Spending time together is often what bonds a family and will help your children feel rooted and secure. Participating in activities that you all enjoy can reap huge benefits for everyone.

And making more time for family fun doesn't have to cost a lot of money. Often it's the simple pleasures and spontaneous activities that are the most refreshing and which your kids will remember as they grow up.

Let your family fun start here!

On the home front:

• Dig out some classic, favourite board games – Playing traditional games like Snakes & Ladders and Monopoly together helps children understand fundamental life lessons like winning and losing graciously – and they're great fun too!
• Put up the Christmas decorations – Familiar rituals are important for the wellbeing of families. Dad struggling with the faulty fairy lights, while the children choose their favourite decorations to hang on the tree is what makes Christmas special.
• Look through old photograph albums – Children love to hear stories about their grandparents and aunts and uncles. An hour spent going through your old family albums will bring back memories for you and help your children understand more about themselves.

Out and about:

• Go for a bike ride – If you have young children, there are plenty of cycle routes on traffic-free paths. To find out your nearest family-friendly route visit www.sustrans.org.uk.
• Refresh your brain cells! – Going on a weekly or monthly trip to the library will help encourage your children to read more, provide you with the opportunity to find out what's going on in the local community, and you could choose a family DVD to watch together that evening.
• Take to the ice – Bold 2in1 Spa Minerals is setting up 50 ice rinks nationwide, running over weekends, during the next three months for you and your family to enjoy together. Simply take along the coupon on specially selected boxes of Bold 2in1 Spa Minerals, or log on to www.refreshedwithbold.com for more details.

Remember when planning family fun that it's the being together, rather than the event, that's the important thing. However simple – a walk in the park, watching an old movie together – participating in some refreshing, family fun is what counts.