My FIFA World Cup Family Night In!

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Yesterday was the official start date of the FIFA World Cup 2014, kicking off in Brazil with the opening ceremony being broadcast on ITV yesterday evening, football fans, and even part time football fans are looking forward to the excitement and tension the matches are going to bring! This post is all about my #BigMatchPlanner with #CollectiveBias

I was brought up by my dad who is a massive football fan, my dad supports Chelsea FC, and of course his national team - England. I have fond memories of my dad making England matches enjoyable for all six of his children, even if they weren't that interested. As the year's have gone on, all six of my dad's children, including his three daughters have become big fans of any England games, it's safe to say we are loyal fans!

During the World Cup season within our family, up goes the flags and on goes the shirts, the football CD's are brought out of their cases after being kept away for the last four years and the children's England kits are replaced. Match day's are planned so finely, every one has a role to play and every thing from the music to the food is covered.

Look how little Spud was during the last FIFA World Cup!

Being part of such a large family is something I've been use to all my life, my dad has his partner Lizzy, his six children (aged between 21-31) and six grandchildren - all boys may I add (my Dad's very own football team aged between 2-9), then we've got partners of our dad's children! Me and Jamie (the two youngest) are the only single ones, so there's four brother in laws/sister in laws, plus six of us 'children', six granchildren, my dad himself and Lizzy (dad's partner of 20 years), when we all get together that's a whopping 18 of us!

My dad and his six children!

We're a very close family, and all meet up on a regular basis, I'm with Paula (eldest girl), every day and I also see Jamie (youngest boy) on a daily basis, I don't see Chelsea (middle girl) as much due to her working times, and the same goes with Paul (middle boy), Dean (the eldest) is always working very hard and we sadly don't get as much time with him. Did I mention I also have a little sister through my mum and step dad? Baby G's 12 and lives in Cornwall with my mum - four hours away!

My dad's six grandchildren.

As there is so many of us in the family, as you can imagine our frequent get together's mean we go through quite a lot of food and drink. We usually have BBQ's or tea-party style food for dinner, and as the first England (verse Italy) game of the match is starting at 11pm on Saturday (14th June) a BBQ is not quite an option this week! I'm going to share my idea's with you below, for that perfect family night in!

Promotional packs of Coca Cola from Tesco for just £4! 1.5L x 4 bottles.

Stock up on multi-packs of promotional World Cup Coca Cola/Diet Coke/Coke Zero for just £4 from Tesco! If your celebrating the football as a family, soft drinks are a must, and with the number one soft drink company releasing these special packs of four drinks is going to quench more than the thirst!

Family Night In Tip One: Use Coca-Cola to make home made ice cubes, and no more watering down of drinks when using ice to keep the drink cool!

After finding the shelf empty where the promotional packs should be, we was glad when a Tesco employee brought this! The promotional packs can be found down the soft drink aisle, and on stands near these aisle! 

The kid's are understandably not that keen on football, they'd rather the television be playing Cartoon Network or watching a Disney DVD, however, we can't leave them with nothing whilst us adults watch the television nervously! Luckily Panini have been giving out free FIFA World Cup football albums in supermarkets nationwide, so each child will receive one of these each on Saturday, along with a England cup full of treats and surprises!

England cups to keep the little ones entertained.

As for food, because there is so many of us, it's easier to do just nibble food, as the game is on very late this Saturday, we will be eating before the match, and any leftovers can be picked on during half time! Many of us have got to drive home, so refreshments will be in forms of Coca Cola and Diet Coke, which we have load's of thanks to the fantastic savings we made by purchasing the multi-packs from Tesco for £4.

Family Night In Tip Two: You don't have to have a large family to do this, even a single child or a few children will enjoy a little surprise to entertain them during the match!

One of our football get together's, picturing my brother in law's nephews drinking Coca Cola!

Also to keep the kids entertained, we've picked up a few little foam footballs, some mini football games, and some flags to play games with. We've also downloaded and printed off free football themed colouring in sheets for the children who would prefer to be less active during the match (such as Spud after just having his fifth operation).

Passing the time of a match can be quite boring for children, and even adults, so we put on the football song's and all played musical statues, it was great fun and everyone came away with a chocolate football to enjoy during the match! We also played eye spy whilst watching the opening ceremony, it was great fun hearing all the different answers flying about the room!

Family Night In Tip Three: When the football's over, keep an eye out for flags and tops reduced for the next FIFA World Cup!

For some quick and easy snacks, we put some sausage rolls, chicken nuggers, vol-au-vents, cocktail sausages and pizza's in the oven, and made up some sandwiches to go along with some sweet and savoury snacks. We picked up some England themed cups and plates and they went down well with out football theme, along with our flag St George showing in the background of course!

Family Night In Tip Four: Not got a lot of time but wanting to put on a little spread? Buy already made cocktail sausages and sausage rolls to save time, and space in the oven!

Once the match is over, it will either be happy or sad faces, so to brighten everyone's day up, no matter the outcome, pour them a glass of coke in a England cup with a funny joke written on the bottom! They've got to try and read the joke with the cup full, with out spilling the drink!

Family Night In Tip One Five: Remember no matter the outcome, you have your beautiful family around you!

For more information and idea's for your own #FamilyNightIn, check out the #BigMatchPlanner website. Do you have any idea's for a family night in? I'd love to hear your suggestions below by leaving a comment!

Jada x