Various family bonding activities can help build closeness among family members without much time or preparation. Bonding as a family can be quick and straightforward and does not require anyone even to leave home most of the time. Research has shown that a strong parent/child relationship is essential for children’s well-being and behavior. But in hectic lives, trying to find time to bond as a family can be challenging. This means one has to be more intentional than ever to make it happen.
Sometimes family activities can be special outings, but they don’t have to be. Even every day, as well as weekly activities, can help bring us closer to our kids.
The types of family bonding activities are as follows:
- Have a weekend family movie night at home. You can get a movie or choose one from your home collection. Ask each member what movie they would like to see and give each person a chance to choose one of their favorites. To complement the movie night, serve popcorn and candy to make it feel like you are at the movie theater.
- Volunteering together can strengthen the family bond and demonstrate the importance of giving back to the community. Some ideal volunteer methods for families are serving meals at a shelter, picking a family to help during the holidays through Angel Tree or a similar project, or participating in a charity walk.
- Baking cookies can be a fun kitchen project that can bring everyone in the family together. Making the sweet goodies can be as fun as eating them. During the festival season, allow kids to decorate festive cookies and share them as gifts.
- Sitting down for a family dinner is a great way to connect and share the details of your day. You can prepare together to increase the bonding time or make it as simple as ordering a pizza and enjoying it together.
- Take the children on a traditional picnic with all the trimmings. Let everyone get one of their favorite foods. While picnics can be shared in the summer, you may want to plan a winter picnic for something new and different.
- Board games will bring tons of laughter and fun to your family bonding time. Game night will bring out the inner child in everyone. Some board activities to consider playing are Monopoly, Pictionary, and Trivial Pursuit. Create a game collection and take turns picking out a game to play.
To make fantastic memories of your family bonding activities time, ensure that everyone enjoys the activity at hand.