The weather is awesome and your family has found itself with a wide open evening. Create some family fun memories by filling it up with a last minute BBQ Bash. We've got lots of ideas and tips to keep things easy for you so you all can relax and enjoy some good ole family fun.

Last Minute Guide to Hosting a Family BBQ Bash 

Inviting Guests for Family BBQ Bash

Tip - Touch Base Directly 

4-6 families is a good number for a BBQ. First order of business is calling or texting families to see if they are available. Don't do a giant blast to all your friends or you could end up with too many people. Try and reach people directly. If people decline then reach out to another family.

Tip - A Friend for Everyone

Make sure to invite families who have children your kids like to play with. You want to make sure you have at least one friend coming for each of your children. You want to make sure everyone in your family has fun.

Getting Ready for Family BBQ Bash

Tip - Test Grill

Make sure your grill is still working and that you have enough fuel for it. We were at a BBQ where the host's grill did not work. Fortunately, we happened to have a small grill that we could slide into the back of our car for them to borrow.

Tip - Prioritize the Cleanup

It is last minute, so don't go crazy feeling you have to have an immaculate house and yard. Think strategically and focus on cleaning up the areas where your guests will be spending most of the time. This may sound obvious, but mow the lawn and weed and forget about getting your laundry done. Remember to relax and enjoy. People will be coming over to have fun, not to scrutinize your housekeeping skills.

Nothing like a few flowers arrangements around to make things ore organized looking than they really are. Use flowers from your garden and little bud vases for simple arrangement.

Tip: Setting Up

Make sure you have enough plates, glasses, utensils, napkins and serving pieces. Put them all out on a kitchen counter ready to go. I personally find it easier to keep all the food set up inside. That way I never have to worry about flies. People just go in and out for seconds. If you prefer to set up outside make sure you have some plastic wrap or another type of cover to keep over food and keep away the flies.

Tip - Seating Ideas

Check that you have enough seating. If not consider investing in a few folding tables and chairs. Toss on a plastic table cloth and you are good to go. You can also eat in shifts. Kids first and then adults will maximize your seating. Or serve food that is easy to eat standing up like sandwiches of hamburgers and hot dogs. Another fun thing to do is lay a bunch of picnic blankets out across the lawn and/or beach towels. Kids especially enjoy eating picnic style.

Tip - Tackling Trash

Make sure to have  big trash can outside as well as big recycle container outside all within easy view. Guest can then easily help with the cleanup throughout the party instead of having trash building up.

Planning Fun Activities for Family BBQ Bash

Tip - Fun & Active Kids Activities

Do you have stuff for the kids to do in the backyard? There are lots of easy active activities to set up thing that make for instant family fun like badminton, water guns (you can ask kids to bring their own gun and a change of clothes too), water-balloons, kickball, frisbee, ping pong, slip & slide, sprinkler or jump ropes.

Tip - Fun & Easy Arts & Crafts

I also think it is a great idea to have some arts and crafts projects. Nail polish, fake tattoos, friendship bracelets all make for great family fun. There are also all sorts of cool coloring books for all different ages. Setting up a table with assorted coloring books, crayons and colored pencils will be good fro toddlers up to teens.

Tip - Flashlight Family Fun

As it get darker, kids love to run around with flashlights. This activity makes for great summer time classic family fun. Pick up a bunch of small flashlights or ask people to bring one of their own. As a back up plan have a good movie on hand kids can watch if it get too cold or buggy outside once it gets dark.

Menu for Family BBQ Bash

Tip - Keep it Simple

It is a last minute family affair so keep it simple. If you create too complicated a menu, you could easily get overwhelmed and not have any fun. Pick a theme for your BBQ food. Having theme actually makes it simpler when hitting the grocery store last minute as instantly narrows down your choices. Make sure to write up a shopping list before hitting the store.

Tip - Pick Up Starters & Desserts 

Keep your starters and desserts really simple so you can focus on your main courses and sides. Chips & Salsa or Edamame are 2 of my favorite starters. For dessert I always do Klondike Bars or Italian ices and then watermelon. I find it easier to cut up the watermelon right before serving. Then you don't need to work about fitting it all into the fridge. 

Tip - Assign Guests Something

People love to help out. Ask them to bring something easy like a bottle of wine, cookies or a starter. 

Tip - Easy Main Courses

For main course I actually find it easiest to just cook a bunch of flank or skirt steaks and then seve them sliced up on a platter. There are lots of recipes for marinades online or just pick up a store bought bottle and keep it even simpler. Keep a box of frozen veggie burgers on hand in case any guests are vegetarian. I also like to do a big batch of either shrimp or some salmon steaks. (I buy a big bag of peeled and deveined frozen shrimp at Whole Foods). Both can be done just with olive oil and garlic powder as the grill makes anything taste great, but again there are lots of cool recipes online as well as marinades to dress either up.

Tip - Pick Up Main Course

No time even to cook, then order ahead a bunch of fried chicken or a few super long subs. Those are always fun for kids to see.

Tip - Easy Sides

For sides I will serve corn that I cooked earlier and each ear being snapped into 2 pieces. No time for corn? Then cornbread from the bakery section at the grocer will do just fine. White rice is also always a safe bet as it is easy to cook and kids love it. For the veggie, I do a big salad with all sort of veggies chopped up into it. I keep dressing on side self-serve so it does not get soggy. I also have a bowl of carrots sticks for the kids.

