Mother’s Day: How to Enjoy Your Day with the Kids

While Mother’s Day is centered on mom (of course!), it’s still important to find ways for everyone to enjoy the day!

My family loves taking me out for brunch after church, or making me breakfast in bed to begin my day. While I greatly appreciated those gestures in the past, I still wished there was more I could do to make Mother’s Day as engaging as it can be for my husband and kids.

Devoting an entire day to mom (or any one member of the family, for that matter!) can be tough. Take advantage of the day with these five fantastic ways to change up your usual Mother’s Day routine, and make it a day to remember for the whole family!

1. Get out and enjoy nature. Enjoy the spring weather by getting outside and taking a nice afternoon hike! Nature walks are an awesome way to get everyone out of the house, feeling good in the renewing spirit of spring, and enjoying each other’s company by being active. If you have any pets, let them join in the fun too. Pack up the car and head out into the wilderness! While you’re outside, challenge your kids to embrace their surroundings and truly enjoy the great outdoors. If you’re looking for mini games and activities to play during the hike, visit Premeditated Leftovers for nature walk ideas kids of all ages can enjoy.
2. Cook together. Whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the whole family can roll up their sleeves and participate. Start by assigning everyone, including yourself, a role in the kitchen. Then, pick a favorite family recipe and let the fun begin!Cooking in the kitchen is a great way of bringing your family closer together. Perhaps bake cookies or brownies as an afternoon dessert. Or, if the weather is really warm and sunny, have a family  barbecue in the backyard.Get everyone involved with following the recipe, preparing the food, setting the table, cleaning up, and washing the dishes. This is a perfect way to have your family moving as a unit – something all moms can appreciate!
3. Play a sport together as a family. In honor of spring now in full bloom, get a family game of Wiffle Ball or baseball going! Get out those gloves, bats, and balls from the garage, and either start a game at home in the backyard, or head out to a public field or park. Or, try touch-football, basketball, Frisbee, or any other sport your family favors the most.An alternative to traditional sports are classic neighborhood games that we’ve all been playing for generations!Red Rover! You all know this one. Split up into two teams, and link arms with each of your team members. Call upon someone to run across and break the chain, and let the fun begin!If you don’t have enough people for Red Rover, Steal the Bases  is a perfect game to get everyone running around. Simply set up two base areas or markers, and have two people throw a ball back and forth while the runners try and steal as many bases as possible in 10 minutes.Capture the Flag is another familiar one. Use some old towels, t-shirts, or bandanas as flags. Split up into two teams and use the front and backyard areas as opposing sides to hide the flags.

   May the best team win! Split everybody up into teams. Then, occasionally throughout the game, switch up sides so everyone gets to play on mom’s team! Trust me, your kids will love seeing you active and excited to play with them.

4. Mom Trivia. Create a Mom Trivia game and have the family guess fun facts they might not have known about you. The winner can be rewarded with a special prize! This will require a bit of work on your part, but everything can be prepared ahead of time. Design the game in a Jeopardy-style format, using different colored note cards or a poster board. Then, think of about 20 to 30 personal facts about yourself and write them down. Be creative in terms of what your kids and husband might or might not already know about you. Remember to make these facts interesting, humorous, and a little tough for your family to guess the answers. Mom Trivia can be played while eating breakfast, enjoying family time during the afternoon, or even as a post-dinner game night activity!
5. Memories of Mom. If you’re looking to get the kids thinking about Mother’s Day early, have them write “Memories of Mom” essays. Choose from a range of topics such as: “A Holiday Memory with Mom,” “My Mom Is Special Because…,”or, “The Best Advice My Mother Gave Me.” Have your kids pick a different topic each day throughout the week before Mother’s Day, write a small essay, and finally pull everything together into a special keepsake book. Now, you’ll have a handful of great memories to read and reflect on Sunday. If you have little ones who aren’t able to construct an entire essay, no problem! Simply have them write to their ability level. Even a few sentences or basic drawings can convey how much a memory means to you and the kids!

How are you celebrating Mother’s Day with your family this year? What advice do you have for homeschooling mothers like you?
On behalf of Bridgeway Academy, Happy Mother’s Day!