13 Fun Family Day Activities & Celebration Ideas for School

Here is our list of the best Family Day activities and celebration ideas for school.

Family day is a holiday observed in Canada on the third Monday in February to appreciate and spend time with family members. Family Day activities are games and event ideas to celebrate the holiday. For example, Family Day Literature Class, Family Day Trivia, and Family Charades. The purpose of these activities is to allow students to celebrate and appreciate their different families.

These activities have a similar spirit as take your kid to work day and team celebration ideas, and can include online family games.

This list includes:

• Family Day celebration ideas in school
• Family Day activities in school
• activities for Family Day
• Family Day activity ideas
• activities for Family Day events
• Family Day event ideas

Let’s get to it!

List of Family Day ideas

Family Day is a special day to celebrate loved ones with fun activities and events. From making family trees to family vocabulary for kids, here is a list of Family Day celebration ideas for students and schools.

1. Family Coloring Pages

Coloring pages make Family Day more cheerful and bright. You can give the kids books with pre-drawn family pictures and let them paint the images with desired colors. After painting, you can have a discussion session with the kids. Then, the young students do a picture reading of the colored pictures and express their opinions on the family pictures.

Also, you can give the kids blank pieces of paper and let them draw actions that you describe. For instance, “mommy is standing beside a car.” After drawing, let the students paint and compare their drawings.

Family Coloring Pages are a helpful tool to teach kids about family and how to express themselves.

2. Family Day Trivia

Family Day Trivia is one of the most fun Family Day games. To play Family Day Trivia with students, divide the students into groups. You can share facts on topics relating to family for the students to study before the trivia.

For instance,

1. Before the late 17th century, the term “family” included relatives and servants
2. The year 1882 marked the first recorded use of the term “family size” in retailing
3. The word “family” derives from the Latin word famulus, meaning “servant”
4. The middle age around the 11th century marked the beginning of the use of “family names”
5. Some of the most common last names in Canada are Smith, Brown, Tremblay, Martin, and Roy

You can number each question and ask the groups to take turns picking a random number and answering the corresponding question. For each question correctly answered, the group wins a point.

You can set a concise time limit to answer each question. If a group does not respond within the time limit, then that group gets a zero point.

At the end of the game, the group with the highest points wins.

Check out this guide to playing trivia virtually.

3. Family Day Literature Class

One easy idea for students to celebrate Family Day is to read a family book together. For younger students, some interesting family books to read are:

1. Me and My Family Tree by Joanne Sweeney
2. Who’s in My Family? All About Our Families by Robie H. Harris
3. My Family, Your Family by Lisa Bullard
4. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman

High school students can read family-centered literature books like I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo, and Far from the Tree by Robin Benway.

To organize a family day literature class for students, decide on the literary piece to read. The work can be an illustrative family book or a family poem for young students.

Also, decide if the class will be student-led or teacher-led. For kids in preschool, the teacher should lead the class. However, the class can be student-led for students who can read fluently.

Here are tips for organizing a Family Day student-led class:

1. Divide the class into groups before Family Day.
2. Ask each group to pick a family book or a poem on family and ensure they read the books before the class.
3. Assign roles to students in each group, such as the group head, the discussion director, and the task supervisor. You can let the students decide the roles themselves.
4. Let the students draft out the rules of the literature class.
5. Have each group discuss their books or read out their family poems, share their opinions on the books, and entertain questions from other students.

You can rearrange the classroom setting to create a literature circle atmosphere and make the class more fun.

4. Family Day Sports Festival

Family Day Sports Festivals are great Family Day event ideas for students and their families. To organize a sports event on Family Day in school:

1. Ensure that you notify the students and their parents about the event by sending special invites to the families of the students.
2. Determine the sports activities and games to play. For instance, a short football tournament, track and field, and musical chairs.
3. Prepare the necessary equipment ahead of the event. For instance, if the sporting activities include sack races and egg races, then you should prepare the sacks and eggs beforehand.
4. Plan the budget for the event. The budget should include the cost of refreshments for students and families and necessary equipment for the sporting event.
5. Also, since the sports festival is a Family Day event, allow families to participate in the sporting activities. The sporting activities can include sports competitions between parents or between parents and teachers.
6. Award prizes to the winners at the end of the game.

