As I was growing up, like most girls, I always dreamed of being a mom and how much fun it would be. Now that I’m there with 4 kids of my own it’s not quite what I imagined.
I imagined running and skipping and playing with my kids. I imagined laughing and joking with them and enjoying…. just being with them.
I’m so busy taking care of responsibilities and cleaning up my kid’s messes I’ve become the mom who is dull and boring. I’ve become the mom who doesn’t laugh much and frankly, that scares me.
I don’t want them to remember me as the mom who never smiled. What about you?
I have neglected fun time with my kids. And if I have neglected fun and laughs with them, I have neglected them in a way.
Not anymore, I’ve decided I’m becoming the mom who laughs and jokes; the mom who plays and enjoys her time with her kids, right along with the mom who cleans up poop messes and milk spills.
Related: Raise Confident Kids Who Have the Grit to Conquer the World
Related: To All the Mamas With All Littles
Do you want to be that happy mom with me?
Because these kids aren’t going to be little long we have to enjoy the precious moments we have with them.
Before we know it they will be grown and gone and memories will be what they have left of their beautiful childhood.
What memories do you want your kids to have of you? I don’t know about you, but I want my kids to remember me as being fun and happy.
So, here are ways to be a fun, laughing, smiling, happy mom.
P.S. Scroll to the comments to find even more great activities to do with your kids
How to have more fun with your kids. Activities to be a fun, happy mom- Go from frowning, serious mom to fun, laughing, happy, smiling mom
- Build a fort in the living room with blankets Set up kitchen chairs in the living room and throw blankets over them. Make it more fun by throwing in some snacks.
- Campout in the backyard Borrow a tent from a friend and campout in the backyard with a fire, marshmallows, and everything.
- Wrestle together Have a wrestling match and see who is the stoutest. Kids love to one up their parents, especially boys.
- Have a pajama day My friend told me their family does this before school starts every year and her girls look forward to it for weeks. Find a few good movies, fix up some good snacks, stay in your pj’s all day, and veg on the couch.
- Make crafts together Kids love to make crafts. Even my eleven year old boy still likes to make crafts.
- Color pictures together. There’s something relaxing about sitting down and coloring beside your kids. They will love that your taking the time to do something so small.
- Build legos together My son loves for me to sit down and build legos with him. Kids will remember when you take the time to do the little things that matter to them.
- Go on a picnic at the park or in your backyard. We love to go down to the creek below our house and spend a few hours there. Picnics can be special and so much fun.
- Have a tea party. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Use tea, milk, juice, or whatever and have a sweet to go with it. Just try to make it special.
- Bake cookies together Not only does this build real life skills and work on their math, but it builds memories to last a lifetime. And they think you’re just cooking.
- Go to the park and actually play with them Don’t sit on the sidelines and watch, Mama. Get in there and slide down the slides and swing on the swings.
- Play go fish or your favorite card game We played a lot of Go Fish when my two oldest were little and those are some of my sweetest memories.
- Teach your child to play poker Your kids desperately need this lifeskill! š Seriously, one of my favorite memories with my dad was playing poker late at night.
- Look at the clouds and find animal shapes Lay on the sweet, green grass and find animal shapes in the clouds. See who can find the most.
- Go to the zoo The zoo is so much fun. Plus, it’s a great place to get little ones out and about so they can run off some extra energy.
- Go on a nature walk with them Go on a nature walk and see who can find the most interesting thing. Make it even more fun by playing games such as Eye Spy.
- Play in a creek together If you don’t have a creek nearby to play and splash in I’m so sorry. This is one of our favorite things to do in the spring and early summer. It’s also one of my favorite memories of my childhood.
- Play in the sprinkler If you don’t(or do) have a creek, hook up the sprinkler and run through it with your kids. They will love it.
- Jump on the trampoline Jump on the trampoline with them and see who can jump the highest. Turn flips and show them how cook you are by showing them a few tricks. Just don’t break your neck.
