Easy Ideas for Family Meals and Game Time
When our kids were still at home, it was very important to us to have quality time together. As the kids got older, it became a little bit more challenging, but we found a few easy ideas for family meals and game time that helped.
It was important to us that we ate our meals together at the table. As the kids got older and had activities, we had to make a few exceptions. However, for the most part, we always sat at the table to eat our meals.
We also enjoyed playing games together. Eating together and playing games are some of the easiest ways we can spend enjoyable time with our families. I would love to share some of these easy ideas for family meals and game time.
The Importance of Family Meals
Several years ago I read some research on the importance of families sitting down together (at the table) for family meals. Although I do not have the exact numbers, I remember that substance abuse and giving in to peer pressure among youth sharply decreased when families shared family meals at the table several times a week.
“He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.” Genesis 31:54
I recently came across an article written by the Harvard Graduate School of Education that explained the importance of family meals. It also gave practical ideas for making them happen. Click the link to read, The Benefit of Family Mealtime.
Advice to Students
Through my years of school counseling, many students came to me about their relationships with their parents. Many of them felt like they didn’t communicate as much anymore.
My advice was always to plan a family meal and have everyone sit at the table. I told them to take the initiative and get the table ready for the meal.
On the occasions when they did this, they would come back with excitement to tell me how nice it was. Regular family dinners are always a great way to get the communication going again.
Easy Ways to Enjoy Family Meal Times
Family mealtimes should be enjoyable for everyone in the family. With that being said, here are a few tips and ideas to keep in mind:
- Keep all table conversations on a positive note. Do not bring up any problems or trouble at the table.
- Ask each person about their day. Even teenagers tend to open up at mealtimes.
- When possible, make meal preparations together.
- Make meals the entire family enjoys – something for the whole family.
- You might let each person pick a meal a week or month.
- Obviously, everyone should gather around the table.
- It does not have to be a fancy dinner party. In fact, simple meals are just as good: sandwiches, corny dogs, or whatever you have is just as great at the table as it is elsewhere.
- Find easy meal planning tips to keep it simple.
- Enjoy impromptu family gatherings. Everything doesn’t have to be planned out all of the time.
- #1 Rule should be – No phones at family dinner time.
Enjoying Family Game Time
Our family loves playing games together. Some family members can get very competitive when games are involved! When the kids were small, Jay taught them that you don’t always win. LOL!
There were some great lessons in our game times as well as other benefits. Just from my observation (nothing scientific), here are some of the benefits I have seen come from family game time:
- Families have fun together.
- Conversations naturally happen.
- Memories are made.
- A little friendly competition can teach healthy competition.
- You learn how to win and lose graciously.
- Thinking skills are developed – strategic thinking, word skills, higher level thinking, etc.
- Social skills are developed.
What a fun way to earn these benefits!
Favorite Games
We still play games when the family gets together. However, when the girls come to visit, it is a must. They love games, and you have to have snacks while you play! A couple of their favorites are pictured below. Notice how worn out the Trouble box is.
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Train (Double 12 Dominoes) You haven’t truly experienced annoyance until you get one of these with a button with a loud train sound and family members who love to push it! One year Jacob removed the batteries in the middle of the game. 🙂
Trouble Game
Almost any kind of games will make for a fun night. I tend to like word games best, and Jay likes more challenging games with strategic thinking. There are so many different games to choose from these days, with all sorts of topics. You just have to find the ones that fit your family best.
Our New Favorite Games
A couple of years ago, a friend of ours posted that her son did woodwork, and she shared his Etsy link. Oh my goodness! When I went to his site, I was so impressed. We immediately ordered a game for my daughter and her family. When it arrived, I ordered a game for the two of us. This was how we spent our New Year’s Eve – playing WaHoo.
Before he puts it in the comments, yes, Jay won all four games!
We have enjoyed this game so much that we have taken it to my parents a few times to play. Family time playing your favorite games is the best way to spend a Friday night!
Family Game Night Ideas
There are so many family games to choose from. Always keep age in mind when choosing, but you would be surprised how quickly young children will pick up on the games. Several games are appropriate for different ages, from younger children to older kids and even up to adults.
Even the fur babies like to join in on occasion! The goal is just to have fun and enjoy each other’s company.
Here are several ideas:
- Card Games
- Word Game
- Puzzles
- Board Games – Clue is one of our latest favorites. It has been fun trying to outsmart each other! We spent more time keeping notes on a piece of paper for strategy purposes than we did playing.
- Dice Games
- Yahtzee
- Farkle
- Trivia Games
- Charades
- Dinner Table Games
- Outdoor Games
- Sports
- Wiffle Ball
- Croquet
- Cornhole
Family Meals and Game Time Challenge
I would like to challenge us all (myself included) to have more family meal time at the table, and more family time playing games (or some other activity your family enjoys).
We all have busy lives, but our families are the priority. Who will join me in this challenge?
I would also love to hear about your family’s next game night. What is your family’s favorite game or activity?
Please tell about it or share pictures in the comments. I love new ideas for my own family!
Related Posts
How to Host Family Gatherings Without Missing Your Family – This post gives easy meal ideas for family gatherings.
Kitchen Table Memories – Please listen to the song linked to the end of this post. It brings back so many memories of sitting at the table after the meal was finished, having a great time in conversation.
16 Dinner Table Games for All Ages + Printables
I hope something in these easy ideas for family meals and game time was helpful to someone. Let’s keep having fun and building memories with our families!
Until next time…
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“He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.” Genesis 31:54
Thank you for sharing. I enjoy all of your posts. Our son, daughter-in-law and their 5 children all sit at the table to have their meals. One of the kids says a prayer before eating. They all play games together.
That is so wonderful! I love to hear this!!
As our kids grew and had jobs with differnet hours and left for college our schedule changed it wasn’t alwasy dinner and games any more but we had time each day together. Now we have meals and grandkids.
Same here! Precious time!!!
Yes to gathering around the table! It’s so important. I’ve learned a ton about our family from lingering after each meal. It’s one of life’s best gifts! We play “Roses and Thorns” at the beginning of each meal. It definitely helps to open up the conversation but also helps us gauge how each one of us are really doing. Hugs, CoCo
I haven’t heard of Roses and Thorns! Sounds interesting!
Thank you so much! What a blessing!
I was just remarking to someone last week that even with a 15, 17, & 19 year old we have almost always eaten dinner together as a family with only the odd exceptions of someone being absent… of course that will have to change slightly when my 17 year old goes off to college (his older brother is attending a local school that has mostly online classes so they haven’t interfered at all).
That’s so good! So many people don’t see the importance. Keep it up as long as you can! 😃
I love your suggestions for the table…I always try not to bring up anything too negative at dinner time…sometimes we only get that time together during the day as a family.,
Exactly!
Now my girls are older and one is working it is harder to eat meals together but we try for a couple of times a week and always make them a fun occasion.
It definitely gets harder as they grow! Enjoy every minute! 😊
Family meal times and family game nights are some of the best ways for us all to connect. When we were homeschooling our kids, we sometimes had Theme Nights for dinner, and the kids got involved in planning the meal which was inspired by a country or region or historical time period we had studied. It was so much fun!
How fun! Lots of fun, connections, and memories!
I love all of this! We are game people and definitely food people too! Bananagrams is a favorite. Spending time with the family is so important, strengthening that bond. Thank you for sharing this.
❤️ I love those word games! We were supposed to have a family game night tonight, but we had to reschedule – maybe after Spring Break!