Five Ways to Celebrate Your Family This Family Day Long Weekend

It’s Family Day weekend in New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and in British Columbia (it’s Islander Day in PEI, Louis Riel Day in Manitoba, and Heritage Day in Nova Scotia.) But whatever you call it, this provincial statutory holiday is designed to celebrate the importance of family and family life to people and their communities. Valentines Day does NOT align this year, but why not show your family a little extra love by having some celebratory fun, anyway?

Here are 5 fun ideas to celebrate your family this Family Day Long Weekend:

1. Dinner and a Movie

Decide on a movie to watch, and then plan a themed menu to match. We can recommend a few favourite family movies and meal ideas to get you started. It’s a simple and inexpensive way to have fun as a family, and works for kids of all ages. If it’s a long weekend where you live, consider moving your movie night to Sunday; it will seem extra special to the kids because they seldom get to stay up late that night.

2. Bake for Your Loved Ones

This weekend, why not take on a baking project the whole family will love? No one will be disappointed to see this football cake on the dinner table, and the good news is it requires nothing more than square and round cake pans to make it. Our easiest chocolate cake ever is boxed-mix simple, not to mention allergy friendly so I encourage you to give that recipe a go.

3. Have a Board Game Night

My long weekend plans include curling up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate to play a few board games with my boys. Despite being teenagers, they have a renewed obsession with Connect 4 and Jenga, so I’m sure we’ll be playing both of those, plus I plan on breaking out Apples to Apples, a family favourite we can’t get enough of.

4. Build an Epic Fort

When those same teenagers were small, I would often find them rearranging the furniture in an effort to build the biggest fort they manage. Periodically, my husband and I would get in on the action and drape blankets across super high surfaces to make the fort that much more epic. Why not have a family fort-building session this weekend, and attempt to make the largest one your house has ever seen? For major bonus points with the kids, consider letting them sleep inside their structure.

5. Go on An Outdoor Adventure

Go ice skating, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding, sledding, play shinny or have a soak in an outdoor hot tub. Embrace the cold weather and spend a few hours outside being active. Follow up your outdoor adventures by trying a restaurant you’ve never been to before, or better yet, let the kids give you 10 sets of driving directions (turn left at the next set of lights, turn right when the next song on the radio starts) and eat at the restaurant that’s closest to the final destination.

Tell us, what are your plans for this winter weekend?

P.S. Here’s one more idea… Why not send the kids to Grandma’s for a sleepover, and plan a Date Night In for you and your sweetheart?