Family Night Themes

Since I've been posting about the Meyer Family Nights (what & how), I've got several requests for a list of themes we've used. Admittedly, some nights we take the theme farther than others. And, even at our best...we never pull it off at the level of excellence we see over at the family Conforth and the family Whitaker. But, our kids don't know that! They think it's the best ever no matter what we do. It's the fact we're doing it together. That's all that matters.

How far the theme plays out for us on any given week all depends on our margin. At a minimum, we stick to our basics: Thursday night, no outside distractions, just us, talking about one virtue. At a maximum: we take the theme to the max, weaving in and out of the entire night.

When I can remember, I try to take pictures. 

Here's a list of the themes we've used so far (at least most of them):

• PJ night. We wore pajamas & ate breakfast for dinner.
• Crazy hat night. Pretty self explanatory.
• Dress up night. Mark and I didn't change out of work clothes and the kids dressed up in dress & sports coat. I used cloth napkins, served drinks in wine glasses and set mood lighting at dinner.
• Guys in the kitchen night. I had to work late, so Easton and Mark were in charge of dinner. They created a make-your-own-sub assembly line.
• Mix match night. We all selected an obnoxious wardrobe and switched places at dinner.
• Fall fun. Pumpkin carving, apple bobbing and corn & sausage chowder.
• Tour de fast food night. I was traveling for a week, so Mark took the kids on a progressive fast food dinner night. They went to 10 different fast food places and ordered one thing.
• Owl prowl night. We had a hot dog roast picnic & then moonlight walk through the woods making owl calls.
• Costume party night. Probably our most involved theme. We all dressed up in costumes and carried the Halloween theme into our dinner menu. We had Frankenstein Snot, Decapitated Fried Toads, Chocolate Covered Colon Slices, Eye Balls, Crispy Fingers (with Ear Wax and Blood Dipping Sauce), Decomposing Mummy Sticks, Cat Tails and Spiderweb Punch.
• Backwards night. We walked backwards, ate dessert first, wore our clothes backwards, etc.
• Election night. We dressed in red, white and blue, decorated in elephants and donkeys, reviewed age-appropriate cliff notes about our country's government and watched the presidential election coverage on TV as a family.
• Commitment night. We baked a wedding cake, ate the same thing Mark and I had on our wedding day, and watched our wedding video with the kids for the first time.

Here's a list of the virtues we're covering using Family Night in a Box:

• Priority
• Participation
• Positivity
• Purpose
• Taking Initiative
• Gratitude
• Commitment
• Responsibility
• Patience
• Honesty
• Attitude
• Generosity

When we've completed these twelve virtues, we're going to start using the weekly virtue from the 252 basics curriculum they use in the kid's program at church. (Sample one. Sample two.)

Comments

[rosy]

Hi, my name is Rosy. Just wishing you a sincere Merry Christmas and for you to check out thegiftrevolution.com website =)

[Theresa]

What great fun Kem. I am stealing your ideas for the new year. It sounds like the kids love it and you do too. You are creating such wonderful memories for the kids...thanks for sharing.

[Kendra Golden]

My kids' favorite family night is a "nicpic." It's the opposite of a picnic. Inside instead of outside, night instead of day, dessert instead of a meal. Really it just means instant pudding in the middle of the living room floor with only flashlights.

[Archie Mck]

Tour de fast food night= genius, on par with the "Eat free samples as a meal at Whole Foods"

[Craig Groeschel]

Kem, I was just talking to Amy last night about how I was creatively drained on family ideas! Love the ideas! Thanks so much!

[mandy]

If I can figure out how to do a tab for my family nights I will. I'm not as shmart as you...

These sound like a blast! Tonight we're having a "congratulations on getting a new job" family night.