- Play horses or bucking bull and let them ride you Again on the trampoline or on the carpet, let them ride you like a horse or a bucking bull and see how long they can hang on. Make it even more fun and have a rodeo with it.
- Pull your kids around the house on a sheet or blanket This has got to be the cheapest most fun in-house activity for the whole family. Sweep the floors and throw a blanket down and pull them around on it.
- Play Barbies with them Kids love when you play their games with them. Help them with their imaginative skills and show them how you used to play. It seems to me kids don’t have as much imagination as we used to.
- Take a free online art class together You have the world at your fingertips. Utilize it. Find free art classes online and YouTube and draw some killer art together.
- Play hopscotch Draw a hopscotch board on the sidewalk and show your kids how to play hopscotch if they don’t already know how. This will burn some extra calories too.
- Draw pictures with cement chalk or trace your bodies Make it even more fun and color some clothes and funny faces on them.
- Play hide n seek Play hide and seek inside or outside. Hint: it’s even more fun in the dark. (if your kids aren’t afraid of the dark)
- Go swimming with them Go to the pool, lake, or river and go swimming. Jump in their with them yourself and play some fun water games such as Marco Polo.
- Play a prank on daddy. Here are some hilarious pranks your kids will love
- Plant flowers or a garden together Even if your don’t have even the slightest green thumb, plant a bean in a plastic cup filled with soil and let your kids watch it grow. Little ones love this.
- Make Playdough playdough and mold it together This is a great playdough recipe and kids love to play with playdough and will love it even more with you.
- Have a dance party Turn on your phone to the coolest YouTube channel or tell Alexa to play some dance tunes and get silly. Make this a weekly occurance and you will have some fun memories to laugh over in the years to come.
- Go to the waterpark Grab your sunscreen and sunglasses and head to the local water park. Water and kids just go together like sugar and spice.
- Have a water balloon fight Water balloon fights are so much fun. Grab a few packs of the Bunch O Balloons and fill up a hundred in just a few seconds. They make water balloon fights easy.
- Play dress up Let your kids dress you up and put on a pageant for daddy at the end of the day.
- Make silly faces at each other See who can make the silliest face or see who can keep from laughing at each other’s faces the longest.
- Make Slime
- Play a board game together This is a great classic way to make memories and grow your family bond. Some games can also help kids with critical thinking skills.
- Go on a bike ride Get in your exercise and make memories all at the same time.
- Rake up leaves and jump in them Here are some more great fall activities to do together
- Read to them I still remember my mom reading to me when I was little. Just because your kids are able to read for themselves doesn’t mean you should stop reading to them. Do you remember story time in school? They will have these kind of memories with you.
- Play their favorite video game Take the time to play their favorite video games with them a few times a week. They will love showing you the ins and outs of the game.
- Let them miss a day of school just to have a mommy or daddy/________ date Take them one at a time to do something special that you normally wouldn’t do. Make it special. Go to a movie and then get ice cream or their favorite dessert. Just skipping out of school for no reason will make them feel pretty special.
- Play their favorite sport with them Play basketball or baseball or whatever their favorite sport it. If you don’t know it, watch it with them and let them teach you the rules. They will love getting to teach you something for once.
- Go to a painting class We went to a local painting class this summer and it was so fun. WE also had some sweet artwork to show off our new skills. It doesn’t have to be a physical class either. Their are plenty of classes (paid and free) online that do this.
- Go paint pottery Take them or pick up some plain pottery to paint and decorate then let them use it at the dinner or breakfast table.
- Have a tickle fight I hate being tickled with every bone in my body, but my kids love it. Have tickle fights and make them lose their breath being tickled.
- Make rootbeer floats and binge watch a kid friendly Netflix show Of course, it doesn’t have to be root beer floats. Make your favorite treats. Milkshakes, malts, kale smoothies. Whatever floats your boat.
- Become tourists in your hometown and visit all the cool sites There are probably tons of history in your hometown you didn’t know about. Get out with your kids with new eyes and see all the cool things in your little town you never even noticed or knew.
