Welcome to 2012! To celebrate, we’ve compiled a list of 112 simple activities for you and your family to enjoy this year. Have fun!
1. Build a snowman family.
2. Restock the dress-up box with some “new” outfits.
3. Surprise the kids with a skiing or 
snow-tubing trip.
4. Roast marshmallows over a roaring fire.
5. Visit a New Jersey museum.
6. Walk a quiet boardwalk at the Jersey Shore in the off-season.
7. Cheer on the Pirates at a Seton Hall basketball game.
8. Bury household items in a time capsule for your kids to unearth next year.
9. Draw the NJ state flag.
10. Tell knock-knock jokes to your kids.
11. Go ice skating.
12. Wear mismatched socks.
13. Learn how to say hello in 10 different languages.
14. List 50 things that make you happy.
15. Try a new “flavor” of toothpaste.
16. Write a thank-you note to someone you appreciate.
17. Get up early to watch the sun rise.
18. Eat cake for breakfast.
19. Organize your photos.
20. Check out a mommy-and-me class.
21. Surprise your child with balloons and streamers in her bedroom when she wakes up on her birthday.
22. Bundle up and go biking.
23. Examine a snowflake with a magnifying glass.
24. Do something entirely unexpected on Leap Day.
25. Clean out a closet (or two).
26. Dine somewhere exotic.
27. Host a Valentine’s Day craft party.
28. Browse the Internet to find a summer camp.
29. Take a family photo.
30. Rearrange your bedroom furniture.
31. Go to the library. Let each person pick out a book for someone else in the family.
32. Visit a nursing home and bring handmade cards or pictures.
33. Look for the first signs of spring.
34. Cook a dinner with everyone’s help.
35. Wear fancy pants.
36. Prank your kids on April Fools’ Day.
37. Go TV-free for a whole day.
38. Remember to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (every day)
39. Decorate a shirt with fabric paints.
40. Crank up the music and dance.
41. Photograph your kids being extra-silly.
42. Plan an elegant dinner party for your kids. Serve milk in martini glasses.
43. Plant a tree.
44. Cheer for the Tigers at a Princeton lacrosse game.
45. Bake some cookies for an elderly friend or neighbor.
46. Perform a play with your kids—in costume!
47. Discover the zoo in springtime. Two words: baby animals.
48. Declare a backwards day: eat breakfast for dinner; start the day with bedtime books.
49. Participate in a park clean-up day.
50. Write a book for your kids with 10 tales from your childhood.
51. Take your family to the theater.
52. Bait a hook and go fishing.
53. Sing your heart out.
54. Delete all those emails clogging your in-box.
55. Go to a game and support your local minor league baseball team.
56. Call an old friend.
57. Take an art class.
58. Learn something about NJ history.
59. Buy fresh produce at your local farmers’ market.
60. Count the stars on a clear summer night.
61. Swim in a lake.
62. Pick flowers and give them to a stranger.
63. Attend an outdoor concert.
64. Watch fireworks.
65. Ride a roller coaster.
66. Catch fireflies and let them go.
67. Construct an impressive sand castle.
68. Memorize all 50 states in A to Z order.
69. Visit an IMAX movie theater.
70. Try a new flavor of frozen yogurt.
71. Go tubing on the Delaware River.
72. Pick blueberries.
73. Press wildflowers in a book.
74. Just laugh.
75. Squirt your kids with water guns.
76. Invite the neighborhood kids to a treasure hunt in your backyard.
77. Stand up for something you believe in.
78. Open a bank account to start a college fund.
79. Fill 100 water balloons and prepare for battle.
80. Drink ice-cold lemonade outdoors.
81. Drive to a new town and explore it.
82. Book a birthday party where kids can learn something new.
83. Join the crowd for a Scarlet Knights football game at Rutgers University.
84. Picnic indoors on a rainy day.
85. Throw a neighborhood block party.
86. Watch the geese begin their migration south.
87. Take a hike to see colorful fall leaves.
88. Go apple picking.
89. Organize a low-tech family game night.
90. Listen to vintage Bruce Springsteen—his birthday is September 23.
91. Laminate a colorful fall leaf. Write the date on the back.
92. Wander through a corn maze.
93. Organize a Halloween costume swap.
94. Mull cider.
96. Create a masterpiece with Sharpies and a mini pumpkin.
97. Eat too much candy corn.
98. Build a bird feeder.
99. Vote! Election Day is November 6.
100. When your child is home sick, read him as many books as he wants.
101. Volunteer to help a local charity.
102. Make a handprint turkey with your kids.
103. Praise your child for something.
104. Splurge on buying a new book.
105. Donate winter coats, gloves, and scarves to a local shelter.
106. Make a gingerbread house.
107. Sleep late on the shortest day of the year.
108. Drink hot chocolate with a candy cane.
109. Give a gift to a child who otherwise wouldn’t have one.
110. Start a new holiday tradition for your family.
111. Wish on a winter star.
112. Dream big for 2013.
Anna Sandler is the mom of three children, ages 2, 5, and 7, and a freelance writer from New Jersey. She is a frequent contributor to our blog Real Moms of NJ.
What awesome things do you like to do in New Jersey?
