and recharge.

And added bonus? If you have the "coolest" home on the block, the kids will want to hang out there. You'll get to know your children's friends and be able to have a godly influence on them as well. They'll enjoy being in your company because they will know that, in your home, they are valued and allowed to have good, clean fun!