Family Reunion Location Ideas

LOW END LOCATIONS

National Forests:
Ashley
Dixie
Fishlake
Manti-LaSal
Unita
Wasatch

National Parks:
Arches
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Zion

National Monuments:
Cedar Breaks
Dinosaur
Hovenweep
Natural Bridges
Rainbow Bridge
Timpanogos Cave

Recreation Areas:
Flaming Gorge
Glen Canyon (Lake Powell)

Utah State Parks:
Bear Lake
Deer Creek Reservoir
Willard Bay

City or County Parks:
Willow Park (west of Lehi--$150 per person per night or $8.00 per family)

Springville:
Rotary Park
Jolley’s Ranch



MID-PRICE LOCATIONS

LDS Stake Camps
Utah:
Heber Valley Ranch
Idaho:
Alturis Lake
Pintetop
Camp Glenwood
Summer rates at ski resorts
Private facilities
Moonlake Cabins
(Duschene, UT)
Big Rock Candy Mountain (Richfield, UT)
Kolob Ranch (Zion Park)
Windwalker Guest Ranch (Spring City, UT)

Cabins
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Banff
Waterton



HIGH END LOCATIONS

Resorts:
Sundance
Homestead (Midvale)
Clear Creek Family Ranch ( near Zion Nat’l Park)
Jackson Hole, WY

Houseboats
Lake Powell

Lodges
Yellowstone
Grand Tetons, WY
Waterton (Canada)
Glacier (Montana)

Hotels
Lake Louise (Canada)
Broadmore (Colo. Springs)
Coronado (Calif.)
Aspen, Colorado

Family Reunion Invitations

You're Invited to
THE AUSTIN FAMILY REUNION

All of Grandpa William and Grandma Ellen Austin's descendants are invited to the 1992 reunion which will be held at Aunt Jeanine and Uncle Oscar's home in Omaha, Nebraska.

Friday-Saturday-Sunday
June 8-9-10, 2001

You won't want to miss visiting Winter Quarters where you will see two of our relatives' names inscribed on the monument in the cemetary. See the new temple and tour the visitors center.

We have many wonderful activities planned for fun and inspiration! There are six new babies, two new in-laws, and five returned missionaries this year!

We will be sending out more details in May, but please e-mail Aunt Jeanine by March 19 (e-mail address) to let her know how many of your family members are coming.

If you have any problems with these dates, please let us know.

THE REUNION COMMITTEE
Jeanine Baxter (phone number)
Thomas Austin (phone number)
Virginia Austin (phone number)

ANNOUNCING
THE 2001 REUNION OF THE WALTER AND MARY Parker FAMILY

WHERE: Sun & Sea Cabins at Montara, California

We'll have a bonfire on the beach, swimming and surfing and a great tour of the BAY area including Church historical sites! See where the ship the Brooklyn docked, bringing members of the Church, who were among of the very first residents of San Francisco.

WHEN: July 14, 15, and 16, 2001--from noon on Friday to noon on Sunday

WHO: All of Grandpa and Grandma Parker's descendants and their spouses

There are 112 of us in all this year! Let's make it 100%. Will all of you please e-mail to confirm your reservations at the cabins [give e-mail address] or call Wendy Koster at [give number]. We'll send you the map and complete information in june. If there are any problems with the time and place, let us know immediately.

This should be our most exciting reunion ever. We look forward to a memorable time together.

YOU’RE INVITED TO
THE SO AND SO FAMILY REUNION


All of Grandpa William and Grandma Ellen So and So’s descendants and their spouses are invited to the reunion which will be held at Aunt Jeanine and Uncle Oscar’s home in Omaha, Nebraska.

Friday-Saturday-Sunday
June 7-8-9, 2002


You won’t want to miss visiting Winter Quarters where you will go through the visitors center and see the cemetery where two of our relatives’ names are inscribed.

We have many wonderful activities planned for fun and inspiration. This year there are three new babies and two new in-laws to “Add to the Legacy,” and four returned missionaries to greet!