- Sleepout in the living room on a pallet Pallets are just so special. Every kid thinks so. We, on the other hand, think of them as uncomfortable. We think about waking up tired the next morning. Sacrifice being comfortable a night every once in a while and sleep on a pallet with your kids.
- Have a race Kids love to race and see how fast they are. Race them. Even in public. You may be surprised when they leave you in the dust.
- If your family is big enough, have a family relay race One summer my mom mowed a race track in our hay pasture and we had so much fun with it. My sisters and I loved to race each other. We also had relay races when our friends came to visit. We still laugh about that trakc.
- Set up an obstacle course in the yard and race through it Set up hurdles and tunnels and walls to jump, climb, and crawl through.
Here are 25 different slime recipes to get you started. I know it’s messy but kids love slime.
Wow, that’s a lot of fun stuff for you to do with your kids! These are great ways to build your relationship stronger and watch your relationship and memories grow.
Your kids just want to spend time with you. Nothing has to be fancy or expensive. Take advantage of it now and maybe it will bleed over into the teenage years. Fingers crossed.
Have I missed any great activities? What is your favorite activity to do with your kids? Let me know in the comments below.
Hiš¤ my name is Jenevive RamĆrez I am a Mexican mom of 2 (a boy and a girl). As I was reading this page about how to be the fun mom I dreamt of being when i was a kid, I couldn’t help but cry a bit. Your words are so true and they helped me realize how much time has gone by and all I have worried about is keeping my house clean and my kids bored. Thank you for the inspirationš from now on that is a goal I am definitely looking forward to conquer.
Yes, I had the best childhood and think about that often. My mom didn’t worry about a clean house and stress all the time. Our family had tons of fun together. There were lots of smiles and laughs. Your words are so true Jenevive.
Your right it goes fast … And its sad an hurts… Especially from all the ” i wish i had and hadn’t s…..”. I know cause it happend to me … My angel is 22…. and more than anything… I wanna be holding him again an smelling his sweet curly hair.
Thank you so much!
I didnāt realize how a bittersweet mom I became! This woke me up! Looking forward to start tomorrow and I definitely set a goal to do one activity per day!
The balloons fight with pool noodles itās so much fun too
That’s great to hear. A pool noodle and balloons are a great idea, Ana!
I used to be fun.. and take this parenting thing so seriously now that it’s out of my agenda. The crazy thing is I dont see the reasons to have fun anymore. And most of these activities aren’t interesting to me.
Thatās really heart breaking. My husbandās mom didnāt āsee the reasons to have funā either and now heās cut her out of his life and she rarely sees her grandkids. We go to my parents because they are fun. I will definitely be trying these great ideas with my littles.
Great ideas! Hereās one more. Dollar store packet of balloons, simply inflate a single ballon and try to keep the balloon off the ground. So easy. My kids love this and saves us from any dull summer afternoon.
Thank you for exposing a new generation to these traditional, tried and true ideas
The element that is thankfully left out is a trip to the store to buy more plastic
I am grateful that my adult children participate with their children in many of the activities you have listed
We must continue to inspire parents that children need TIME more than anything else
Thank You
Thank you for this! Iām very hard on myself and often feel like Iām failing at motherhood. This post helped me because I do so many of these already – Iām obviously not doing so badly after all. When I think about what I do, my thoughts immediately go to the boring and mundane things that make me grumpy, but reading this made me realize that I do a lot to make good memories for my kids. Iām actually not failing miserably. Itās a wonderful realization. Thank you!
That’s great! I’m so happy to hear that!
I cried when I had read this everything in your words were so true to me i cried a little bit!
Ive been so worried about keeping my house clean and staying focused on the schedule I had made for myself. I need help seriously need help getting out of that funk.
Ive dreamed id be the bestest funnest mom to my kids and i feel like ive failed them tgere still young so ill correct my ways now and try to be more fun thank you
I think most of us feel this way. It’s not too late of course. š
I always want to have fun with my 6 year old daughter. I donāt mind letting the chores go to make sure she has fun with me every Saturday after a long work week. My husband however gets very upset when I take a day off to just be a fun mom. Is there a such thing as being too fun?
