It is very important for children to grow up in a healthy home. A healthy home is one where there is love and warmth. This helps create a solid foundation for children in dealing with society.
When a child grows up in such a loving home, they tend to be better adults with empathy, good social skills and emotional intelligence.
A great way to express love to your children is by engaging in activities with them. This makes them feel seen, heard and included.
Engaging in activities together also helps strengthen the relationship between parents and their children, which will have excellent long-lasting effects.
What activities can you engage in together as a family?
There are so many things you can do together as a family. Most of these activities do not require much from you. As such, you need not go through much inconvenience to please your family.
Here are a few things you can do together as a family:
1. Cook together
The art of making meals together is a prevalent love language between family members, lovers, and friends.
As a family, you should have certain days where you all come together to cook a delicious meal. Children love feeling included in activities, so cooking together helps create a loving memory for them.
On the other hand, through these moments spent together in the kitchen, your children will tend to pick up some basic cooking skills which greatly benefit them as they grow up.
2. Gardening
Sometimes, we as individuals need to just bask in the beauty of nature. Gardening is a great way to introduce your children to the beauty of nature.
As parents, you should make out time to grow and tend to plants together. This helps them see the beauty of nature and teaches them care and patience as they have to take care of their plant as it grows.
3. Play games together
Playing games is a fun way to keep yourself busy as a family. Including your children in your games allows them to build practical knowledge and skills such as reasoning, spelling skills, knowledge of current affairs etc.
There are several kinds of games you can play as a family activity, ranging from indoor games such as board games and building lego to outdoor games like races or just playing around. You could also do spelling games or asking questions games which generally helps improves their vocabulary and knowledge of things in society.
4. Make DIY thing
A great way to spend time as a family is to engage in making ‘Do it Yourself (DIY) things. This simply means picking a project and making it yourself. It could be making art or stickers or boxes.
This helps improve your child’s imagination and artistic skills.
When engaging in DIY projects, it is essential to let your children take the lead. This allows them to express themselves more and not feel intimidated.
5. Go out often and book vacations
Another great way to spend time together as a family is by going out together. It could either be to places around or on family trips and vacations.
Vacations generally help strengthen the bond of a family. This is because the parents are free from work and have plenty of time to spend with the children.
It is essential to go on regular excursions with your children. Feed their eyes and curiosity about other parts of the world.
However, it must be noted that it’s okay to not be able to afford vacations as a family.
You can still engage in several family activities within your immediate environment and state. Take frequent visits to the park, mall, playground, friends, and family houses.
The importance of a healthy family foundation cannot be overstated. A child’s first point of contact with society is via their family.
Therefore, parents need to make a conscious effort to engage in family activities that help strengthen their relationship with their children.
While having a loving and healthy home is the ultimate goal, parents shouldn’t forget that these activities should also have sound effects on their child’s mental growth and development.