We all have hectic, busy lives with jam-packed schedules. Unfortunately, having a family seems to make everyone’s lives speed up, not slow down like you might have anticipated. Carving out specific time to be together, to get to know one another as little ones develop and to strengthen familial bonds are crucial for you and your family. It might seem impossible to find the time or to even consciously make family bonding time special, but our guide is here to highlight why it’s so important for everyone, and give you a couple of ideas of how to maximise your time together.
Prioritising Quality Time – Whatever That Means For You
Family bonding time can be dynamic, it does not have to follow a strict set of rules. It’s all about making your time work for you and making the most out of smaller experiences, but it is important to prioritise these experiences, introducing them as part of a routine or a regular part of family life for children at a young age. This is because it can help children feel prioritised and important. Experts say a good time to implement family bonding time or specific bonding activities is after a new arrival because the family dynamics would have changed. It, therefore, gives everyone the attention and love they deserve, building self-esteem!
Family bonding time isn’t just about children though. It’s also a way for parents to indulge in those they love the most. It can help to strengthen family communication, creating an open atmosphere which can last as children grow, establishing strong foundations for your family. These are just a few of the ways you can make time with your family feel more special:
Scheduled Nights In
Planning a night in might not feel that special, but talking about it with your loved ones and intentionally setting aside a day and a time, elevates the experience. Try activities such as movie nights if you’ve got little time and just want to relax. Alternatively, if you’ve got a little longer, why not plan to play board games. You can get a new one to get the kids really excited about the scheduled time, maybe even let them choose. This can boost communication, particularly if you can play in teams, as well as early team-building skills for your little ones.
Extended Quality Time
For some family dynamics, this is the best way to have family bonding time. Extended quality time gives the opportunity to reconnect. Sometimes the simple act of preserving traditions, such as going on an annual self-catering holiday, can help you build stronger bonds and connections. Firstly, it’s so easy to get excited about a holiday. Secondly, if you choose to spend your time at places like our family holiday parks in Devon, family bonding time is so much easier to plan because we have a wonderful, carefully curated entertainment package to get involved with. Yet, you can always spend time with more tailor-made activities in local areas, perhaps even trying something new for both of you to relate over.
Prioritise Meals
It may not seem like much bonding time goes on during a hectic family mealtime, but making sure you sit down together can just help you all catch up on your lives. From an early age, it teaches little ones to share their days and can help them be open about relationships. Make sure you put away electronics and try to extend the meal where you can to enjoy some quality time, free of distractions. Remember to make it suit your schedule, even if all you can manage, altogether, is a weekend breakfast per week.
Creative Family Projects
Create something to talk about over a long period of time. Encourage and inspire your children and achieve something wonderful at the end of it by starting a family project. This could be an undertaking as big as redecorating a room or as small as designing and producing a family scrapbook! Both are great, cheap and productive ways to spend time together, especially when you are stuck indoors and the weather’s not great. As your children age, it’s great to have memories or even common ground like this to bond over. Don’t forget, all this time you’re doing creative projects, you can also be teaching them skills that they’ll be using for a lifetime!
Remember, Make Bonding Time Work For Your Family
Your family bonding time does not have to look like anyone else’s. Your family’s unique rhythm and patterns are special and supposed to be preserved. Here at Welcome Family, we are proud to have been facilitating family fun, sharing, love and laughs for decades now. You can start a new tradition with our holiday park or any of these ideas, today!