Organizing a Family Day Sports Festival is a good idea to allow students to spend quality time with their families. The sporting activities do not have to be technical. Simple games like relay races, tug of war, or three-legged races will encourage participation from families.

For similar activities, check out Office Olympics ideas.

5. Make Family Trees

Making Family Trees is an awesome Family Day idea. This activity is suitable for grades three to five. The aim of having students create their family trees is to encourage them to research and learn about their family histories. The materials needed include:

1. Cardboard
2. Smaller pieces of cardboard cut in circles
3. Pencil
4. Paints
5. Paintbrush
6. Glue
7. Marker

Here are tips on how to make family trees in the classroom with students:

1. First, ensure that you give enough time for students to learn their family history. You can have them talk about their family generations before the activity.
2. Prepare all the needed materials.
3. Start by asking students to draw and paint their family members’ faces on small circle-shaped pieces of paper
4. Next, the kids should draw and paint large trees on cardboard. Leave the painted cardboard to dry.
5. After the projects dry, the students can glue the small circle cuts of family members to their trees. Ensure you guide the kids to arrange the circle cuts of family members correctly.
6. Let the student label the glued circle cuts of family members with vocabularies like Grandpa, Uncle, or Sister.

Making a family portrait is excellent for encouraging kids to learn about their family histories and teaching the family vocabulary.

6. Create a Family Portrait

Creating a family portrait is one of the most interesting classroom Family Day activities for kids. In this drawing class, students make hand-drawn portraits of their families.

This class allows kids to explore their creativity and express their perspectives on art. To make their family portrait, the kids will need:

1. Cardboard
2. Tape
3. Scissors
4. Glue
5. Paint
6. Paintbrushes
7. Pencils
8. Glitter, beads, and other embellishments

Before the class, talk about families with the students. Next, the kids will cut out cardboard shapes. You can ask the kids to sketch out the shapes on the cardboards to ease the cutting process. You may have to assist younger children with the task. Then, paint the cardboard and let it dry.

After painting, kids can design the portrait by painting the background, adorning the cardboard edges with beads, and adding glitter. Once the children finish creating the artwork, let the portraits sit and dry for at least one hour.

While you wait, you can sing a family song with the students or talk about how special family is. Once the paintings dry, the kids can display their artwork and talk about their families.

Family portrait class will teach kids the ways in which families are similar or unique.

For more ideas, check out this list of online art classes for groups.

7. Family Vocabulary Cards For Kids

Family Vocabulary Cards are collections of cards containing family-related topics and pictures for kids’ learning. These vocabulary cards are one of the simple Family Day ideas.

Game materials can use include flashcards with pictures of labeled family members for children to identify.

Here is how to use family flashcards:

1. Repeat the words on the flashcards to toddlers while also emphasizing the pictures.
2. After several repetitions, show the cards to the kids and ask them to identify the names of family members on the flashcards.
3. Also, you can pair up the family flashcards with other vocabulary cards containing action words like run, draw, and eat.
4. Let the toddlers pick one vocabulary card from the family flashcards and another from the action cards.
5. Then let the kids pair the card to build an action. For instance, if card 1 is an “Uncle” card, and card 2 is an “eat” card, then the children can pair the cards to form a sentence like “Uncle is eating”

You can pair the family flashcards with many other types of vocabulary cards to teach children about family while improving their self-expression abilities.

Here are more vocabulary games.

8. Virtual Student-Family Dinner Party

This virtual dinner party allows students and their families to experience a memorable Family Day together.

Organizing a Virtual Student-Family Dinner Party requires adequate planning.

1. First, decide the host for the event.
2. Next, decide the food that everyone will eat. Although it is a virtual party, it is still a fun idea for guests to eat the same food. Send the recipe of the food you choose to each student’s family so that they can prepare it before the event.
3. After, choose the video conferencing platform to use. Then create a link to the event on the selected virtual platform and share the URL with the guests
4. At the beginning of the events, you can let the guests introduce their families. Also, include other fun activities like icebreaker games, family bingo, virtual talent show, or virtual scavenger hunts.

You can also add other entertaining activities like a virtual magic show, virtual storytelling, and a live music concert. These activities are fun virtual Family Day ideas for students to celebrate the special day with their families from the comfort of their homes.

Here is a guide for doing group meals remotely.

9. Family Day Theater Show

You can make the day fun for students and parents by organizing a Theater Show with student performers. The theme of the theater show should be “family.”

