The Big Game is one of the biggest sporting events in our country.  People get amped and are passionate about their team. 

When we were young and kid free, we attended many Big Game parties with different traditions, depending on whose house we were at and what teams were playing.  The one thing these parties had in common was that it wasn’t very kid friendly.  It was loud, people were always cheering or screaming in a good way, money was changing hands, and there was definitely drinking happening; an all around good time…for adults. 

So, then, how do you have a similarly good time and make it kid friendly?  Thankfully, we have come up with a few solutions that allow us to enjoy the gamel, have fun, and still pay attention to our wonderful kids.  You can see from all the different pictures how many years we have been doing our kid-friendly parties as the Ploeschie 5. 

Here are a few ideas that we have for you to make your Big Game parties fun and family friendly without missing any of the good times that traditionally happen at these parties year after year.

Get Your Kids Involved

One of our favorite things to do is to hype up the two teams for our kids.  We love to talk about it with them and get them excited.  We always make sure to share with them a little bit of fun information about each team.  We show them the team’s colors and then have each child pick their team.  At this age, 8 and 6 year old twinnies, they have absolutely no clue who is who but it makes them feel like they are involved and that they have ownership of what happens in the game.

Enjoy Time Outside Before the Big Game

The game doesn’t typically start until the afternoon so each year we try and make sure to have some dedicated outside time together before the game begins. 

Last year we did a fun hike in the mountains close by and two years ago we went on a bike ride with the kids in the trailers behind our bikes and stopped at the park.  We have a family goal of 500 hours outside per year (we’re really trying to get up to that 1000 hour goal) and so this helps us meet that goal and get out some of our energy so that we can be home for the rest of the day and enjoy the game.  It is a perfect excuse to exercise before eating all the delicious, “not so good for you” foods that I mention next and to enjoy nature.  The weather is usually perfect on that day; just chilly enough to enjoy but not too cold to be uncomfortable.  Get outside, enjoy nature, find new blooms or new plant growth, and then go home to have the best screen time fun of the year!

 

Make Fun Food and Drinks

When we do host at our house, we make sure to have all the fun food we normally would never have in one day together.  We call it “Happy Hour” and we have all the finger foods you could find. 

Of course being vegan, we get creative with our finger foods but there are always chick’n nuggets, chips and dips, pretzels with mustard, pizza rolls, and of course fries.  Two years ago, we did a fry challenge where we cooked all the different types of fries and ranked who liked what the best.  It was a silly game and we even called all our family members on FaceTime to get their vote; not during the game of course.  We had curly, crinkle, waffle, steak, regular, and tots.  Curly was actually the winner but tots were a very close second.

We also always make a special drink.  Usually we find a non-alcoholic drink with a different color or with some fun garnish that can easily become an adult drink with a little something extra added.  This lets our kids feel like they are having all the special things that we get to have and they are not missing out on anything.  That way, we have the exact same drink, except with the  added “adultness” to our drink if we want.

French Fry Challenge Favorite French Fry List Super Bowl Cheers

 

Create Fun Games for the Kids to Play

When we would go to our adult parties, there was always some kind of betting game.  Whether it was game squares or bets on who would win, there was always something fun to follow throughout the game.  For our kids, we changed it up so that it would be a bit more fun and things that they would actually be interested in.  Here is our list of bets that we create with the kids before the actual game.

  • Game Bet (winning team)
  • Type of commercial after kickoff (car, snack, sports, etc)
  • Team to score first
  • Coin toss (who will win)
  • Length of the National Anthem (we literally time it on our phones to see who is right)
  • Who is winning at half time
  • What color is the Gatorade (what is the color of Gatorade that is dumped on the winning coach – this is literally one of the kids most favorite categories to choose and to win)
  • Will there be overtime

While we are watching, we have a list of our bets and keep a tally of who is winning.  Of course, we are betting on things like who picks dessert that night with no holds bar and things like that.  We make sure to make a big deal about each category and get excited for who wins.  It is definitely our own type of loud but the kids have so much fun with picking their choices and keeping track throughout the game.  You might even be able to add silly things like what color the quarterback shoes are or what dance they might do in the end zone.  There are so many ways to make the game engaging without it being a boring thing for the kids.

Dress the Part

This doesn’t have to get crazy expensive or even make sense.  What we do for this is always wear a sports jersey of some sort.  Sometimes we even wear baseball jerseys when we don’t have football jerseys that fit the kids or match the teams.  The point is to be “all sports out” and in theme with the day. 

