If you leave your children to entertain themselves, ultimately they will run out of things to do. Having some interesting home improvement ideas ready to go will not only cure boredom, but allow you all to have some family fun while bonding together. Many families host regular game nights with friends for entertainment, but sometimes that just is not possible to do when schedules get busy. You can turn regular household chores and projects into fun and educational experiences for the entire family. Here are 16 projects you can get the whole family involved in at home.
Grow A Garden
Growing a garden is not only a source of family fun, but also an environmentally friendly revegetation project as well. It’s an excellent learning experience for children as they watch the vegetable grow and mature over time. They love getting their hands dirty as they work the soil and spread natural fertilizer. If you don’t have a yard to work with, you can get some indoor edible plants to work with. Each family member can pick out their own vegetables, flowers, or herbs with starter kits from a local nursery or supermarket.
While you are out in the backyard working on the garden, it’s an excellent opportunity to teach your kids about proper tree care. You can have them plant a tree or two and have some family fun by having your children give the new trees a name just like they would do for a pet. They can also learn how to prune, trim, and shape the tree as it grows. You and your family can also make stepping stones using concrete and aluminum pans. When the stones are hardened, you can have family fun with your kids making unique designs on them.
Play With Paint
Painting walls and furniture is an excellent family fun home improvement project. Family members can vote on their favorite colors for common areas and children can select colors for their own rooms. Those who are older can do the main work of setting up, painting, and cleaning up afterward. Younger children can assist by laying down tarp or newspaper and paint areas within their reach. Make sure that the area you’re painting is thoroughly ventilated to avoid breathing in toxic fumes.
You can make painting both fun and educational at the same time. You can use stencils with smaller children to help them improve their gross motor skills and unleash their creativity. Elementary-aged children can learn how to paint stripes using painter’s tape. They can brush up on their math skills by measuring the width of the stripes. Other fun painting projects your kids can get involved with include painting the front door and freshening the pain on the outdoor mailbox.
Backyard Additions
A backyard pool is a refreshing addition for summer that provides tons of family fun. You can choose to either have one installed below the ground or put together an above ground pool yourselves. Children can help with some of the pool cleaning tasks. Once your pool is complete, play some family fun games together like Marco Polo.
Another fun idea for a backyard addition is a concrete fire pit you all help build yourselves. You can find instructions and a list of materials for free by searching online. Once you’ve finished setting it up, you can build a fire and have some family fun roasting marshmallows or making smores. Take an old tire and some rope and create a tire swing. If you’re feeling super ambitious, you can even make plans to build a treehouse together.
Kitchen Cabinet Replacement
Replacing kitchen cabinets is a top priority for many homeowners. Children can help out by grabbing the necessary tools and help pick out colors or designs. They can also help hand you the various brackets and braces as you install the cabinets. Give your child a screwdriver and let them tighten the pulls on drawers and cabinets. Take your children with you as you shop for supplies. They can also help you clean up after the cabinets have been installed.
Build A Fishing Boat
As summer draws closer, you can create excitement for an outdoor family fun activity by building a fishing boat together. You can find instructions for numerous types of boats that you can build online and the project can be more affordable than just going out and buying one. Smaller kids can hammer nails and help paint or bring you tools as you work. Your kids won’t be able to wait to test it out once it’s finished and they’ll learn some great woodworking skills in the process.
If you don’t want to build an actual boat, you can find many fun craft projects to make pretend boats out of different materials. You can make this a family fun activity by having each person build a different kind of makeshift boat. Then you can test your designs by filling up the bathtub with water and seeing which one floats. You can also race them against each other.
Smoke Detector Testing
Teach your child about fire safety by involving them in testing the smoke detectors in your home and helping to change the batteries. You can make it fun for smaller children by having them record and track the monthly inspection on a piece of paper. If your unit isn’t working, you can all go together as a family to buy a replacement. You can also learn how to make your own smoke detectors with instructions you can find easily online. This is also a good time to practice your fire safety drills as a family.
Fixing Door Squeaks
Have your child help you investigate and locate noisy hinges on doors. Let them spray the noisemaker with a can of WD-40. If you are worried about chemicals, your child can apply a little olive oil while using a drop cloth underneath the spray or petroleum jelly to prevent drips.
