Hobbies And Interests
Cards
For a rainy day inside or designated family night, there are a plethora of popular and well-loved family card games that kids will love. Several well-known inexpensive games that can be purchased online or at most major retail stores include Go Fish, Spoons, Crazy Eights, Uno, Old Maid, War, Slap Jack, I Doubt It and Go Boom.
Board Games
If your family doesn't like to play cards, there are many family oriented board games. Top-sellers and top-rated games for families include Scrabble, Trouble, Mancala, Monopoly, Scattergories, Checkers, Battleship, Parcheesi, Rummikub, Family Feud, Trivial Pursuit, Yahtzee, Apples to Apples, and Racko.
Arts and Crafts
For a hands-on project for the whole family, cover the kitchen table with newspaper and pull out your arts and crafts supplies. Whether your family wants to paint objects or create toys, jewelry or stuffed animals there are online directories with instructions to thousands of family oriented projects. At familyfun.go.com, you can sort through arts and crafts by type, from animal and bug ideas to educational crafts. Getawaycrafts.com lists all of the arts and crafts essentials you'll need to tackle most projects.
Active indoor games
For family night, try several active indoor games. A good one to start with is a house-wide scavenger hunt. Try hiding little goodies wrapped in colorful paper, or hide the kids' stuffed animals. The child who finds the most items wins a prize.
Another fun, active game is Twister, which can be bought at most large retail stores and it can involve the whole family. Charades, in which one family member acts out a word or scene so his team can guess the answer , is well-known as a laughter-inducing, fast-paced group game. If you're looking for another, the classic hide-and-go-seek never is especially fun for the kids.