To plan a Family Day theater show,

1. First, prepare the script for the drama. For younger students, have them act something simple like playing roles of family members and showcasing their knowledge of members of the family.
2. Give the students enough time to rehearse and perfect their roles.
3. Prepare the appropriate costumes and decorate the stage.
4. Send invitations to the students’ families to attend the event and cheer the young actors up.

This Theater Show will build students’ confidence and acting skills and make Family Day memorable and fun-filled.

For more inspiration, check out office talent show ideas and virtual talent show ideas.

10. Family Day Craft Art Class

Another way to engage students and let them explore their creativity is to organize a Craft Art Class.

The goal of the class is for students to turn their creativity into artistic crafts. The students will design the crafts with family members in mind and present the creative works as gifts to their families.

Here are some hand-made craft ideas for students to make:

1. Family appreciation cards
2. Toy cars made from recycled bottles
3. Handmade wallet
4. Bead necklace
5. Hanging wall paperchain wall
6. Friendship bracelet
7. Mosaic painting portrait
8. Finger painting portraits
9. DIY masks

You can also conduct the Family Day craft art class on a virtual platform. Virtual craft classes are excellent virtual Family Day ideas for students to celebrate the special day and show off their creativity from home. You can let students make any craft out of materials they can find around their homes.

The students can briefly talk about their crafts and the family members they want to gift the artworks.

11. Family Portraits Game

A Family Portraits Game is a type of theater game students can play. In this game, students create different poses of the different families described by a caller. Examples of families that the designated caller can call are:

1. The energetic family
2. Family of Bodybuilders
3. A 1980’s family portrait
4. Family picture of Grandma cooking with the grandkids
5. The snobby family
6. A royal family portrait

To play this game with students:

1. Divide the students into groups.
2. Decide the student that will be the caller.
3. The caller will describe different types of families for a group to imitate.
4. The group members will make poses to imitate the described family.
5. The acting group will hold the pose for a few seconds.
6. After, the caller will describe a different family for another group to imitate.

Family Portraits Game is an improvisational and creative Family Day game for students to play. You can take pictures of the groups’ poses so that the students can laugh about them later.

12. Family Charades

One of the best Family Day games for students is Family Charades. This game involves a student acting out phrases relating to the theme ” family.” Other students will try to guess the phrase.

Here is how to play Family Charades:

1. Choose a particular family-related theme to make it easier for students to guess correctly. For instance, actions by family members, guess the family member, or even illustrations of animal families.
2. A student will start by thinking of a word or phrase within the theme.
3. Then the student will act out the word or phrase without giving verbal cues.
4. Other students will try to guess the word or the phrase.
5. The first student to guess correctly wins and will take a turn to act out a word or phrase within the theme.

You can also divide the students into groups and award a point to the group that makes a correct guess. At the end of the game, the group with the highest score wins.

13. Family-Themed Essay Contest

Essay contests based on family themes are fun and educational Family Day ideas for students at all levels. The topics for this contest range from simple to standard, depending on the students’ grades.

Simple family-theme essay topics for children include:

• What I love about my family
• My favorite family tradition
• Ten lines on my family
• Things I wish to do on a family vacation
• My family values

Standard family essay topics for high school and college students include:

• Family as an agent of socialization
• Different perspectives on marriage and family
• Family tree and its importance
• The importance of a family health plan
• The role of the family in everyday life

You can organize an essay competition for students to celebrate Family Day with these tips:

1. First, select an appropriate topic.
2. Draft out the competition rules and communicate those rules to the participants
3. Also, decide the judges that will grade the essays. It is a good idea to use expert judges like experienced writers.
4. Decide the prize for the winner.
5. Give the participants enough time to research the essay topic.
6. Also, give the judges enough time to grade the essays.
7. You can announce the winner on Family Day.

You can also decide to make the Family Day essay competition a one-day contest. In this case, the participants will all write the essay on the same day with a time limit set. After the time is up, the participants will submit, and judges will grade the papers. Then you can announce the winner and award prizes on Family Day.

Conclusion

Family Day ideas for students mainly cover activities and events that students can engage in to celebrate the special day at school. These events will teach young students about family and help students express their creativity. Students can bond with their families and have fun while learning a thing or two.

Next, check out this list of team building ideas for kids.