You can see in our pictures that sometimes we have college jerseys, baseball jerseys, or even old player jerseys who no longer play for that team or play at all anymore.  It is always fun to pick out what we are going to wear and to make sure that it has SOMETHING to do with sports. We try but it doesn’t always tend to work in our favor.  Last year, we tried to dress in the colors of the Rams instead of actual sports jerseys and that was just as much fun!

 

Decorate… Minimally

We always make sure to have the colors of the teams for our paperware on the day of the game.  It can be as simple as getting colored plates and napkins at The Dollar Tree or going all out and getting the branded paperware for each team at Party City.  Last year we went all out and got all the Rams things we could find.  The kids were so excited to root for the Rams that they wanted them to win so badly so our house became the Rams headquarters.  During game time, you can also find some fun foods like Oreos with the game number and footballs on them or chips in the colors of the teams.  Anything that you can find to add that extra special touch is perfect!  

Have Fun and Enjoy the Time With Your Kids

This is definitely something I have had to learn and relearn over and over again.  It isn’t going to be perfect.  You won’t be able to listen to the entire game the whole time or pay attention to each play.  The kids are going to be going crazy and running around.  But, they will be making memories.  They will be making memories about a fun day with their family, and sometimes friends, that they will look forward to and get excited about each year. 

Our kids talk about the game and party all year long.  They know nothing about the game itself and I’m not sure if they have even watched one full minute of the game (although let’s be honest, what actually happens in one minute of real time is absolutely nothing in football time).  Truthfully, they don’t watch football any other day of the year and always say “boo” to their daddy when he asks them to watch together.  They just enjoy being together, having fun, rooting for the teams together (and especially when they can root with one parent against the other in a silly way), being completely glutenous with all the bad food possible and the delicious fun drink, and just having quality time together.  

When we first started our family parties, I was so worried that it wasn’t going to be perfect.  I was worried because the Happy Hour wasn’t ready on time and the kids didn’t have something to do to keep them “occupied” throughout the whole game or that they would be bored and we would have to split up what we were doing.  All of those things have happened.  All of those things will continue to happen. 

The best part is looking back at the pictures, remembering the laughter that we shared, and enjoying how crazy the day was for those few hours.  The kids don’t sit through the whole game, they are usually in and out of the room.  They are playing with their toys, jumping on the trampoline outside, trying to talk to us, and totally making a mess of the house.  I have had to let go and realize that this is perfect, because it is perfect for us.  Whatever works for your family to enjoy time together, make memories, have fun, and celebrate a silly day is what is perfect.  Of course, it will look different for every family and that’s ok.  The most important part is that you’re together.

Family Friendly Game Day

The day can be fun and family friendly.  All the things we do here for our Ploeschie 5 crew can be expanded to invite over family and friends.  The idea is to have a really great time while enjoying the game and not missing out because it is an “adult thing” that the kids can’t have fun with.  It is all about making sure to include the kids in an appropriate way that gets them involved and engaged with the game and gives you the opportunity to enjoy that adult time while watching the game (or the Halftime Show…I mean last year was one of my favorite Halftime Shows of all time). 

I hope you enjoy some of our tips and tricks to enjoying the game with your kiddos.  I know I’m looking forward to celebrating on the 12th this year!

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Melissa Ploesch
Melissa is a proud mommy to three beautiful children and wife to her high school sweetheart husband of almost 23 years. Melissa grew up in the San Fernando Valley and has now lived in Simi Valley for over 10 years. Her biggest passion is being a mom and finding fun ways to help other moms or tips and tricks to share. She has found a true love for her community and enjoys supporting local businesses and local mom bosses. She has been writing and blogging for many years for websites like Mickeyvisit.com, her own blog heartsanddinosaurs.com, and thought there was no better way to connect with her local community than joining the Ventura County Mom Collective as a contributor. She is currently Girl Scout troop leader for her youngest daughter's troop, cookie chair for her oldest daughter's troop, team manager for both the girls' soccer teams, The Mommy Blogger Tribe member, and PTA volunteer. Melissa is a former educator turned business owner tech guru. Before she became a stay-at-home mom, she taught Science and Social Studies for over 10 years at the middle school level. Now, she owns AMP Virtual Solutions where she builds websites, helps others to create systems in their business that make things work smoothly, helps host virtual events, creates social media content, and connects sponsorships and vendors to events. Her main goal is to support one another and bring a sense of fun and kindness to the local mom world. She's always up for a coffee chat, to help out, volunteer, and bring her crazy family everywhere!

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