37 Wonderful Ways To Make a Meaningful Connection With Your Children

Whether they’re 8 months old, 8 years old or 18 years old, your kids need you. But in a world of busy jobs, long commutes, daily chores and endless demands on our attention, it’s all too easy to unintentionally let time with our children slip to the bottom of the priority list. Taking the time - planning the time if necessary – to make a real connection with your children is not only great for creating and maintaining a strong family bond, but it’s one of the most powerful things you can do to support their emotional and mental health.

It's ok to play!

Talking to your children, listening to them and most importantly, playing with them, is a wonderful way to make a meaningful connection with your children. So parents… learn to have a little fun! Your children will love you (even more) for it!

Here are 37 joyful activities you can do with your children:

1. Eat together at least once a day
2. Develop a gratitude practice
3. Tell them you missed them today
4. Play hide and seek together
5. Blow bubbles together in the park
6. Read them a bedtime story every night
7. Leave the gadgets at home for the day
8. Sing songs together during car journeys
9. Give them a hug, just because
10. Tell them how proud you are of them
11. Check out these great ideas for Working out with your Kids from MindBodyGreen
12. Have a snuggle together in front of a movie
13. Do a jigsaw puzzle together
14. Play a card game (top trumps counts)
15. Have regular ‘kids cookery nights’ and let the kids take care of dinner (with a little help from mom of course)
16. Take them out for milkshake, just the two of you
17. Go for a walk together
18. Take time out to ask them about their day…
19. And actually listen to the answer
20. Work on achieving goals together
21. Tell them a joke or ask them to tell you a joke
22. Turn the TV off and talk to each other (even if it’s just for 10 minutes)
23. Grab a bat and ball and play in the yard together
24. Encourage them to share their inner thoughts and feelings
25. Include them in important family decisions
26. Draw a picture or do some coloring in together
27. Grab some blankets and build a den together
28. During dinner, ask each family member to share one piece of good news from their day
29. Bake some delicious cookies together (and don’t stress about the mess)
30. Play a game in the car like I-spy or 20 questions
31. Have a tea party on the carpet together
32. Plan some quality time together every week
33. Enjoy some family ‘tickle time!’
34. Read their favorite book with them
35. Bust some shapes and have a dance off in the sitting room
36. Go on a ‘date’ together. See a movie, have dinner, have fun!
37. Tell them how much you love them… every day

Like this? Don't miss our super blog post: Fun Ways To Teach Mindfulness To Your Children.