Themes, Games, Crafts

Nothing says that your family reunion has to have a theme, but it’s a fun way to create excitement before the event, as well as to keep everyone involved and looking to see what’s next. A theme lets you be creative with food, activities, invitations, and decorations, and sometimes can provide a central focus to the entire reunion. You can even invite people to dress up for the theme!

Themes don’t have to be wild and crazy; something simple like the birthday or wedding anniversary of common ancestors or important relatives or a reunion planned around a holiday sets the tone for the weekend and lends a central focus to the activities and events. However, wacky ideas are a fun way to get people to come and let loose. Some of these wacky themes could be circus, fiesta, Hawaiian luau, safari, or Western, but the sky’s the limit when you’re creating your family gathering!

Below are some helpful links for deciding on a theme and shopping for themed invitations, decorations, and gifts.

Theme Ideas

www.party411.com/themes.html
www.evite.com/pages/party/themes.jsp
www.partydirectory.com/guide/ptytheme.htm
www.partypop.com/themes/

Family reunion crafts are a wonderful way to bring older and younger relatives together, and the final products can make great gifts! Some crafts may become family traditions to be carried on for reunions to come, and the memories made while participating in crafts together will outlast the crafts themselves.

A general craft table is an easy-to-setup activity center where you can supply the different pieces and let the creativity flow! Cover the table with a disposable vinyl tablecloth and set out construction paper, scissors, glue, paint and paint brushes, markers, coloring books and crayons, sidewalk chalk, etc.  You can also have supervised stations for more involved crafts like paper mache and tie-dye. Another great idea is to have teenagers make puppets and put on a show for the smaller children. Anything goes when it comes to being creative, and there are many links for individual crafts if you’d like to plan them out:

www.dltk-kids.com
www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/
www.allcrafts.net
familycrafts.about.com/