Like dress up we do makeup. She loves to put makeup on mama!
We do mani / pedi in each other ā¤ļøā¤ļø (sheās 3.5 yes)
A grandma here – and I am lucky to have all 4 grandkids close by for the summer – ages 18 to 4. At times, everyone teases me about my insistence on Family Fun Days. We have had some great ones though. It gets harder every year to involve the big ones in my plans and schemes, but they still surprise me by saying things like, “You know that goofy nickname you gave me way back when? It is my Instagram name.” And the big ones are very kind and sharing of time and attention with the little one. So maybe being the fun grandma is paying off in lasting ways.
Awww! How sweet is the Instagram name! You must be one special grandma!
I have done most of these things and I truly believe my kids will look back fondly, hopefully. We also play dress up and make up our faces, paint our nails and when we shampoo our hair, we make mohawks and Troll hairdos. Thank you for this! š¤š
Have a pic of my daughter and her friends drenching me with bucket of water during water fight. In their 30s, even now her friends stop by and reminisce over fun stuff. We all went for ice cream and one of neighbor boys jumped in water with ducks. No one wanted to sit near stinky Daniel –but he loved that it bugged them! That time goes quickly.
I’ve done a lot of these things. One thing we like to do is live Mario kart. After a summer day of playing in the sprinkler, we need to dry off before tracking puddles in the house. Each kid will decide what Mario kart character they are, and will race 3 laps around the house and yard to help dry off. We’ve also Done craft bingo where we have a bingo card with different crafts and you have all summer to do a craft project a week, and see if we can complete them all. Hiking(easy trails for little kids) is a big thing. We also do a thing we call fun parks. When we’re just driving on erunds and the kids see a park that looks fun, we’ll keep track of where it’s located so we can go picnic there when we have more time. Last but certainly not least we have a summer fun kit. It’s full of balls, bubbles, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, and other fun activities. Those are just our warm day activities. During cold days we do board games, video games, movie night and more crafts and stories. In the fall we go to pumpkin patch and each kid picks their own pumpkin. In the winter we go sight seeing for Christmas lights, or make a hot chocolate bar, make snowmen, and snow forts, have a snowball fight, and go sledding. We also find thing to do service projects for others.
I do alot of these things with my 3 kids ages 2, 7 and 10. They have fun and these ideas stimulate their minds which is a huge plus! I wouldn’t say you go from a unhappy mom to happy mom. I think you go from unhappy mom to more tired mom. These activities will def take some energy. Sometimes at the end of the day I just want to fall over bc I put so much effort it making sure my kids had a happy day and fun day. Whewwww! Especially after all the meals they need and everyday duties. BUT I can say the happiness comes from seeing your kids happy!
I just wanted to say thank you for this. This is going to be a long rant and its mostly something I have not been able to get off my chest until right now. I cried reading this and still am crying as I write this, because this is exactly how I have been feeling for the last 1 and 1/2 years. And it made me feel relieved to see that it’s not just me. My kids are less than 11 months apart. I had 2 babies in 1 year and I’m not saying I would have it any other way. I knew it was going to be tough, but I didnt realize how horrible I would feel about my 1st born not getting the amount of attention I feel he deserves from me and truly needs! I’m so consumed in not only tending to him, but my 9 month old as well (who absolutely depends on me 100% right now), making sure the house is at least somewhat clean(especially since I usually just let my 1 year old play and play and scatter toys around the living room while I tend to the baby, or wash a load here and there or cook) all while keeping an eye on him as well. (I live in a small 2 bedroom apartment and close the doors to the rooms so that he only has access to the kitchen and living room where I can see him at all times. We also barely have any furniture for the sake of baby proofing and ensuring he is 100% safe if I need to tend to my daughter for a moment or vise versa.) I’m not saying I got above and beyond with the house chores. I do enough to have food on the table and clothes for everyone wear the next day(x3 because accidents happen regularly still), and am able to see my sink and walk through the apartment without tripping on toys since I’m usually holding the baby. What I’m trying to say is, I have felt