We will be sending out the details in May, but please e-mail Aunt Jeanine by March 19 at [insert e-mail address] to let her know if these dates will work for you and how many family members will be able to come and join us.

Why Have a Family Reunion?

Why have a family reunion?
Roots
The past is past--why dredge up old memories and old relationships? Why is our connection to the past so important to us? In the seventies, when Alex Haley's book Roots became a best seller, it seemed to spawn a heightened interest on a public level in family history. The book seemed to awaken in many people their instinctive desire to know about their ancestors. Mr. Haley wrote,

"In all of us is a hunger marrow deep to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we come from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning no matter what our attainments in life. There is a vacuum, an emptiness, and a most disquieting loneliness."

In 1977, Alex Haley's book was made into a TV program. The message of the book and the program motivated many people who were adopted as children to seek out information about their birth families. Many of them went to extraordinary lengths to search records at orphanages, hospitals, and county court houses to see if the mystery of their heritage could be unraveled. But long before the upsurge of interest on a national level, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been searching and keeping records of deceased persons, so much so that they are now in a position--as individuals and as a church--to help thousands of people trace their ancestry. In the past, the Church called this work by its scientific name, genealogy." In recent years the Church has replaced that term with "family history," which is more "user-friendly," and much more descriptive of what it's really all about. Soaring on the wings of the electronic revolution, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now provides extensive facilities and multitudinous records to millions of people both in and out of the Church, giving them a place to go to start educating themselves with this most precious information--their family history. A family reunion is a great place to find or share information about your common roots.

Getting to Know You
While searching records for deceased ancestors can be an incredible adventure, there is another marvelous dimension added to your sense of family when you personally know some of your living relatives--as many of your progenitors as possible and your aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. President Spencer W. Kimball taught, "It is important for us . . . to cultivate in our own family a sense that we belong together eternally. . . . We ought to encourage our children to know their relatives. We need to talk of them, make effort to correspond with them, visit them, join family organizations, etc." (Ensign, November 1974, p. 112). The fact that some families don't feel they have much in common with the rest of the clan or sometimes even hold grudges against them is another good reason to get together. I have read many wonderful accounts of how family reunions have helped to heal old wounds and bring new love, understanding, and appreciation among family members who may have been alienated for years. But even without such high expectations, a wonderful family reunion cannot hurt. I just want to motivate you to have one, and give you a few suggestions on how to do it.

While it is true that the family reunion can be a good opportunity to exchange formal genealogical information, if the family reunion is a new experience to your family, you may want to play down this aspect to begin with and make having fun and getting acquainted or re-acquainted the main focus of the first reunion. An excitement about and interest in the past will evolve naturally from the sense of family that is generated by just getting together.

Families Are Forever
I love the short passage by Eileen Kump quoted below that captures the feeling of a close family carrying on from generation to generation. This particular occasion was a funeral, but the sense is the same for any meaningful family gathering. A grandmother is watching her young grandsons as they parade past their grandfather's casket. She says,

"Those sacred, half-grown, unknown quantities, not quite spitting images of their dads or any other human creature, not happy about their granddad dying but not unhappy either. There they stood and the way of their standing, awkward as it was, sent praise to heaven, praise for the dead man whose blood flowed in their veins and whose stature added height to theirs."

Then she speaks as if to her dead husband:

"The blood was there so of course the tribute to you was there, but Sweetheart, that day I saw glory! I saw an eternity of sons!" (Eileen Kump, Bread & Milk and Other Stories as quoted in Thomas F. Rogers, "The Sacred in Literature," Literature and Belief, vol. 1, 1981, p 65.)

An eternity of sons and daughters! Family reunion is an eternal concept in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the blessings of being together forever are based on what we do here and now. One of the greatest aspirations of the family reunion is to cement that sacred sense of eternal family, which seems so lost to the fractured world.

