Making family gatherings fun for everyone

Family gatherings build memories and bring future joy to the family for many years in the future. Some people look forward to family gatherings with excitement while others look at them as something to be dreaded. Your attitude has a big factor on your ability to enjoy family gatherings. Instead of comparing the gathering to the last one that you didn't enjoy, look forward to it with excitement. Pre-determine that you are going to have a good time. If you don't make a determination to have a good time, you probably won't have a good time.
To make the family gatherings fun for everyone, have everyone suggest different activities or things to do. This is a great way to get everyone involved and it will help to build the relationships with some of the relatives that don't talk as much or are a little odd. You can learn a little bit about their personality and connect with them on some level. Suggest some things that you like to do and involve others in it. Perhaps you enjoy snowmobiling, bring it to the party and take some of your relatives for a ride. This is a fun way to enjoy the gathering because you get to do something you like and you get to share it with your loved ones.

Part of changing your attitude comes with your involvement in the family gathering. Do you offer to help? Do you play games with your relatives? How about just sitting around and talking with them? Get involved in the family gathering will help to build your improve your attitude and it will help you build relationships with your relatives.
Staying busy at a family gathering is a great way to enjoy it. Instead of focusing on the negative things like your embarrassing relatives, you will be able to focus on your task and on having fun.
Any type of family gathering can be difficult, especially if you are holding onto past grudges or frustrations with your family members. To make the family gatherings fun for everyone, let go of any personal judgments you have.
Avoid those family members that you clash with so that you don't get into an argument and ruin everyone Else's fun.
Change up the scenery of the family gathering. If you always go to Grandmas to get together, start rotating that with your homes or with some parks. Maybe try going to a family fun center where everyone can participate in different things like laser tag, rollerblading, ice skating, swimming, and rock climbing.
If you are one of those individuals that can only handle so much of their family, pick and choose which events you need to participate in. Just because everyone else is going to your parents for Sunday dinner doesn't mean you have to. Attending too many family events may stress you out and overwhelm you. To allow everyone to have a good time, skip the event and take care of yourself. When you have a little break from your family members, it will be easier to talk to them at the next party as you have more information to share.
Set up some tables for different events like card games, board games, etc. This is a great way to give people some options. Turn on a sporting event in a different room so some people can gather in there and enjoy themselves. Start a game of Pictionary with other relatives and just have fun together.
Finally, always make sure you have enough food and beverages to go around. Some people tend to be grazers and they need to eat every so often or they get a little grouchy. Having some food out will help them avoid their edgy behavior.