I know I am not unique when I say there are times I feel completely disconnected from my husband and kids. My husband drives a truck during the week, so we don’t get to see much of him Monday through Friday. My kids are teenagers, so of course they are off doing their own thing during the week. Henry has an addiction to the Xbox, so you can find him playing with his buddies on Xbox Live. Caitlin, my nerdy girl, is usually listening to music or reading fan fiction while swinging on the hammock in the back yard. Me, you can find tethered to my laptop, working on the blog or doing my VA work. When the weekend rolls around, I am in need of some good old fashioned family bonding time. Does this happen to you? If so, please try one of these fun ways to connect with your family this weekend. Another option is to use my Summer Boredom Jar to give kids activity ideas all year round.

Cheap Ways To Connect With Your Family

1. Breakfast in Bed: Who said breakfast in bed was just for mom and dad? My kids love to get into our “beg bed” and snuggle with my husband and I. We make cinnamon rolls, bacon and eggs and hashbrowns. This is a great way to connect with your family on many different levels.
2. Take a Hike: We have a gorgeous hiking trail nearby and we love to take a leisurely nature walk on the weekends. We have the Great Smoky Mountains in our backyard, so this is something we do as often as possible.
3. Do A DIY Project: We are a hands on family, so we like to do DIY and craft projects. Our latest accomplishment was stripping and repainting an old TV cabinet. It is now a potters bench on the deck filled with our gardening materials.
4. Go Camping: Anyone can go camping at the local campgrounds, but how about just in the back yard? My son has autism, so he has this weird love hate relationship with camping. By camping in the backyard, if he gets the heebie jeebies, we can just go back in the house. As opposed to packing up the whole family if we were at a campground. In my opinion, S’more taste as delicious in our yard as they do if we make them at the local KOA!
5. Read: Once kids get to a certain age, most parents stop reading aloud to their kids. Reading to someone can be very intimate and it is a great way to bond with one another. Currently, we are tackling “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.”
6. Play A Game: When I was growing up, I was one of 5 kids. We had to find cheap ways to entertain ourselves. Playing games was one of our favorites. We would play freeze tag, Mother May I or Red Light, Green Light outside. If the weather is not cooperative, we hunker down and play a favorite board game like Super Scrabble or Big Boggle from Winning Moves.

I have a philosophy about buying products. Take games for instance. I can buy Super Scrabble, Big Boggle or Connect 4 Twist and Turn from any of the major retailers. But do they have the incredible customer service that Winning Moves has? Emphatically no! And the prices are comparable, so for me, I go where I am treated well, get great products and have a really nice selection. Winning Moves Games began in 1995, bringing together talents from such big wigs as Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers and they are also tight Hasbro, Inc.

They are exclusive maker of the award winning games from Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers. Winning Moves Games carries cards, to board games to puzzles. Want to win a great collection of games from Winning Moves? They are offering one  of my USA readers Super Scrabble, Big Boggle and Connect 4 Twist and Turn, with a combined ARV of $75.

What is your favorite way to connect with your family?