Bring Them to Christ
In effect, bringing children to a sense of their eternal family is bringing them to the family of Christ. It can not only lead them to the Savior on a spiritual level, but hopefully, a strong tie to their family will actually help bring young people to Christ in down-to-earth, practical ways. They can learn that others care about their place in the big picture, and they can begin to realize that their daily choices will eternally affect the lives of many other people. They may be influenced to go on missions and marry in the temple partly because their cousins are doing those things and their uncles and aunts have done them. Such positive peer pressure may not be the highest motive for doing righteous things, but it can help put them in a position where better motives can develop. I have known several families who make a great effort to foster close ties among the cousins. These extended families are strongly committed to follow the prophet, remain morally clean, and serve the Lord. They derive great power from each other in keeping their high standards day to day and in seeking for eternal values, attainments, and goals. One family calls this potent phenomenon "cousin power."

While the family reunion should be lots of fun, it can and should serve a higher purpose. Because it can promote righteousness and help lead our families to Christ, it is surely worth our very best efforts.

A Father's Advice

FUN AND TOUCHING FAMILY REUNION MESSAGE GIVEN BY A FATHER

You guys—four days together! This is a trial run for a long Christmas break together and practice for the rest of our life as a family! We want to have fun when we get together so we will always want to be together and not stay away. Everyone please help out or the place will be a wreck and Mama will not be happy. Clean up after yourselves, don’t be demanding, don’t act like a guest (unless it’s to our advantage!), be nice to the younger kids—they have grown up a lot, don’t wait to be asked to help, i.e., vacuuming, dishes, trash, clean up, etc., put yourself last, no contention, no pride, no selfishness, no “I didn’t come here to work” attitude. Don’t be costly—we live on a shoestring as you do, don’t ask Mama to buy you anything, don’t be mean or ridicule or make fun of anyone, don’t say rude words, don’t bring up past stuff that’s embarrassing, don’t swear, don’t be gross or off-color in the least, don’t be spoiled, don’t have to have your way, be Christlike, be a peacemaker, eat what Mama fixes, don’t demand special stuff or favors, be considerate of the car situation, be agreeable, have a great, great time!!!

Family Heritage Ideas

FAMILY HERITAGE ACTIVITIES BASED ON THE PAST

Oldest relatives share stories
Make up songs about ancestors
Sing old songs
Bring family history projects to share or even sell
Make a pedigree chart or family tree
Tell stories of ancestors
Impersonate an ancestor
Enact family history events
Read excerpts (not too long!) from journals, etc.
Tell how some of your ancestors met
Question/answer session with older family members
Interview an older family member or videotape one and show it
Visit gravesites
Model clothing worn by your ancestors or display other artifacts
Tour sites where your ancestors grew up



START FAMILY REUNION TRADITIONS BASED ON THE PRESENT

Have a parents’ night out
Hold a family business meeting
Make a “No empty chairs” display
Make and bury a time capsule
Have the children make an autograph book
Start a website
Make a video of each reunion
Make a scrapbook or photograph book of each reunion
Write letters to missionaries and those in the military
Enact the nativity (Christmas)
Commemorate another holiday
Have an auction, a trading post, a family “yard” sale
Write letters to yourselves outlining your goals, aspirations, and predictions
Ask each family to bring a video clip of themselves, their town, their home, etc.
Get a trumpet and have someone play taps, reveille, call to mess, etc.
Have a flag raising or lowering ceremony
Spotlight family members
Have cousin parties for the various age groups
Make a family banner or flag
Prepare a memory booklet that everyone can take home
Start a family missionary fund
Make a calendar with a different family picture each month
Start a family organization
Have guest speakers—some one who knew your ancestors
Have education week type lectures by family members
Teach the children to crochet, quilt, carve, or make other handicrafts
Review movies, books, etc. of interest to your family

Spiritual Ideas

Since making the reunion spiritual is really the most important part, I’ve included this excerpt from Your Family Reunion: Getting Together Your Get-together so no one will miss this great opportunity for your family’s spiritual growth. –Elaine Flake

