Parents and children both benefit from spending quality family time together. Children feel special when their parents take the time to do fun activities with them, as even simple everyday errands can make for a great bonding experience.
Nourish Interactive says there are countless benefits of doing family activities together, including:
- Creating a stronger emotional bond between parents and children.
- Allowing for better communication between family members.
- Superior performances in school, as children who spend time communicating with their parents tend to get better grades.
- Less likely to exhibit behavioral problems, since kids with parents who spend quality family time together typically have fewer problem behaviors.
Working parents combined with kids involved in extracurricular activities can make for busy schedules without a lot of extra room for family activities. If this sounds familiar, that’s okay. Simple things like having dinner together each night can create the meaningful family time that your children really need.
Fun Activities to Do With Your Family
Spending quality family time together doesn’t need to cost a lot of money. In fact, some of the most fun activities are little-to-no cost adventures. Try these family activities from Parents Magazine to make lasting memories with your children:
- Volunteer: Instill a sense of empathy in your children by volunteering together as a family at a local soup kitchen, nursing home, hospital, or other local organization that needs your help. This is a very positive way to give back to your community while spending quality family time together.
- Cooking: Kids love to feel like they’re helping their parents with adult tasks, so spend a rainy afternoon baking cookies together or let them help you make dinner. Not only will this give your children a sense of pride and accomplishment, it also helps to set the foundation for teaching them how to cook.
- Visit a Fire Station or Police Station: Schedule a tour with your local fire department or at the police station in your town. Your kids will have a great time meeting the firemen or police officers and getting a behind-the-scenes tour of where they work.
- Check Out a Minor League Game: Have a fun night out at the ballpark cheering on your local minor league team. It’s typically easy to get tickets to a minor league game and a much more affordable option for families on a budget.
- Sample Exotic Cuisine: Choose a type of food that your children have yet to sample and find a restaurant that serves it. Have fun taste testing different dishes with them to see if they like it.
