150+ Family Bonding Activities That Promote Connection Over Consumerism

Many parents involved in the sustainable community think about family bonding activities. How can we connect with our kids while living according to our earth-friendly values, like teaching low consumerism, care of the earth, or healthy habits?

Okay, but here's the disclaimer: While we may think it's important to instill eco-consciousness in our children, it's even more important to wholeheartedly support our children's interests, facilitating for them, and getting involved in their lives.

Because NOTHING is more sustainable than strong family connections, having fun with one another, and making choices together that make the whole family feel good. And when that happens instilling values comes naturally. Your kids are more likely to listen to you share those values if you've been spending ample time listening to what matters most to them.

Sometimes we might feel disconnected from one another, or stuck in a rut. Maybe your family bonding activities don't feel all that bonding, or aren't even enjoyed by the whole family. Maybe they are too expensive or put too much focus on "stuff" versus connection.

That's why we created this list with our son of fun, inexpensive, and even eco-friendly family bonding activities that we wanted to share with you. (Not all of it is exactly eco-friendly, mind you. Our first priority is strong relationships. Value-instilling comes after that.)

Use it as inspiration, to try new things, or get yourself thinking outside the box, to find what your family might love to do.

Our Favorite Family Bonding Activities

One of the coolest parts of most of these family bonding activities are all the conversations that can come from them. We've discussed politics, religion, civil rights, social activism, environmentalism, human nature...you name it, just from creating open spaces in our day to play and connect. TIP: Do NOT try to create or force these conversations. Just allow them to come up and go with the flow!

1. Declare it a "Playing Hookie" day from anything school- or work-related
2. Hike your nearby national and state parks or trails
3. Read together
4. Storytell while you drive
5. Start round robin storytelling - take turns adding to the story!
6. Learn to juggle! - This is a family favorite!
7. Fish for your dinner
8. Hula hoop - you can make your own hoops from scrap tubing
9. Make a timeline up the stairs of your favorite years
10. Backyard bird watch - find a used birding book on www.freecycle.com
11. Play video games together
12. Search out a local hot or cold spring to explore
13. Get cooperative board games - find them for free or cheap at yard sales or Craigslist
14. Invite them to help you make your own board game!
15. Play card games - we love Uno!
16. Instill the family dinner each night!
17. Make dinner together
18. Turn the radio off, so you can talk while you drive
19. Start movie marathons - We like to play critic afterwards
20. Compare movies to their books and find the differences
21. Search Groupon for local activities
22. Bike ride
23. Watch funny videos together on YouTube
24. Create recipes together
25. Tag, hide-and-go-seek or Sardines, especially fun in large groups!
26. Build and fly a kite
27. Take cookies to a nursing home
28. Organize a neighborhood cleanup
29. Make a sincere offer to help them with chores or tasks
30. Walk the dog (or cat!) together or go to the dog park
31. Make meals for the homeless
32. Play charades
33. Build a solar oven from a box and aluminum foil
34. Plant sunflower seeds and chart their growth
35. Build an indoor fort
36. Make a compost pile and look for worms
37. Build a tree house
38. Build a bike ramp
39. Go to a pick-your-own farm
40. Visit animals at the shelter
41. Volunteer time at a nearby organic farm
42. Prank call easy-going friends and family
43. Make a tree swing
44. Make bow and arrows from found objects
45. Play 20 Questions
46. Play I Spy
47. Paint fun things on the walls in washable paints
48. Play catch
49. Throw a frisbee
50. Start a lemonade stand
51. Plant a veggie garden
52. Go caroling together
53. Check out the activity calendar at your local community center
54. Show interest in and ask genuine questions of their interests
55. Take a short road trip to nearby sights
56. Organize a car wash
57. Learn an instrument together
58. Go indoor rock climbing
59. Go to a game tournament together
60. Make homemade toys together
61. Plop down with snacks and hang out with them in front of the TV
62. Make natural bird feeders from nutbutters, seeds and pinecones

