!44: 37 Activities to Do With Your Family on Your Front Porch

!±8± 37 Activities to Do With Your Family on Your Front Porch

We often take for granted a part of our home that we pass by day in and day out. What part is that? It is your front porch. If you have a medium to large front porch, think of it as an extension of your home where you can spend time with your family. You might wonder what you could possibly do on your porch.

I found it easy to come up with a bunch of simple family activities that you could do on your porch with your son, daughter, spouse, mother, father, grandparent, neighbor or friend. Now, don't laugh when you read this list. Some activities will be more appealing to you than others. Some might even bring back memories of when you were a kid.

Here are the first 37 things that came to my mind, but I did not stop there. I have many more coming in my next few articles. Some of these activities will work best if you have a small table on your porch. Keep in mind that the weather and your porch lighting play a factor in some of these activities.

So let's get to it.

Play a game of checkers, chess, cards or any board game like scrabble or monopoly. All are fun front porch classics. Read stories out loud to each other. Listen to some mysteries on old-time radio when it's dark outside. Write birthday cards for the month ahead. Work on a puzzle book together. Read the newspaper with your honey. Listen to an audio book together, maybe a chapter at a time. Plant an herb garden to put on the ledge of your railing. Make potholders from loops. Remember that as a kid? Rock a baby on your porch rocker (you need a baby for this one!). Learn a foreign language together. Blow bubbles with a child. You can even make the bubble solution yourself. Draw with sidewalk chalk. Install a ceiling fan on your porch (great project for a knowledgeable parent to teach an older child). Play jacks, tiddlywinks or marbles (these can be fun, really!). Magic tricks Play a keyboard or guitar and sing some songs. Listen to hockey, basketball, baseball or football on your radio. Do a homework assignment together. Setup your telescope and identify stars, planets and UFO's. Surf the internet, update your blog, answer questions in a forum. Talk on the phone to your grandma or grandpa. Spill your heart to each other on the porch swing. Fold clothes. Folding clothes doesn't have to be boring! Get a cool paint-by-number and get going on it. Brainstorm ideas to fix up your porch to make it even nicer. Hang up a porch swing with a friend. Identify birds and keep a bird watching journal. Put a jigsaw puzzle together. Do this on something that easily transports to the house. Sort through and organize your recipes. Clip coupons, articles or pictures from newspapers and magazines. Make a stepping stone from a store-bought kit.. Some include colored, sparkly gems and letter stencils to personalize your stepping stone. Build a wind chime and hang it on your porch. Paint small decorative bird houses to decorate your porch. Have a book club meeting on your porch - complete with some snacks like lemonade, refrigerator cookies and popcorn. Get out your sketch pad and sketch a picture of your front porch to hang in your home. Decorate your front door with a wreath, basket or some beautiful bright fresh paint.

Your porch is a perfect little piece of heaven that you just might be overlooking. It's a great place to spend time outdoors with someone you love or just by yourself. Even in this fancy, high tech world where we are constantly entertained by television, videos and game boxes, sometimes getting back to the basics is rather refreshing. Dream up your own reasons for spending time on your own front porch with your family. It just might improve the rest of your life, too.

Look for future articles from me with more fun activities to do on your front porch.