Unplug for family night

5. Grow a mini garden
Buy an array of seeds (herbs work well for indoor-growing) and let everyone pick what they want to grow, then set to work potting the seeds in home-decorated pots. Keeping the plants alive and growing can be an ongoing project. Make sure to have a weekly gathering so everyone can share his or her progress and chart plant growth.

6. Kid's choice
Give your children the gift of being the 'grown up' and allow them to pick the night's activity. They can pick anything they want to do as long as the whole family can participate -- and of course, no television time.

7. Cook something up
Start simple with a goof-proof recipe, such as chocolate chip cookies or brownies. Assign everyone a job: ingredient gatherer, batter stirrer or recipe reader. Agree to share the spoon-licking duties.

8. Run for charity:
Participate in a charity marathon -- such as breast cancer's Run for the Cure -- as a family. Spend the weeks leading up to the race getting pledges, training and learning about your chosen charity.

9. Have a road-trip floor party
Use a big blanket or sheet to cover the living room floor and act as the party space. Eat pizza from the box dressed in your pyjamas and play car games, such as 'I spy' or the 'Theme song' game.

10. Write a story
Create a story about your family with multiple writers. Assign one family member to type and agree on a location and general theme (such as The Kimbers go to a hockey game). Along the lines of the 'Telephone' game, where one person starts a sentence and passes it along, have one person start the story and another pick it up from there, one paragraph at a time.