7 Fun Things to Do at Home with Family in 2026

After dozens of game nights with my kids, my partner, and visiting in-laws, here are the 7 best fun things to do at home with family that earn a second night.

7 fun things to do at home with family: Quick comparison

How I researched and tested these family activities

I ran every activity through real game nights with kids ages 4 to 14, my partner, and visiting relatives over the past 7 months. The Weekend games got dozens of sessions. The analog activities got at least 5 each.

• Engagement: Whether everyone stayed in to the end
• Setup time: How fast it ran from a cold start
• Age range: Whether a 6-year-old and a competitive cousin could play together
• Repeat appeal: Whether anyone asked to do it again the next week

I spent the first few weeks over-planning these nights, with themed snacks, color-coded craft stations, and a scavenger hunt I once rigged with clues taped to every doorknob in the house. The kids would engage for 15 minutes, then ask when dinner was. The 7 below are the activities that stuck after I gave up on the elaborate version.

1. Trivia night with Jeopardy!: Best for mixed-age trivia families

What it offers: The official TV version of Jeopardy! on the Weekend app, with real questions, voice, and gameplay rhythm.

Best for: Families with kids old enough to read clue text, and at least one adult who absorbs trivia for sport.

The first time I put Jeopardy! on for a quiet Tuesday, my 10-year-old buzzed in faster than every adult in the room. We've never looked at her the same way since.

Key features

• Three difficulty modes scale from a 6-year-old to a competitive cousin on the same night
• Form-of-a-question scoring with 1 free pass per game
• Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy! preserved from the show

Pros

• ✅ One difficulty pick per night sidesteps mid-game arguments about whether to make it harder
• ✅ Categories rotate every session, so trivia regulars can't pattern-match into easy wins

Cons

• ❌ Some categories skew older, so pre-teens lose on Civil War rounds
• ❌ Final Jeopardy! can blow up mid-game leads on a single clue

Pricing

7-day free trial, then $12.99/month for Weekend’s full library.

Bottom line

For families wanting a serious trivia night. If your kids are all under 6, lean casual.

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2. Song Quiz showdown: Best for music-loving households

What it offers: Music trivia where short clips play, and you shout out the song’s title and artist.

Best for: Households where the playlists span generations and somebody always swears they know an artist.

Song Quiz is the game that revealed my partner doesn't know any song released after 1998. Devastating at the time, hilarious now. Song Quiz on the Weekend app runs best-of-5 rounds against the bot.

Key features

• Decade and genre categories so no relatives get shut out
• Half-point scoring keeps slower players in longer than expected
• Song Quiz Party Mode adds multiplayer mode on Samsung, LG, and Fire TV

Pros 

• ✅ Interactive play keeps everyone leaning in instead of fumbling with a controller mid-clip
• ✅ Best-of-5 rounds feel like real contests, not single-question trivia

Cons

• ❌ Recognizing artist names is harder than recognizing songs, so kids miss credits
• ❌ Niche genres feel thin compared to mainstream pop or rock

Pricing

7-day free trial, then $12.99/month for Weekend’s full library.

Bottom line

For families that enjoy music and talking about it. If everyone listens to the same playlist, you'll burn through your favorite categories fast.

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3. Wheel of Fortune tournament: Best for word-puzzle families

What it offers: Letter-by-letter word puzzle solving with the show's full game mechanics intact, on Weekend's app.

Best for: Households with at least 2 confident readers across ages and 1 runaway competitive streak.

My sister claims she's the family Wheel of Fortune champion, which is both true and unbearable. Wheel of Fortune on Weekend resolves rounds faster than I remembered, with puzzles that turn over in around 5 minutes.

Key features

• Bankrupt drama wipes a round total clean, so no lead is ever safe
• Partner play splits the spinning and the solving across pairs
• Cumulative scoring across 3 puzzles gives the night a real event feel

Pros

• ✅ Strong readers shine, even the young ones
• ✅ Faster pace than Jeopardy! when the night is short

Cons

• ❌ Pre-readers get frustrated when puzzles lean adult vocabulary

Pricing

7-day free trial, then $12.99/month for Weekend’s full library.

Bottom line

For families where everyone reads competently. Hold off until kids can decode a puzzle on their own.

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4. Mystery-ingredient cooking challenge: Best for hands-on families

What it offers: A timed kitchen challenge with mystery ingredients, judged on creativity over taste.

Best for: Kids 7 and up who like making things, plus an adult willing to risk dinner being weird.

One Sunday afternoon I dumped 3 random pantry items in front of my kids and gave them 30 minutes. One produced an extremely earnest peanut butter and pickle sandwich. We still talk about it.

Key features

• Three-ingredient sets like tortillas, canned chickpeas, and apricot jam work as a starter combo
• Age-appropriate stations for younger kids: washing produce, mixing, plating
• Winner picks dessert that week

Pros

• ✅ Builds kitchen confidence in kids who'd otherwise watch from the doorway
• ✅ Doubles as dinner, so the night counts twice

Cons

• ❌ Cleanup is real, so budget 20 minutes after the cooking ends
• ❌ Toddlers can't play, so it's a 7-and-up activity

Bottom line

Do this once or twice a month for any family with kids who like to make things. Skip it on nights you need dinner to be efficient.

5. Karaoke sing-off: Best for confident or reluctant singers

What it offers: Real-time scoring of both lyrics and pitch as you sing along, on a catalog that stretches across decades.

Best for: Households where at least one person hides behind "I don't sing," which the scoring will fix.