like a terrible mother. I literally, not figuratively, DREAM about it. Giving him the 1 on 1 he needs. As if my subconscious has been dying to come to light but I’m too busy running around 24/7 to even think about it. Seeing his attitude with me at times and seeing how hes not as loving with me whenever I try to hug or kiss him. I did that. Hes like that because I have neglected him in a sense. I don’t stop and just take the time to BE THERE with him. I’m rushing his diaper change as soon as he wakes up so that I can get him in his highchair to eat breakfast so that I can then tend to the baby as quickly as possible so that I can get her in her swing so that I can take dogs out and feed them. It’s much more chaotic than it sounds but that is my morning. EVERY. DAY. (Not to mention I woke up 3 hours before all of this so that I could make my husband his coffee and breakfast and see him off to work. Then I either fall back asleep and wake up even more tired since the baby kept me up all night and/or my son woke up screaming so I tended then throughout the night. I wake up dreading the start of every morning because I know I am litterally doing to same thing everyday and not fully enjoying my babies the way I want/need and not getting any help whatsoever. I literally feel myself rushing everything i do so that I can make sure everyone has everything they need, when they need it. I barely sit down with the babies and play and when I do, its rushed! Because I’m so concerned about “I havent even started dinner,” “i need to let the dogs out to use to use the bathroom,” “I need to do that thing for our business that my husband asked me to!” My husband works so much and we only see him at night for a little before he goes to sleep to wake up early again for work. So I’m 99% doing this whole parenting thing on my own. As much as he would like to be with them. I get it. His job is actual labor intensive work. I shouldn’t complain. But he also has made it so clear that he thinks what I do all day is not “work”. That I should feel as if though there is nothing more rewarding than staying with our kids and raising them….. I hope all you moms get a kick out of that one because we all know its rewarding… but its WORK. I am doing what we would PAY someone to do!! I am doing that and much more! And I am tired. All the time. I try so hard to be a fun and patient mom but again, I get consumed with it all. My son smacks my daughter for the 5th time after I have explained, after I have scolded, after finally losing it and yelling at him as to why that is not acceptable… over and over again day in and day out. (Please also note, I have never spanked or hurt my kids. I never will either. To each their own but I do not believe in disciplining or getting a message across that way, especially my babies.) So anyways, on top of feeling this, I also feel unappreciated by my husband. All the time. If I tell him how I feel it goes in one ear and out the other. He just does not understand. All I’m asking for is 1 day. Not even!! Just a couple of hours would be more than enough! Every now and then. Where I have it to just myself, I can go to the bathroom in peace, make time for my nails or hair or something to make me feel human again. Or even just to be at home alone and do what I need to do without a child between my legs, or screaming(because if it’s not one, it’s the other) and not feel rushed. Just to reset my mindset and actually have time to THINK. But because of the way my husband thinks, that it’s an “easy, peasy REWARD” not a “job”, even as hes looking at me dead in the face with vomit on one shoulder, Gerber splattered all over me and the kitchen, and tears in my eyes from just having had a melt down, he just manages to let me know that hes hungry, hes going to shower, eat then go to bed. That makes it 10x. Because I don’t see this changing for me. (I know I’m making my husband sound like a total douch bag, but hes really an amazing dad and person. I’m sure he appreciates me in some way. But does he or has he ever shown it? The answer is NO. Some guys are just DUMB and BLIND to that kind of stuff and hes one of them. And sometimes, the tiniest act of appreciation is more than enough to make a girl cry and feel like it’s all worth it.) Anyways, I wanted to just say thank you for making me see that I CAN drop everything else and just be with my kids. Dammit I can do anything I want and don’t have to feel like I am stuck in this never ending loop that men and society have deemed to be the way a “stay at home mom” should be or do! You have made me realize that and that my kids happiness, DEPENDS ON ME!!! What they see, is what they will reflect. And I refuse to let them be anything but happy, goofy kids! I’m taking that control back and im not letting that negative “stay at home mom” take over ever again.