It’s HARD to think of at home family activities that will keep the kids happy and the parents sane! In each new phase of parenting, I find myself poking around Google and Pinterest trying to find ideas that will keep us occupied and connected — and off of screens.

For Father’s Day last year, I bought my husband The Adventure Challenge Family Edition book. We had great intentions, but life got the best of us, and we never got around to giving it a try. Until recently, when my 8-year-old son found the book and started flipping through it. Once he realized that it was full of scratch off, surprise family activities, he was IN LOVE. He begged incessantly until a long string of snow days put us over the edge. We were ready to try it. I’m so glad we did because it is the ultimate answer to family connecting time — especially finding those unicorn family activities to do at home!

What is The Adventure Challenge?

If you’re not familiar with The Adventure Challenge, the concept is pretty simple. The books are filled with challenges that are hidden behind a little scratch off box. And once you scratch it off, there are no take backs. You HAVE to complete the challenge (my kids loved that part 😂). There are little symbols by each of the challenges so you know whether it’s outdoors or indoors, what the price point is, if any materials are needed, and about how long it will take to complete. Then, each challenge has space to write a reflection, and a spot to paste in a picture of you completing the challenge.

They have several editions — ones for couples, ones for kids, a date night one, a friendship one, etc. We got the Family edition, but I’d also like to try the kids specific on out!

My Take

I loved the idea of this book in theory, but I was honestly nervous that it would be too hard, too involved, somehow lame and not fun, or simply take forever. But, I’m pleasantly surprised at the simplicity and quality of the activities. These are things I would NEVER plan to do with my kids, but they turn out to be fun for all of us.

And, as a photographer, I, of course, love the challenge of taking and pasting in a picture too. I used my “big girl” camera to document our recent challenge, but this would also be perfect time to break out a Polaroid or Instax camera.

Our Challenge

Our recent challenge included creating an obstacle course using a skein of yarn. After the course was created (we set it up in our guest room), the challenge was to try and get through the maze of yarn without actually touching any of the yarn. Each time you touched part of the yarn maze, you’d be sprayed in the face with water. The water part was clearly a hit with the under-10 set 🙃

Conclusion: An Easy Button for Family Activities at Home

Overall, I’m super impressed with the “get it” factor of these books. The kids are already asking to do more activities, and they talk about it with everyone who comes over to visit.

If you’re stuck inside on snowy or rainy days, or just looking to be on screens less, I highly recommend The Adventure Challenge!

I love it as a gift idea too — Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are just around the corner!