My father-in-law refused to do karaoke for years. Then he picked Tom Jones, somehow scored higher than anyone else, and now we can't get him off the mic. Karaoke on Roku pulls in even the most reluctant singers.

Key features

• Live scoreboard tells you whether you nailed the chorus or coasted
• TV remote or phone mic with the same result either way
• Joke categories like "most dramatic performance" let quieter family members win

Pros

• ✅ Hitting a high score outweighs hitting a high note, so even casual singers commit
• ✅ Catalog has massive variety so grandparents and teens both find their songs

Cons

• ❌ Currently Roku only
• ❌ Pitch scoring can humble adults who think of themselves as singers

Pricing

7-day free trial, then $12.99/month for Weekend’s full library.

Bottom line

For any family that's even half-musical. Skip it if professional pitch is the only thing your house values in singing.

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6. Family charades championship: Best for big-personality families

What it offers: A team-based guessing game where you act out prompts on a timer, no speaking allowed.

Best for: Households with at least one extroverted person and the patience to let nobody narrate from the sidelines.

The image of my mother trying to act out The Shawshank Redemption in 90 seconds is one I'll genuinely never recover from. Charades works because physical comedy doesn't care how old you are.

Key features

• Two teams, 90-second rounds for a standard tournament rhythm
• Pre-set categories of movies, songs, and animals so nobody wastes a turn deciding
• One skip per player with no questions asked prevents the night from stalling

Pros

• ✅ A 7-year-old can outscore an adult on commitment alone
• ✅ Zero supplies and no setup

Cons

• ❌ Shy family members can stall an entire round
• ❌ A bad scorekeeper turns this into an argument fast

Bottom line

For families with at least one extroverted ham. Skip it if everyone in the room is conflict-averse about being the center of attention.

7. Photo album deep dive: Best for calmer nights with older kids

What it offers: A guided walk through old photos with storytelling about who's in them, where they were taken, and what was happening.

Best for: Kids 7 and up who can ask real questions and adults willing to answer them honestly.

My kids once found a photo of me with bleached tips from 2003, and I lost authority I'm not sure I'll ever get back. A deep dive sounds small until you're 80 minutes in and somebody's asking why Aunt Diane has that haircut.

Key features

• One decade or trip at a time keeps it an intentional walk, not a random scroll
• One photo per person that they want explained
• Shared family album for saving standouts as you go

Pros

• ✅ Quietest activity on this list and the one we remember longest
• ✅ Gives kids a version of family history they can't get from any other format

Cons

• ❌ Falls flat with toddlers who don't have anchor memories yet
• ❌ Awkward family stories surface fast, so pace yourself

Bottom line

Every few months for any family with kids 7 or older. Save it until they're old enough to ask "where was I when this happened."

Which family activity should you choose?

Choose Jeopardy!, Song Quiz, Wheel of Fortune, or Karaoke if you …

• Want a structured game-show format with rules, scoring, and a clear winner
• Have a mixed-age room where the activity needs to build 

Choose a hands-on activity (mystery cooking or charades) if you …

• Want kids making or performing rather than spectating
• Have at least one kid old enough to handle a prep station or commit to a bit

Choose a quiet activity (photo album deep dive) if you …

• Want bonding without competition
• Have kids old enough to ask real questions about family history

Final verdict

For my house, the winners are always a Weekend game on the TV, with charades when the cousins visit and a mystery cooking night when the weekend stretches out. The best fun things to do at home with family aren't the most elaborate ones. They're the ones that start in 5 minutes and end with someone asking when we're doing it again.

How Weekend turns family nights into events

The Weekend app loads games onto your TV that everyone in the room knows on sight, then it handles the rules, scoring, and timer so you can focus on having fun.

Family nights that turn into traditions usually anchor on one of these:

• Jeopardy! for real TV show clues, Daily Double wagering, and a Final Jeopardy! round that puts every point at risk in 1 clue
• Song Quiz for clip-based music identification across every decade and genre, where fast reflexes win
• Wit's End for an AI-powered epic adventure that plays differently every single time
• Wheel of Fortune for word puzzle competition, where Bankrupt spins reset leads and keep the score unpredictable until the final puzzle
• 20 Questions (on Roku) for rapid-fire yes-or-no deduction rounds where the faster thinker wins
• Karaoke (on Roku) for real-time scored performances, where commitment beats technical ability every time

One app runs on Samsung, Fire TV, LG TV, and Roku. Search for Weekend in your TV's app store, install, and the 7-day free trial starts the moment you launch it.

FAQs

What are the best fun things to do at home with family?

The best fun things to do at home with family combine games everyone plays together with low-prep activities that match the room's energy. In my house, Jeopardy! and Song Quiz on the Weekend app anchor trivia nights, and a mystery cooking challenge covers the days when nobody can sit still.

Do I need a lot of supplies to plan a family game night at home?

No, you don't need a lot of supplies. The Weekend app on your smart TV handles trivia, music, word puzzles, and Karaoke on Roku without extra equipment, and the physical activities here use what most households already have.

What's a good activity that works for kids and adults together?

A good activity for kids and adults together has to level the playing field. Wheel of Fortune does this well because Bankrupt spins stop any one player from running away with the score, and a 7-year-old who reads quickly can solve a puzzle before the grown-ups.

How do I get the Weekend app on my smart TV?

Getting the Weekend app on your smart TV takes about a minute. Open the app store on your Samsung, LG, Fire TV, or Roku, search for "Weekend," install, and sign in. The 7-day free trial starts the moment you launch the app and gives full access to Jeopardy!, Song Quiz, and the rest of the library.