63. Play blindfold Pictionary games
64. Find local concerts or movies in the park
65. Build a snowman
66. Build a snow fort
67. Go ice skating
68. Help them to drive down a dirt road or in an empty parking lot
69. Learn to ski or snowboard together
70. Plan Random Acts fo Kindness together
71. Organize a neighborhood snowball fight
72. Hold an ethnic food sampling night
73. Hold an ethnic candy sampling night
74. Schedule an at-home Spa Night
75. Ask them what they'd love to do together, then do it
76. Play dress-up complete with crazy makeup
77. Face paint each other's faces
78. Try to guess the stories of people you see
79. Play Rock, Paper, Scissor or Thumb Wars
80. Teach them to play poker with nuts, popcorn and other snacks
81. Head to the roller rink
82. Ask them to teach you something they are good at, then stick to learning it from them
83. Create paper airplanes then see which one flies the best
84. Create a time capsule together
85. Check your local museums or galleries for family free days
86. Plan a camping trip
87. Make it a habit to always ask how their day way or what was their favorite part
88. Start a vacation fund and brainstorm fundraising ideas
89. Make sock puppets and put on a puppet show
90. Leave gifts at your neighbor's doorstep and hide to watch their response
91. Get involved in local marches and political campaigns
92. Drive out to the country and look for constellations
93. Plan to catch the next meteor shower
94. Find a local foraging book and forage for wild food
95. Leave your work at work
96. Make funny home videos or stop motion videos to share
97. Build a website together
98. Make Christmas tree ornaments and talk about traditions
99. Plan breakfast in bed for the whole family to share
100. Geocache or treasure map together!
101. Learn magic tricks
102. Invite them to jump on the trampoline
103. Have a picnic in the park or even in the living room
104. Start a pillow fight
105. Build sand castles
106. Build fairy or gnome houses out of wood, leaves acorns, etc
107. Create a scavenger hunt
108. Make mazes on paper or out of rocks outside
109. Create a meditation spiral together
110. Setup a puzzle on the table
111. Google and play Zahada together
112. Go to the zoo
113. Make a trip to the library and talk about borrowing versus buying
114. Scavenge a thrift store or antique store together
115. Start a scrapbook of your family bonding activities!
116. Fingerpaint with soap paints on the windows
117. Make homemade play dough
118. Write letters or postcards
119. Find a fun science experiment book to try
120. Create a "Story of My Life" scrapbook
121. Go tide pooling or snorkeling
122. Create an obstacle course
123. Roast marshmallows (over a beeswax candle!)
124. Have a Dance-Off and record it
125. Surprise them with a water balloon fight
126. Write your own list of your favorite family bonding activities!
127. Start a foam dart gun fight
128. Dress up and visit your local Ren Faire
129. Organize a fancy tea party
130. Read comic books then watch the movies
131. Make your own comic books

132. Make soap bubbles, then find different objects to use as bubble wands
133. Have an epic Harry Potter wand fight
134. Tell ghost stories in the dark
135. Build LEGO together
136. Start a water gun fight
137. Build a rocket, or a water rocket
138. Mix Mentos and diet soda (don't tell them what's gonna happen!)
139. Send a message in a bottle
140. Share your family bonding activities with friends for group fun
141. Collect beach glass and make a mosaic
142. Whittle utensils, toys etc from found wood
143. Make and decorate gingerbread houses
144. Carve pumpkins together
145. Hit up the grocery store together and chat about why you choose organic foods
146. "Adopt" a wild animal through your favorite wildlife foundation
147. Count the satellites that pass in the night sky and talk about space
148. Bake and decorate a cake
149. Raise backyard chickens or goats as pets
150. Start an ant farm
151. Invest in a rock tumbler
152. Hatch and release butterflies or praying mantis
153. Start a new sustainable hobby, like organic soap- or candle-making
154. Make holiday and birthday gifts for one another and other friends and family
155. Share your favorite music
156. Play with the family pet, or teach them new tricks together
157. Race and dodge the waves on the beach
158. Go sledding
159. Bob for apples
160. Check out Earth Day Crafts and Earth Day Activities
161. Start a Nature journal for sketches, flower pressing, etc
162. Discover the endless opportunities of sidewalk chalk
163. Take your kids on an official date, get dressed up, and enjoy their company!

Obviously this is just to get you started!

And again, the most important aspect of all family bonding activities is that it's not forced and it's something everyone is interested in trying.

If you're kids don't seem interested, that's okay! Just hang out with them doing what they love, whether it's TV (try muting during the commercials and discusing the show) or video games (learn how to play) or their favorite game or toy (follow their lead in how to play).

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