Cousin parties or camps provide a great chance for all of the cousins to spend time with each other and is a wonderful way for those long-distance cousins to get together with one another and nurture those relationships. The younger cousins begin to look up to the older ones and the older ones take on a protective nature.
The one thing that seems to be important to the success of a cousins party or camp is that NO parents are allowed. Thanks to Lisa and Annette for sharing the following cousin party ideas.
Grandma and Grandpa Hale have a cousins Christmas party every year. It is always on a Saturday afternoon in December. They invite all grade school age children. The kids who move out of grade school that year come back as the helper. They are great helpers and take their job seriously. No grown ups are allowed. Grandma Hale been doing her cousins party for many years and she suggests that it works much better without any parents.
Some of their cousin party traditional activities include:
* a craft
*play the candy bar game http://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2011/06/candy-bar-game-for-your-family-reunion/
*Decorate Grandma and Grandpa’s Christmas tree
*They go out for pizza
* They go to the theater, watch the dollar movie and see Santa or stay home and watch a movie if the party falls on a weekend that Santa is not visiting.
*White elephant gift exchange – They play the game where you can choose a new present or steal some one else’s http://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2011/04/ten-ideas-for-your-family-reunion-part-2/
* Sleep over for one night
*They go to church – Two aunts come before church and have a beauty shop to do all the girls hair.
*They have a family night lesson – given by one of the older children who come prepared.
*They eat dinner and go home
Hint for parents of the cousins- Grandma and Grandpa are tired. Parents come on time!
The Parson family has a “Cousins Camp” that lasts an entire week. The cousins come prepared to go swimming and fishing at the beach. They eat watermelon and hotdogs and when they get back to Grandma’s house after the beach they make homemade ice cream while everyone showers. One of their traditional activities is to play hide and seek and Annie I Over.
The Parson family have a special “workshop”day where they the cousins rotate from station to station learning new things. One year Grandma and Grandpa had a neighbor come teach the cousins how to play tennis, then the girls rotated to the fingernail painting station and boys rotated to the bird house building station. The last station was decorating sugar cookies. One year the cousins all made decorative stepping stones that have become a lasting treasure in Grandma’s flower garden.
When everyone is tucked into their sleeping bags at night Grandpa tells stories until the cousins reluctantly fall asleep.
Whether an afternoon, one night sleepover or a week long camp consider planning a cousin’s party with your family. It’s a fun way to have a family reunion with the very best part of your family.
