planning children's parties on a budget

Chartering a private charter boat for your next family reunion is a unique way to get everyone together so they can benefit from creating special bonds and memories that are sure to last a lifetime. Simply providing space for everyone to mingle is enough to make the event come to life with love and laughter, but you can include some fun activities that encourage family bonding along the way. Here are four awesome options to consider:

Collage Creation Station

Set up a folding table in the corner of the room and fill it with as many family photos as you can get your hands on along with scissors, glue, and small collage frames. Place chairs around the table, and family members can sit down to pick out their favorite pictures and create collages to take home as keepsakes. Consider making ribbons, stickers, doilies, and colored markers available to decorate the collage frames with.

If you find that your personal collection of extended family photos is limited, ask your family reunion guests to bring a small collection of their own photos that they don't mind parting with – this is a great way to collect photos from several decades for your guests to choose from. You can also collect current family photos by having a photographer take pictures near the collage creation station that can be printed on the spot and used in the collages.

Storytelling Corner

Undoubtedly, your family members are going to have plenty of life stories to share with their loved ones who they don't get a chance to connect with face-to-face on a regular basis. Kids and adults tend to love hearing stories from aunts, uncles, and grandparents about family history, fun adventures, and of course embarrassing moments. Putting a comfortable chair in the corner of the room facing outward and surrounding it with fluffy floor cushions offers the perfect environment for stories to be told in an intimate setting that won't be filled with distractions from other parts of the room.

Memory Game Group

Why not put together a group event that everyone can participate in at the same time? It's a great way to pass the time constructively, and it gives members of the family an opportunity to reminisce about important family events in history, such as golden anniversaries of great grandparents.

To create the game, simply have everyone write down one question about a significant family event that is special to them. Designate an announcer to read the questions over a microphone during the game, and the first person to say the correct answer wins a fun prize, like a family reunion t-shirt or a tablet that can be used to video chat with family between reunions. Provide a couple of minutes between questions for everyone to talk and laugh about each event being recalled if they want to.

Adventure Viewing Wall

More than likely your family reunion guests have their fair share of vacation and special event videos sitting at home, so invite video submissions from your guests ahead of the family reunion and put together a video made up of everyone's clips and project the film on a wall of the charter boat so it can be enjoyed while people mingle with each other and experience the other activities available during the event. Consider playing the film in a loop until you get back to the dock so people don't have to gather at a specific time in order to view the entirety of it.

These activity options will create plenty of engagement for family members of all ages to enjoy until you you're safely docked back on shore.