By: Elisheva Blumberg, Lubicom Marketing Staff

The very moment the havdala fire is extinguished, the same kids who are perfectly happy reading a book the whole Shabbos suddenly become bored. Impossibly, unbearably bored.

And during the winter months, when Shabbos ends early, the boredom looms especially large. But getting out of the house at night with kids can be difficult, exhausting, and expensive.

We put together these 6 Motzei Shabbos activities that are low-cost, kid-friendly, and unforgettably fun. Read on and get ready to banish Saturday night boredom!

1. Turn Your Kitchen Into A Pizzeria

Motzei Shabbos and pizza are a classic pair. But instead of a trip to your nearest pizza shop, why not transform your kitchen into your very own pizzeria?

Divvy up the pizza-making tasks by age: younger children can help knead the dough while older children can prepare the pizza toppings.

Some pizza-shop worthy recipes to get you started:

Estee Kafra’s Pizza Romano

Ronit Peskin’s Gluten Free Pizza

Rivky Kleiman’s Vegetable Cheese Calzones

Rorie Weisberg’s Pizza Shop Pizza

Turn up the fun factor: Pizza-inspired decor, like red-and-white checkered tablecloths, disposable chef hats, personal pizza boxes, and a pizza party photo backdrop will add authenticity and a party-like vibe to your Saturday night activity.

2. Challenge Your Family To A Mystery Photo Contest 

Equip each family member with a picture-taking device (like a smartphone, tablet, or digital camera) and send them off to take close-up photos of things around the house — the more obscure the better!

Use your camera’s zoom feature to take close-range shots of things like a doll’s hair, a bathroom tile, or the handle of a mug. Come together and see who can correctly identify the highest number of objects.

Turn up the fun factor: For a tougher challenge, assign themes to the pictures. Themes can be concrete (like “food” or “Judaica”) or figurative (like “joy” or “dawn”).

 

3. Throw A Paint Party

An at-home paint night will keep kids and adults busy for hours on a long Motzei Shabbos. The best part? Every family member ends the night with a keepsake.

You’ll want to choose a paint activity based upon the age and skill level of the participants, as well as how much pre-party planning you want to do.

Some options:

• Do the whole shebang! Mimic a real paint studio by purchasing supplies like canvases, easels, paintbrushes, palettes, and paints. You can come up with your own picture or search “easy paint night on YouTube” for step-by-step tutorials.

• Paint by number. Amazon offers paint by number kits that will help with the planning (and calm the nerves of any reluctant artists!) Choose a kit based on your family’s skill level, interests, and how much time you have available. There are advanced paint-by-number sets (like this Waterfall Kit), intermediate sets (like this Flowers Kit), and simple sets for young kids (like this Turtle Kit).

Turn up the fun factor: Instead of the whole family doing the same painting, have each member create a slightly different version with their own unique touch. This can mean doing the same painting in various colors schemes or using the same colors but painting an entirely different subject. For example, throw a safari-themed paint night with these paint-by-number sets: Lion, Elephant, and Giraffe. After the party, you can display your family’s coordinating pieces in one showstopping gallery.

4. Make It A Movie Night (Starring… Your Family!)

Motzei Shabbos is a perfect time to cozy up and watch old family videos. Enjoy reminiscing while watching your own wedding video, those years-old clips of the kids that are still taking up storage space on your phone, or a family vacation video from the 80’s.

The only preparation you may need for this activity is getting the movies in an easy-to-play format.

If you have short video clips on your phone, upload them into an organized slideshow using a movie maker app.

If your family memories are in older formats, such as VHS tapes or a roll of film, send them to a video transfer service to have them updated to DVD or digital format.

Turn up the fun factor: Family movie night begs for a heaping bowl of popcorn! Estee Kafra’s Popcorn Five Ways will ensure that every family member can enjoy their favorite variety of popcorn.

5. Play A Game Of In-House Laser Tag

This set of four infrared laser tag blaster guns is a bargain compared to the cost of a few sessions in a laser tag arena, especially considering you can use this set again and again.

Just set your boundaries (in the basement, the entire house, or the backyard) and get blasting! It’s a guaranteed great time for kids and adults alike.

Turn up the fun factor: Make your home into a real laser tag arena by introducing a glow-in-the-dark element. Hand out glow sticks and decorate the walls with reusable glow in the dark stars. Shut the lights and glow crazy!

6. Campout Indoors

Which kid wouldn’t love an indoor campout adventure?

Whether your tent of choice is an actual camping tent or simply a fort built from blankets, an indoor camping experience provides a unique and unforgettable Motzei Shabbos activity.

Pack your fort with flashlights, shadow puppets, and board games to keep everyone busy till bedtime.

Turn up the fun factor: A real camping trip isn’t complete without s’mores. Toast a batch of Esther Deutsch’s classic S’mores and savor the camp-in experience.

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With the clock changing in March, you still have a few weeks to make the most of those long Saturday nights. So pick your favorite activity and enjoy quality time spent at home with your family. They’ll never forget it!