Have the winter blues hit you? Are you ready to get back outside and socialize with neighbors and have your weekly or monthly block party to celebrate the warmth and great grilling? Well you can still have those great neighborhood block parties, just inside instead of outside.

Having some fun with neighbors and friends I a great way to release some pent up energy. You are thinking, how, right? Well just use a little imagination and lots of team work and you will be on your way to celebrating a little socializing time to help melt away the winter blues. Get everyone involved on the block, children and adults, pull together your thoughts and get those crock pots fired up.

Location

Well, since you can’t have the party outside, you must bring it in. Not everyone has a home large enough to fit their whole block, so do you have a neighborhood clubhouse or possibly a local activates facility that loans space for free? If you do, these are great locations with plenty of room for everyone’s enjoyment.

Don’t have a separate facility, not a problem. Play musical houses. Sounds silly, but if you schedule out block parties in advance, then you choose two or possibly more families to “host” either the appetizers, dinner, games, or a mixture of all the festivities. Then the remaining families would rotate, half at one home, the other half at the other home, then switch.  When the next block party comes around, rotate host homes.

Entertainment

Use games already available to the families, so there is no added expense. Someone is sure to have karaoke. What better way to let loose some energy then to sing your heart out? Include board and trivia games, one or two set up at each home. Don’t forget that everyone loves charades. These are easy, fun ways to share time with family and friends.

Food

No need to go overboard with food choices. Simple, small items; a few set up at each home, will give everyone easy choices to keep warm. Chili, little smokies, pulled barbeque sandwiches; everything that can be made in one container - a crock-pot - and be kept warm without much fuss for clean up.

Need a dessert? Warm, chewy chocolate chip cookies are always sure to be a hit with everyone mixing about at your block party. You can also whip up a batch of brownies that are sure to warm everyone up.

Keep in mind, your block party should be fun and entertaining. No need to be elaborate and go completely all out. This is the equivalent of your summer barbeque, with hamburgers on the grill and kids playing football. Not much change except it is coming inside for more mental stimulation.

Always remember, your best friend in this process is you imagination. This article is to just give you an idea to jump start your thoughts and get your ideas flowing. Get together with your neighbors and friends, make your notes and expand your ideas - you can go anywhere with your thoughts. Make your winter block parties just as fun as your summer block parties and you will have a tradition in the making.

This is an original Simple Home Basics post.