15 New Year's Resolutions to Make Together as a Family

There are so many rewards from volunteering together as a family! It's a great way to build character in your children, create a meaningful impact in your local community, and spend quality time together while you do it. You can volunteer at a nearby nursing home, make and deliver meals through a local meal service, clean up or plant flowers in community parks, and so much more.

Many resolutions focus on things you want to achieve; this year, make a family pact to regularly express your appreciation for all the wonderful things you do have in your life.

Need inspiration? Try this: create a "Gratitude Board" where members of the family can continue to put up things they're thankful for throughout the year. Keep it somewhere visible for a daily reminder!

A fun way to get your kids (and yourself!) excited about learning a new language is to pick a country you all would love to visit together one day, then learn the language of that country. In addition to practicing and quizzing each other, you can also brainstorm all the activities you'll get to do when you visit (however far in the future that may be).

In 2020, resolve to up your family's intake of vitamin D. There are many different ways to enjoy the great outdoors. Make dinner an outdoor picnic, put on a treasure chest hunt, tell stories over a campfire, or teach your kids the games you played outside at their age. The possibilities are endless, so get creative!

Want to encourage everyone in your family to read more? Make it a club! Pick a new book each month, then once a week, get together over your favorite takeout meal to talk about the story, characters, and plot.

Take family dinner night one step further and put your cooking chops to the test. Each week, let a different member of the family choose the recipe, then all work together in the kitchen to cook up a healthy meal – with a side of laughter, of course.

At home, there's always a lot going on – ball games, dance classes, sleepovers, meetings, household tasks, the list goes on. That's why taking the time to get away as a family is so important. It gives you the chance to focus on spending time together, explore a new place, and create lifelong memories. It doesn't have to be expensive or exotic. In fact, some of my most cherished memories from childhood are from weekend camping trips. S'mores, anyone?

There are a host of reasons why doing arts and crafts is a great activity for kids. It improves their fine motor skills, flexes their imagination, teaches them to experiment with science and different materials, and frankly, it's a blast. Start a weekly arts and crafts ritual, and chances are you'll find yourself having just as much fun as the little ones. When's the last time you put brush to paper?

Could your family use a boost in water consumption? Make it a group effort! Send each other messages throughout the day as water reminders and strive to trade nightly sodas for a cold glass of H2O.

This one speaks for itself. Make it a group effort to go on a "digital diet" and collectively put down your devices so you can enjoy life's beautiful moments.

Getting more active is always one of the most popular goals of resolutioners, but instead of vowing to spend more hours in the gym, make a pact to find fun and inventive ways to get your family in motion. Each week, a different member of the family can come up with the activity, whether it be having a dance contest, going on a scavenger hunt, or bicycling through the park.

When taking an honest look at our lifestyles, chances are there are areas we could all shed some of the excess waste. In 2020, you can make it a family effort to recycle more, reuse rather than discard, cut out items like plastic bags and styrofoam cups, etc.

A small and simple way to brighten each other's days is to hide surprise notes in lunch boxes, bathroom drawers, on the windshield of the car, in books, etc. Draw a picture or write one thing you love about the person – smiles are practically guaranteed.

Growing up, your kids are constantly facing fears, such as riding a bike without training wheels for the first time or taking on the high dive. As parents, you can make a pledge to join in on the effort and face fears of your own, and let your family encourage you every step of the way.

Make 2020 the year for adventure! Let each member of the family pick one adventure they've always wanted to go on – be it white water rafting, cave exploration, or merely sleeping in a tent for the first time – and make it point to do them all.