Enjoy your fun family BBQ bash!

- from the moms behind Prima Princessa - great gift for girls

Check out more Family Fun Ideas!

Our new ping pong table is exceeding all our expectations for family fun. Everyone in the family loves playing it including my daughter, son husband and I. It is a great, active thing we can all do together. 

Ping Ping Table Tips for Families

Where to Keep It

We have no room in our house for one, so we got an outdoor version. It resides on our driveway, and when it rains it easily folds up and gets rolled into the garage. You are lucky if you have a basement space or spare room in your home where you can keep it. A good friend of mine, just stuck hers inside on top of her breakfast table as it was such a hit with her kids. They have tons of family fun in their breakfast-rec room now!

Ping Pong Play dates & Parties

Kids love coming over to play ping pong. It is a great thing to keep kids active and outdoors. If you have a bunch of kids or families over, organize an informal ping pong tournament for fun!

Where to Buy It

Keep an eye out for ping pong tables at garage sales. Sports Authority has a great selection of indoor and outdoor versions. Indoors go for about $200 and outdoors for about $600. The outdoor versions are very light weight if you are looking for one you can move around a room easily. The brand we bought is a Kettler from Germany and we are so far very pleased with it and enjoying lots of family fun with it.

You can also just get the tops you place onto a big table or there are also smaller versions fro tight spaces.

Tips

Pay the extra and get the professional to come put it together. I think it cost us around $90 for that and it was well worth it. I watched as two guys took many hours putting it together. Buy extra paddles. Go for the orange pin pong balls as they are much easier to see while playing.

When starting out, especially with young kids, don't keep score. Just work on being able to hit it back and forth for a decent amount of time before really competing.

Ping Pong tables can make great surprise birthday gifts, Father's Day Gifts, Christmas gifts and more. They are great gifts for girls and boys alike. 

Enjoy lots of family fun this summer with your ping pong table. 

Check out more Family Fun Ideas!  

post courtesy of  Prima Princessa - gifts for girls

High style family fun is for sure to be had at The Plaza's Eloise Tea! My daughter and I always have fun at the Elosie Tea. Generally we get to go once a year and often when out of town guests have come to visit. Eloise Tea makes for a very special birthday gift as well.

Great tips for making the best out of your Tea time fun! It is such an elegant, old world feel you and your daughte will love it.

Best Time to Go

Any time is a great time to go. Just make sure to call ahead and make reservations. 

What to Wear

Smart casual.

Lots of tourists on the run are at the plaza for tea with their kids so no need to get very dressed up. There are some people who get dressed up and others who are dressed for regualr touring in NYC.

What To Do Near By

After tea check out FAO Schwartz, Central Park Zoo or take a carriage ride through central park.

The Eloise store is a great place to stop before or after tea to pick up an Eloise book or unique Eloise Gift. The Plaza also has a wonderful food court which is fun to walk through.

Check out more Family Fun Ideas!  

post courtesy of  Prima Princessa - gifts for girls

Great Gift for Girls 

My daughter enjoys reading much more than the idea of reading. She will often drag her feet before starting to read, but once doing so loves it. My husband recently came home from the local bookstore Watchung Booksellers with a new book for her as well as bookmark with built in timer. She's had fun setting her timer before reading. It makes a nice game out of it all. Often she goes beyond the present time of 20 minutes.

Where to Get It

Your local bookstore or shop online at Mark-My-Time ($8.95). 

Tip 

Pair bookmark with a new book or a gift certificate to your local bookstore.

Cool Family Fun Activity

Plan a new fun trip with this Childrens Film Festival List. A Childrens Film Festival is a great way to expose kids to a wider variety of media than the heavy commercial stuff constantly bombarding them. Planning a trip around a Childrens Film Festival can take you to a fantastic city.

Look for a Childrens Film Festival that a features works by kids. Kids love to watch what other kids have created. There are also many great film festivals that have offerings for families and children. For example the Montclair Film Festival in NJ has lots of great movies for kids including Magic Camp.

Childrens Film Festival List

Here is a list of some film festivals. Plan a trip to one of these fun cities around a festival! A fun thing to do is get tickets to the shorts. These are lots of fun as you get to see a bunch of really different short films. I love hearing which one everyone like best and why.(photo from Zafra NYIFF)

Country Wide Childrens Film Festival List

KidsFirst Film Festival - partners with locations across the country!

East Coast Childrens Film Festival List

Montclair Film Festival in Montclair, NJ  Spring

New York International Children's Film Festival Spring (Also in Boston!)

Providence Children's Film Festival, RI

Kids Film Festival Brooklyn, NY

Midwest Childrens Film Festival List

Chicago International Film Festival

New York International Children's Film Festival Spring (Also in Boston!)

West Coast Childrens Film Festival List

Los Angeles International Film Festival, CA

San Diego International Fil Festival, CA

Redcat Film Festival, LA

Europe Childrens Film Festival List

Links to European Film Festivals

More Family Fun and Family Travel Ideas

post courtesy of Prima Princessa - gifts for girls