In an increasingly hectic and busy world, family time is not only critical for children, but for parents as well. A fun family night reduces stress and brings families closer together. Make the most of this special time without breaking the bank or making it difficult.

One of the best gifts we can ever give our children is the gift of memories. What better way to do that than getting creative with easy, stress-free family fun nights? Get your kids involved and let them help you come up with the list of family fun night events. This time spent together is precious and priceless.

Popular Nights

Create your own up-leveled movie night at home—take a movie night to a whole new level by using index cards as movie tickets, have a small "concession stand" with your own snacks and goodies, and pull out the monopoly money so everyone can buy their own tickets and snacks. You don’t need to buy that much to get this idea off the ground. Just some snacks and crafting materials.

Create your own family fun night jar. Pick up a small bag of popsicle sticks from your local craft store, and as a side activity on one of your family nights at home, each person can write some of their favorite activities on popsicle sticks. For example, movie night, picnic, arts and crafts or any other activity that will be a great family fun night. When planning your next upcoming family fun night, to a big presentation over dinner and allow the children to choose one random popsicle stick from the jar—that's your next family fun night.

Take game night to the next level. Pull out one of your family's favorite board-games, but spend a bit of time before you play to switch up the rules. The rules can be goofy, funny, or anything you like. You can even set up prizes for the winners at the end. If you don’t think you can do it with your current games, there’s a huge variety of board games to purchase out there. New fun games are always available.

Activities Kids Love

• Have a pajama party—movie night sleepover in your living room or even in your backyard. Parents, get in your pajamas too. Then everyone camps out in the living room, or in the backyard. If you plan on doing this in your backyard, you can even hang a large sheet on the side of your house and project your movie onto that.
• Family pizza and create your own cookbook night—make a batch of homemade pizza dough, or by small personal sized pre-made pizza crusts. Then cut all the toppings you could imagine in small bowls in your kitchen and let each person make their own pizza. While the pizzas are cooking, each person gets an index card and writes their personal pizza recipe for your family's recipe box. Bonus: this works just as well with other foods to such as tacos, ice cream sundaes, or anything you can imagine.
• Have a penpal party. Pull out the markers, crayons, paper and any other arts and craft supplies you may have and everyone gets creative. Draw your own greeting cards and write pen pal letters to friends and family whether they are just down the street or on the other side of the country. Bonus: stop spending tons of money on professional or store-bought Christmas cards, do this instead.

Activities for Parents

• Get out of the house—have a picnic at a park. Your kids can play on the playground equipment while you relax. Grab a blanket, make or pick up an easy dinner, and as an activity to do together, take a large jar with a lid along for catching fireflies. Tip: poke holes in the lid and don't forget the bug spray.
• Create a family website. This isn't difficult and you don't need technical expertise. There are many services that allow you to create an attractive website to use as your family blog. Also, this activity can span every family fun night—document your family fun nights as a blog entry on your website to share with family and friends.
• Host a "celebrate a friend" night. Have your kids help plan and cook for a "celebrate a friend" night. This is all about having fun and giving back to someone special. It's also fun to plan for the special night with your children. Your kids can create a custom formal invitation to the guest of honor. This is wonderful for grandparents or elderly people in your neighborhood.
• Add zest to story time—write a book together! Everyone in the family contributes to the story to create your own adventure book. Even better? It is easy to get your completed book printed as a book online. This is a great family keepsake and also is a good gift for grandparents and other family members.