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER 8
IDEAS FOR MAKING THE FAMILY REUNION SPIRITUAL

Well, now we've reached the best part--making the reunion spiritual. It's the part that is somewhat unique to Mormons because of our deeply held convictions that families can and should be together forever. Indeed for us, the very definition of heaven can be compared to an eternal family reunion. If spirituality is not the major goal for our family reunion, we are surely shortchanging ourselves. Of course we know that we can't "make" the reunion spiritual, but we can try to create a climate in which it is possible for the Spirit to manifest itself. Care should be taken to see that the entire reunion, while not necessarily constantly spiritual, is free from any elements that would drive the Spirit away. Contention, off-color humor, inappropriate activities, and even immodest dress, can dampen the uplifting and inspiring environment which should surround us when we meet together with what we hope will be our eternal family.

At least once during the family reunion, there should be some kind of activity specifically designed as a spiritual feast, where you share and strengthen each other's testimonies, where you get that reassuring feeling that you're on the right track in your family and that the Lord loves you and is blessing you. You should feel the comfort of knowing that you will be there for one another as you strive to live eternal principles and seek to be worthy of living in the Celestial kingdom. Most likely this activity will be the testimony meeting, but other activities such as a family history fireside, a campfire program, a missionary meeting, or even an impromptu "remember when" session can also be very spiritual. I do not think it is expecting too much to try to make the family reunion not only fun, but also truly inspirational.

Now--coming down out of the clouds--what if the rest of the family members or at least part of them do not belong to the Church? What if there are less active members, former members, or people who otherwise are just not comfortable with doing religious, LDS-oriented activities? I have learned to anticipate this question whenever I teach a class on this subject. And so, I'll start right out with the only answer I can come up with. You need to forge ahead with as much "spiritual" focus as you can without alienating the family members. Is there some one who will be deeply offended if you do spiritual things? Are you sure? Sometimes people are more willing to be tolerant than you think they are. You might want to have a heart-to-heart chat with them and see how they really feel. I could not help but think about this problem when I was watching the inauguration of President George W. Bush. There were prayers said. Were some people uncomfortable? Yes--but still, the prayers WERE said. You, the person in charge, have to strike the balance between what you wish you could do and what you can realistically do. You'll be sensitive and know what to do.


Important Principles

The important principles to keep in mind are:
1. Don't be insensitive and inflexible
2. Don't be oversensitive and too accommodating
3. Don't reduce the reunion to the "lowest common denominator" even if someone might be uncomfortable or even not come.

You have to do what will be of most good for those who will benefit from it the most. Achieving this balance can be a challenge. Pray for guidance. Examples of problems some families may have to deal with are reflected in statements like these: "We don't have blessings on the food because Uncle Jack thinks it's silly"; or "The Jacksons can't have fun without their beer." If you make too many compromises to accommodate people who have a problem with the Church or its standards, what message are you sending the young people in your family or even those you are accommodating? You will be sensitive to your own family and know what to do as you follow the Spirit.

How to make your reunion spiritual

FUN AND TOUCHING FAMILY REUNION MESSAGE GIVEN BY A FATHER

You guys—four days together! This is a trial run for a long Christmas break together and practice for the rest of our life as a family! We want to have fun when we get together so we will always want to be together and not stay away. Everyone please help out or the place will be a wreck and Mama will not be happy. Clean up after yourselves, don’t be demanding, don’t act like a guest (unless it’s to our advantage!), be nice to the younger kids—they have grown up a lot, don’t wait to be asked to help, i.e., vacuuming, dishes, trash, clean up, etc., put yourself last, no contention, no pride, no selfishness, no “I didn’t come here to work” attitude. Don’t be costly—we live on a shoestring as you do, don’t ask Mama to buy you anything, don’t be mean or ridicule or make fun of anyone, don’t say rude words, don’t bring up past stuff that’s embarrassing, don’t swear, don’t be gross or off-color in the least, don’t be spoiled, don’t have to have your way, be Christlike, be a peacemaker, eat what Mama fixes, don’t demand special stuff or favors, be considerate of the car situation, be agreeable, have a great, great time!!!




