Having some family fun around Christmas is great for bonding and releasing some of the end-of-year pressures we all face.

I started a list of fun ideas when posting about making family happy at Christmas, but here are some more ideas:

1. perform for each other – play music, sing songs, do skits, etc where the aim is the entertainment rather than be sensible or polished
2. set challenges for each other – who can be silent for the longest, avoid touching wood or metal, stand on one leg, hold their breath longest, etc
3. spend an evening without power – see how creative everyone gets when there is no computer or TV
4. cook together
5. tell stories
6. read books out loud
7. play in a playground – parents, too!
8. get outside and play cricket, chasey or whatever game takes your fancy
9. have a picnic in a park or at the beach – even better, have a picnic somewhere special to your family
10. watch a movie outdoors – various parks offer this now or try setting up your own in the front yard!
11. look through photo albums or home movies – remember people and events you share as a family. Take it further and create scrapbooks or albums together
12. do impersonations – start with relatives and move onto celebrities
13. play Christmas songs on your musical instruments (turn off the electronic music options for a couple of hours!)

The emphasis is on fun so let everyone be a bit silly – in fact, you could almost make that the only rule (you must have fun and be silly!)

What other things could families do for fun? What does your family do to relax together?