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Story pairings
A five-minute story, if you want one. It's folded shut on every plan page. Skip it, and the plan works exactly the same.
Stories are retold in plain language and quote the King James Version, which is in the public domain. Each one ends with a question to ask while you're outside. Some plans have no story at all, and that's on purpose: this site is for every dad.
Plans with a story
- Skipping stonesPicking the right rockDavid & Goliath1 Samuel 17
- Lean-toBuilding on solid groundTwo buildersMatthew 7:24–27
- Moon walkSeeing in the darkA lamp for my feetPsalm 119:105
Plans without one
- Tie a square knot and a bowline
- Find north with a stick and the sun
- Spend, save, give: three jars
- Grocery price detective
- Your kid plans a $20 family outing
- Read a first pay stub together
- The 10-minute doorway reset after work
- Show your kid what you do at work
- The 20-minute weekly parent huddle
- Date night at home after bedtime
- Toy cleanup race: picture bins, a song and a timer
- Sort, fold, put away: the laundry crew
- A chore chart you'll actually keep
- Check tire pressure and oil with your teen
- Pancake Saturday
- Make-your-own pizza night
- Your teen cooks dinner: one-pan chicken
- Toddler snack helper: wash, tear, stir, pour
- Picture-book point-and-name for toddlers
- Library card day: their own card, their own books
- Chapter-book nights: 20 minutes, voices, cliffhangers
- A two-person book club with your teen
- Blanket-fort reading den
- Cardboard marble run on the wall or a box
- Rainy-day hallway obstacle course
- Make a family media plan together
- The screen-free swap box
- The first-phone talk and agreement
- Living-room campout
- The feelings check-in: a number, a word, what helps
- The car-ride talk: hard topics, side by side
- Talking with your kid about scary news
- Repair after you lose your temper
- Set up a calm-down corner
- A week of “when-then”: calm limits that stick
- The after-dinner family walk
- Book your checkup and fix your sleep
- A 10-minute reset for hard days
- Telling your kids about the divorce
- A calm handoff-day routine
- The first night back at Dad's
- Long-distance read-along by video call
- The monthly money date with your partner
- Split the invisible jobs: a who-does-what list
- Set a holiday gift budget with your kids
- A 20-minute family workout in the living room
- Build a real-food dinner together
- Know your numbers: blood pressure at home
- Water-safety rules before summer swimming
- Park the phones outside the bedrooms
- Play their video game with them
- Catch them being good: a week of specific praise
- Consequences that fit: logical, not harsh
- The school-morning launch pad
- The first-week-of-school check-in
- A summer reading streak
- Build a family emergency kit together