HOW TO MAKE YOUR REUNION MEMORABLE AND SPRITUAL


"It will be great to go to Timp Caves and Lagoon and do all the other exciting things that are planned, but just talking together and sharing each other's lives and feeling that wonderful spirit of Mom and Dad's memory will be the greatest thing for us."



"And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon, yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer” (Mosiah 18:30).



Church History Sites make a great focal point for a family reunion. Here is a list of the major ones.

Sharon, VT
Birthplace of the prophet—monument
Palmyra, NY
Martin Harris farm
Joseph Smith cabin
E. B. Grandin print shop
Smith family home
Hill Cumorah monument
Sacred Grove—trail
Palmyra Temple (dedicated in 2002)
Fayette, NY
Peter Whitmer log home
Harmony, PA
Susquehanna River—priesthood monument
Kirtland, OH
Newell K. Whitney Store
Newell K. & Eliza Ann Whitney home
Cemetery—Joseph and Emma's twins buried there
Kirtland Temple—tours by RLDS Church
John Johnson inn
Isaac Morely farm
Ashery, sawmill, and schoolhouse
Hirum, Ohio
John Johnson home
Independence, MO
Visitors’ center
Far West
Adam-ondi-Ahman
Hauns Mill
Liberty, MO
Jail
Nauvoo, IL
Nauvoo Temple (restored)
Restored pioneer homes and shops
Carthage, IL
Jail
Winter Quarters, NE
Pioneer Cemetery
Visitors’ center
Winter Quarters Temple (dedicated 2001)
Salt Lake City, UT
Temple Square—grounds, tabernacle, assembly hall, monuments, visitors’ centers
The Conference Center
The Church Office Building (view from the 30th floor)
The Joseph Smith Memorial Building
Legacy Theater
Beehive House
Lion House
Welfare Square (tours available)
"This is the Place" Monument and Pioneer village (out near Hogle Zoo)
Walking tour of historic downtown sights such as a small pioneer graveyard
Cove Fort, UT
Fort and visitors’ center
St. George, UT
Jacob Hamblin home
Brigham Young winter home
St. George tabernacle
St. George Temple
Sun Ranch, WY (near Willie & Martin Handcart trail)
Martin's Cove, WY (handcarts available)
San Diego, CA
Mormon Battalion visitors’ center



As one of your events in the family reunion, you could attend one of these Church events:

Church Pageant/Musical Schedule

Savior of the World Salt Lake City, Utah March/April

Jesus the Christ Mesa, Arizona April

Mormon Miracle Manti, UT June

America's Witness for Christ Palmyra, New York July

And It Came to Pass Oakland, California July

Castle Valley Castle Dale, Utah July/August

City of Joseph Nauvoo, IL July

Willy & Martine Handcart Co. Nephi, UT August




“We have come to this place to be spiritually lifted and motivated so that we will not be taken in by the worldliness, by the violence, the lack of morals, the lack of ethics and integrity that we see all around us. It is a time to strengthen and prepare ourselves for the future.”
--Elder Perry—

Logan High School
The Logan Tabernacle
His father’s law office
His birth place
The old family home
Aggie ice cream store
Utah State University
The Logan Temple


HISTORICAL SITES

ACTIVITIES TO MAKE THE REUNION MEMORABLE

FAMILY HERITAGE ACTIVITIES BASED ON THE PAST

Invite the oldest relatives share stories
Make up songs about ancestors
Sing old songs
Bring family history projects to share or even sell
Make a pedigree chart or family tree
Tell stories of ancestors
Impersonate an ancestor
Enact family history events
Read excerpts (not too long!) from journals, etc.
Tell how some of your ancestors met
Have a question/answer session with older family members
Interview an older family member or videotape an interview and show it
Visit gravesites
Model clothing worn by your ancestors or display other artifacts
Tour sites where your ancestors grew up

