Spending family time together is important Published June 26, 2008 By Joyce Atlee Family Advocacy Outreach Manager TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- June is National Family Month. Tinker Air Force Base Family Advocacy Officer Lt. Michelle Gramling emphasizes the importance of spending time with your family. "Military families so often face separation, with deployments or remote assignments, so it's essential to plan regular family time when you have the chance." Lieutenant Gramling pointed out that family activities don't have to cost a lot to be fun and meaningful. "Sometimes the simplest things can build memories that last a lifetime," she said. "The important thing is devoting time to each other, and summertime, with the kids out of school, can provide great opportunities to get closer and enjoy yourselves." With rising gas prices, the traditional summer car trip across country may go the way of the dinosaurs, so it can pay off to discover fun ways to spend time with your kids at or close to home. Here are some low-cost ideas from the Oklahoma State Department of Health: Family Fitness Walk: Make a chart for each family member and challenge each other to a power walk. Team up younger children with a parent or teen and walk a preplanned route, either in the neighborhood, or the mall. If you walk outside, choose the cooler part of the day, and make sure everyone is wearing sunscreen. Keep track of how long it takes each team to complete the route, and compare from day to day or week to week. Let the kids practice their math skills by adding or subtracting and comparing everyone's progress. This activity helps build fitness habits into your child's everyday life. Ask them "How do you think we can improve our walking time?" or "What other route could we take?" Pizza Face Fun: Bake a standard frozen pizza as directed. After it's cool enough to be safe for little fingers, pre-cut decorative food items and let your children decorate the pizza. For example, a strip of ham or salami could become a hat. Cherry tomatoes or a pineapple wedge might be a nose. Olives may fill in as eyes and red pepper slices could be a smiley or frowny face. Talk about each ingredient and teach your children how healthy eating leads to strong bodies. Compare and contrast the ingredients by talking about colors, shapes, sizes, texture and taste. Teach your child where food comes from. Ask your child "What other toppings could we have used?" Or "How many toppings are on our pizza?" What Is It? Game: Instruct your family members to carefully look around a certain room of your choice for a few minutes and try to remember what's in it. Each person in turn wears a blindfold. Give him/her an object from the room and time how long it takes to guess what the object is. The winner is the person who guesses in the lowest time. This game helps to sharpen your child's memory and recall skills. Ask your children, "Where else could we play this game? Or "How many objects can you remember?" For more fun family activities or information about ways to improve your family life or relationships, call the Family Advocacy Program--734-4390.