Pet Beds And Toys
If you have a dog or cat, you can have some family fun making a bed or toys for your pet. Your child can help pick out fabric and learn how to use a glue gun, depending on their age. They use Velcro to attach the fabric together and then stuff the fabric with stuffing. You can also recycle various household items such as sports balls and old socks and turn them into toys your pet will love. Your kids can get as creative as they want.
Make A Homemade Water Sprinkler
This is a fantastic family fun project that is inexpensive to make. To build your own water sprinkler, you’ll need to have a large used juice or soda bottle, a garden hose, drill, and waterproof tape. Unscrew the cap on the bottle and seal it to the hose with the waterproof tape. Carefully drill random holes on the side that’s facing up. Set it down on the lawn and you now have a great way to beat the summertime heat and have some family fun together.
Create Rice Heating Bags
Rice heating bags are a family fun project your kids will love. You just need some fabric, rice, and a few essential oils. Have your children pick out their favorite scents to use. You can stitch up the fabric with a sewing machine to create the bags. Kids can mix up the essential oils with the rice and fill up the bags. If you want to go even further, you can learn together how to make your own essential oils from scratch from dried herbs you can gather from your garden or neighborhood.
Room Makeover
If you have an unused room in your house, you and your family can work together to give it a makeover. One idea is to turn it into a home theater for some family fun. Clean up the room and take out any unwanted items. Your kids can use non-toxic cleaners and disinfectants to keep them safe from harmful chemicals.
You can work together to build a home entertainment system and let your kids pick out furniture and decorations for the home theater. These items can include things like sleeping bags, bean bag chairs, posters, or a candy station. Other ideas for a room makeover include a game room, arts and crafts room, or a reading room.
Carpet Removal
Children love to be destructive sometimes, so why not put their talents to good use? If you’re remodeling, kids can have lots of family fun ripping off old wallpaper or tearing up carpets. Kids under seven may have a bit of difficulty with these tasks. These activities give you the opportunity as a parent to teach them about the importance of safety gear such as goggles and gloves. You can show them how to use a rubber mallet and pry bar to remove any tack strips and how to use pliers to pull the staples up to loosen the carpet padding.
Spring Cleaning
Your kids may not think that cleaning can be fun, but with a little creativity, you can tidy up and have a last at the same time. Put on some favorite tunes and dance and sing while you dust, vacuum, and scrub. Sort through toys and clothes together and decide what to give away. Have your kids make decisions on where things should go. Give them some kid-friendly cleaners and help them fight grime.
Have timed races to see who can get done with their assigned task first. The more you make cleaning a game, the faster your house will be sparkling clean. When you’re done, reward yourselves with a family fun activity for a job well done.
Create A Family Menu
Cooking together is a great way to introduce your kids to healthy foods and have some family fun together. Kids can get messy and build their creativity and imagination. You can get together and come up with a weekly menu containing dishes everyone can enjoy.
Older kids that don’t require much adult supervision can take over the kitchen a couple of days a week and prepare their favorite foods for the whole family. Younger children can help set the table and do certain food prep tasks. You can write down your weekly menu on a whiteboard you can hang easily on your kitchen wall.
Build An Outdoor Obstacle Course
This family fun project allows all of you to get as creative as you want to be within your household budget. You can combine activities that are easy for kids along with more challenging ones for the adults. You’ll have both an outdoor playground and home gym to keep you and your family physically healthy.
You can use many items around your home to build your obstacle course or find inexpensive items at the hardware store you can use. You can use old tires to jump over or crawl through. Take wooden planks to use as balance beams. Find large rocks you can all climb over. Use your imagination and come up with interesting obstacles to challenge yourselves with.
Make Your Own Games
An alternative family fun project to the obstacle course is for your family to create their own games. You can create your own indoor skee ball using a couple of laundry baskets, a cardboard box, and a pack of ball pit balls. Fill some balloons with water and play outdoor baseball with them. Cut various size holes in poster board and assign each hole a different point value. Then make some paper airplanes and see who can score the most points. See what kind of crazy games and rules you can come up with to have family fun at home.
Doing home projects as a family doesn’t need to feel as painful as eyebrow waxing. By doing family fun home improvement projects around the home, your kids won’t be bored and they will learn numerous skills that will benefit them long into adulthood. You’ll create fantastic memories together and bond even closer as a family. Pick one of these projects and spend some quality time together today!
