Family time is quality time. When you’re tired of doing the same old things day after day, spice things up. This year, have more fun with your kids during family time with these:

5 Things to Try with Your Kids in the New Year

1. Theme nights.

Once a month (or once a week, depending on how ambitious you are), come together with the kids and have a theme night for all the senses – complete with dinner (and maybe dessert), decorations, scents, music and more to coordinate with the theme. Pick themes like countries, movies, sports…the possibilities are endless! Delegate one person to a task and have everyone else be surprised or discuss and work on the options together. Expect some extraordinary results.

2. Family Swim at Goldfish Swim School.

Family Swim is just what it sounds like: Time for the entire family to have fun and swim in the 90-degree pool! AND you don’t even have to be a member to enjoy Family Swim! It’s $5 per person or $15 per family, so call your nearest location to find out all the details on when the next Family Swim is (there’s usually one Friday night swim per month) so you can start swimming! It’s a GOLDEN experience.

3. Something you said you’d never do.

Being a parent enlightens you to all those things you used to say you would “never” do – but then find yourself doing. But what have you said since becoming a parent that you wouldn’t do? Have you told your kids you’d never try zip lining, or maybe you refuse to eat tomatoes? Or maybe you always pass when it’s time to play basketball or draw a picture. Pick something and do it – and tell the kids they have to do something new, too. For even more fun, pick each other’s must do (but be prepared to follow through!) and celebrate your accomplishments.

4. A bit of culture.

When’s the last time your family went to a museum, art gallery, theatre production or other similar cultural experience? You may live near a museum or two but because it’s so close you never really think about going. Well, now’s the time! Plan a day of culture and find ways to engage the kids beforehand in what you’ll be doing. Tell them to research the oldest painting in the art gallery, find out what it takes to become a stage actor or ballet dancer, find the strangest artifact in the museum or other interesting tidbits to pique their interest.

5. A family book club.

Do you know how kids learn to love reading? When it’s a part of your family’s culture and day-to-day life. So, start a book club in your family! Sure, you won’t all be reading the same book – or maybe you will – but you can each set a monthly guideline of the number of books you’ll read. Set up a family reading time where you all sit down and read silently – TVs and phones off! (Unless you have little ones; in that case it’ll be a boisterous family reading time!) After, you can share the things you’re reading about and learning, and you can ask questions about each other’s books. TIP: Let the kids pick their own books, on subjects they are interested in.

Goldfish Swim School

Sign your kids up for swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School for even more fun this year! The instructors use integrity, compassion and trust to provide WOW! Customer service that makes Goldfish Swim School different than the rest.