START FAMILY REUNION TRADITIONS BASED ON THE PRESENT

Have a parents’ night out
Hold a family business meeting
Make a “No empty chairs” display
Make and bury a time capsule
Have the children make an autograph book
Start a website
Make a video of each reunion
Make a scrapbook or photograph book of each reunion
Write letters to missionaries and those in the military
Enact the nativity (Christmas)
Commemorate another holiday
Have an auction, a trading post, a family “yard” sale
Write letters to yourselves outlining your goals, aspirations, and predictions
Ask each family to bring a video clip of their town, their home, etc.
Get a trumpet and have someone play taps, reveille, call to mess, etc.
Have a flag raising or lowering ceremony
Spotlight family members
Have cousin parties for the various age groups
Make a family banner or flag
Prepare a memory booklet that everyone can take home
Start a family missionary fund
Make a calendar with a different family picture each month
Start a family organization
Have guest speakers—some one who knew your ancestors
Have education week type lectures by family members
Teach the children to crochet, quilt, carve, or make other handicrafts
Review movies, books, etc. of interest to your family



ACTIVITIES TO MAKE THE REUNION SPIRITUAL

Attend sacrament meeting in a near-by ward or branch
Invite inspirational speakers
Have education week type lectures on gospel topics
Split into age groups for Sunday School with just your family
Hold a testimony meeting
Have family prayer or devotionals
Prepare a family or gospel trivia game
Visit Church history sites
Attend a temple session together
Do a family service project
Relate family miracles, inspiring incidents, etc.
Tell conversion stories
Read or recite a favorite scripture
Fast for family members who have a compelling need
Have a missionary fireside (or another kind)

Do's and Don'ts

MISCELLANEOUS DO’S AND DON’T’S

DO:
1. Decide how much of the reunion you want structured
2. Have at least one teenage and one children’s activity each day
3. “Schedule” some free time
4. Pass around the responsibility for chairing the family reunion in a systematic way
5. Plan carefully for nonmember relatives
6. Anticipate any possible areas of contention (politics, the will, rest homes)
7. Anticipate safety hazards (cliff, pond, road)
8. Have a curfew and a plan for enforcing it (example: Tell the kids, "You can talk as late as you want, but you have to be in your sleeping bags at 12:00 midnight. If you don't comply, you will be sent to your parents’ cabin, tent, room, etc.)
9. Have technical support—lights, microphone, piano, etc. (many a child's cute song or hard-learned recitation has been ruined because the people in the back couldn't hear. I feel sound equipment should be rented--even at the sacrifice of something else if necessary, like having refreshments!)
10. Make a complete list of addresses, phone numbers; e-mail addresses to give out at the reunion or even better, sent out with the first or second mailing
11. Inform family members of the phone numbers where they can be reached AT the reunion ahead of time
12. Tell people what to bring—bedding, towels, swimming gear, etc.
13. Form a children’s play area—as nice as you can make it. It will “save” the moms (sand box, toys, swing, slide, tricycles, wagon, trampoline, balls, small wading pool, etc.)
14. Get any items needed from absentee families (photographs, letters, even have them make a tape) and then also send them anything you can from the reunion (photos, copies of anything given out, address list, T-shirts, etc.)
15. Make lots of assignments (promotes involvement--attitude of everyone helping)
16. Have a lost and found
17. Discuss the next reunion in a formal or informal meeting
18. Send thank-you notes by mail or email to the people who did assignments
19. Have nametags--families can make their own so you can learn who belongs where. Hanging around neck is good for kids and babies.



Don’t:

1. …expect teenagers to play immature games
2. leave little kids with teenagers to tend while the adults have an activity (except maybe ONE HOUR)--the adult retreat (chapter 9 of Your Family Reunion: Getting Together Your Get-together) is "made" for the things adults want to do
3. …let people watch TV or more than 1 video--what a waste of bonding time!
4. …take too many posed photos--it really taxes people for some reason and spoils spontaneity
5. …drag family history sessions (or any whole-group activity) on too long--again, one hour is about the maximum for a single group event
6. …get sunburned. Ouch!
7. …make it easy for families who know each other well to pair off to the exclusion of others
8. …embarrass or annoy people--for example asking an entire group a question like "how many have been on full time missions?"--you always end up embarrassing some one! Avoid embarrassing games--like marginal questions on the newlywed game, etc.
9. …have the people who travel long distances be in charge of the last meal
10. …make a big deal of one family not approving of or not wanting to participate in an activity (maybe they don't "do" that). Let it rest.
11. …foster exclusivity among kids--there may not be much you can do about it if some cousins just won't "hang out" with other cousins, but try not to let this happen.

