Fun Projects to Help You Bond with the Kids
When it comes to spending quality time with your kids, there’s a fine line between what is actually quality time and what has happened to the cat, and why is he covered in glitter and glue? If you want to avoid the latter scenario, and ensure that the time you spend with your kids is a controlled mess and not just a mess, then here are five projects that are fairly low-effort, but lots of fun.
1. Build a Family Time Capsule
Kids love digging things up. (They’d probably excavate your backyard if you let them.) So turn that energy into a time capsule project. Grab a shoebox or old tin, and fill it with drawings, notes, current favorite snacks, a family photo, and maybe a prediction or two about the future.
Set a date for opening it, next year, or when they graduate, or when your youngest finally stops putting stickers on the TV. It’s nostalgic gold and future entertainment in one.
2. Create a Family Crest (Yes, Like Medieval Nobility)
Hear me out. Designing a family crest is surprisingly fun. You get to invent a bunch of symbols, argue over which mythical animal represents your collective vibe, and pretend you're ancient royalty for a hot second. It’s educational, creative, and just the right amount of ridiculous.
Use crayons, markers, or go digital and search for some family crest clipart to jumpstart your design. Bonus points if someone insists on including pizza or a video game controller in the final version. Frame it when you’re done, and you’ve got a masterpiece that’s part art project, part bonding moment, part hilarious time capsule of your family personality.
3. Try a No-Rules Bake-Off
Let go of perfection and embrace the mess. A kitchen bake-off where the only rule is “have fun and don’t burn the house down” can lead to legendary family memories. Set out ingredients, offer vague guidance, and let them create the weirdest cookies or cupcakes imaginable.
Sure, you might end up with purple muffins or a cake shaped like a dinosaur’s foot, but hey, they’ll remember it. And you’ll probably laugh a lot more than you would making “perfect” banana bread alone.
4. Start a Comic Strip Series
No one needs to be an artist for this. Fold some paper, grab pens, and make a comic strip together. Let the kids create characters—talking pets, misunderstood villains, a superhero with a fear of math—and take turns drawing or writing the next panels.
It’s storytelling with a side of sketching, and it gives them creative control while secretly boosting their writing and sequencing skills. If the story devolves into slapstick nonsense halfway through, even better.
5. Invent a Backyard Olympics
Who needs rules when you have pool noodles, hula hoops, and a willingness to look ridiculous? Set up silly challenges like “slowest crab walk,” “tape-a-spoon-to-your-head relay,” or “sock toss into the laundry basket.” Keep score if you want, or just declare everyone a winner and hand out frozen pops as prizes.
You’ll get movement, sunshine, and a lot of giggles, and probably a few weird photos for future blackmail.
Make the mess worth it!
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