How to Make Family Night a Priority

Amanda Woodiel suggests making Family Night a part of your family routine — and explains how to get the kids involved in planning it! 

Seasons come, seasons go 

As all mothers well know, there are seasons of the family, and as your family grows and changes, you, as the mother, also make adjustments. It often seems that as soon as you get your legs under you, something else shifts and more adjustments are needed!  

This year was a big adjustment for us; after over a decade of homeschooling all of our kids, the oldest three began attending a classical Catholic school. School itself was an adjustment, but just when we were getting the hang of how to be a family with half of us not here for most of our waking hours, basketball practices loomed in the mist.  

When these began, I knew, we wouldn’t see our boys on some days for thirteen hours(!) and even then, when they were home, they would need to eat, do homework, and shower. How, I wondered, could we keep the family culture we'd built intact? 

Establishing a Family Night 

At Mass the day before practices started, an idea popped into my mind (ah! the endless mercies and tender love of God!). What about establishing a set Family Night? Wednesdays are, blessedly, off-limits days at our school in terms of after-school activities. No sports practices, music rehearsals, or other extracurricular activities are allowed!  

The idea took shape, but I knew that I would need some way to engage the teen boys in a way that would also include the younger girls. The older ones needed to buy in to the plan, not just be told what we would be doing that night. The plan formed in my mind. We would break up into two groups of three. Each team would be given one month of Wednesdays to plan. In order that the older kids didn’t just defect to the “whatever” plan of “movie night,” we would have a general outline: one movie night a month; one game night a month; and one activity a month. Most months, I reasoned, would really only have three Wednesdays to plan; at least one Wednesday would fall on the night of a church event or other commitment.  

The team for that month would research and choose the movie, figure out which game we would play, and plan an activity using the community events website or a seasonal game (such as going to a Christmas light show). They also —and this is very important! — would get to choose snacks to serve. I would not be on any team but would act as the consultant for both.  

The kids were, by the grace of having just been to Mass, open and even enthusiastic about the idea! They formed themselves into teams and started brainstorming. Unbeknownst to them, they are, in addition to planning family nights, learning valuable skills: how to plan ahead, how to think about other people’s needs, how to budget, and how to compromise, among others. 

Try this with your family!

Here are some tips to get you (or your teams!) started on crafting Family Nights.  

Movie Night ideas 

My youngest kids are very sensitive, so it can take a long time to research and find a movie that works for all of us. I use the USCCB reviews of movies as well as DecentFilms.com. (Editor's note: you can also check out the blog from our ministry partners, Family Theater Productions, for movie recommendations for all ages.) 

Game Night ideas 

It can be hard to come up with a game that includes both Bigs and Littles. Reverse Charades worked very well for us, as does Beat That!, Yahtzee, Rummikub, Apples to Apples Junior, Clue (the old verison), or even Uno Flip. Alternatively, if you have a couple of older kids who don’t want to play games for hours on end, you could make a tournament out of about any game, such as a Battleship tournament. 

Activity Night ideas 

• Thrift shopping (give each team $20 and a mission: to assemble the best outfit for a party, for example)
• Family cooking contest a la Chopped (our three weird ingredients were sour gummy worms, zucchini, and almond butter)
• About any kind of contest: snowman building, pumpkin carving
• Sledding, bowling, ice skating, mini golfing
• Apple/Fruit picking
• Adventuring: go to a Christmas light show, visit the beach at night, go geocaching
• Dance party (learn a new dance on YouTube)
• Canvas-painting (another YouTube moment)
• Go to a local sports event
• Go on a new hiking trail or to a new park
• Arrange for someone to come over and teach your family something (e.g. how to make great wood burning art) 
• Movie-making or theater night
• Check out local events for other fun activities 

I hope your family can find a set time to be together and make memories! I would love to hear about your own family nights in the comments below. 

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Copyright 2024 Amanda Woodiel
Images: Canva