List of Activities

Miscellaneous Activities

Talent show
Family dance (limbo, rumba, etc.)
Skits
Comedy show
Solve brainteasers
Scavenger hunt
Treasure hunt
Gift exchange (esp. Christmas)
Piñata
Stupid human tricks
Make your own spook alley
Scary midnight walk (or run)
Songfest
Karaoke
Play or pageant
Group birthday party
Crafts—paint rocks, beadwork, etc.
Puzzle (community effort)
Fashion show (funny fashions or imitate family members)
Dunking pool
Make a movie
Paint a mural
Band or chamber orchestra
Jug band
Teddy bear picnic or doll tea party
Personifications (of family members or celebrities)
Barbie doll fest (for little girls, of course)
Blanket toss
Costume party
Makeovers (teens love it)
Work or service projects
Clapping games (such as Peas Porridge Hot)
Visiting rotation (each family has 10 minutes with every other family)
Outside entertainment
Hot air balloon
Sandbox
Trampoline
Tetherball

Games

Pictionary
Phony dictionary definitions (called balderdash)
Bingo
Tag (various kinds)
Charades
Board games
Kids card games (Rook, etc.)
Spin the bottle (with acceptable forfeits)
Traditional kids playground games Mother May I, Red Rover, Hide and Seek, etc.)
Ping-pong
Miniature golf
Hangman
Twister

Contests

Arm wrestling
Chin ups
Push ups, etc.
Cousin look-alikes
Eating contests—watermelon, etc.
Trivia—family and regular
Tug-o-war
Beanbag toss
Mix up families—let someone try to straighten them out
Spelling bee
Human knots
Hide money in a sawdust pile and let kids scramble for it
Catch a greased pig or something else that runs away
Tape money on something that runs
Do something the longest—hold breath, put hand in ice water, etc.

Ten people standing on a blanket—they have to turn it over without stepping off
Partner has to feed you blindfolded (first team done wins)
Song, poem, or limerick writing contest
Relays (egg toss, egg in spoon, run and dress up—run back, transfer water, etc.)
High jump
Broad jump

Races
Three-legged race
Sack race
Crab race
Wheelbarrow race
5 K

Outings

Tour of BYU or other campus
Theme park
Water park
Museum
Factory, bakery, etc.
Fish hatchery
Botanical garden, atrium, etc.
Zoo
Outdoor concert
Tourist sites in the area
Beach, lake, park, campground, etc.
Spook alley, haunted house or maize

Get-acquainted Activities

Nametags
Skits from each family
Baby or child photo contest
Scrapbook pages from each family
Poster from each family
Write down one thing you’ve done—other guess who did it
List items and find someone who fits into that blank
Pair up and tell about each other to the group
Sports Activities

Basketball (can be a 3 on 3 tournament, etc.)
Football—use family rules
Golf tournament (may not be practical—but a lot of families I surveyed have one)
Volleyball
Badminton
Tennis
Soccer
Softball
Baseball
Kickball
Bowling

Outdoor Activities
Horseshoes
Four wheeling
Rappelling
White water rafting
Hiking
Swimming
Sand castle building
Cliff jumping (into water)
Wake boarding
Surf boarding
Knee boarding
Water skiing
Jet skiing
Wave running
Bonfire
Boating
Ice block sledding
Snow sledding
Ice-skating
Fishing
Canoeing
Water fight (balloons?)
Trampoline rodeo
Ropes course
Rope swing
Zip line
Hula-hoops
Frisbee
Hay or wagon ride
Mud wrestling
Wuffleball
Street bowling
Home run derby
Obstacle course
Biking
Running
Alpine slide