Bonding with children is never easy. Whether it is your own biological children, nieces, nephews, or even stepchildren, there is always going to be some hoops to jump through when it comes to establishing trust. To help that process along, here are some investments that might help you and the child have a bond that lasts a lifetime.
#1 Games
Games are one of the best ways that a parent or guardian can spend quality timewith their children. It fuels their imagination; it helps them learn, and it creates a strong and positive bond with who they are playing with. Here are some of the games that you can play with your children that can help you strengthen those bonds.
Outdoor Games
Outdoor games are something fun for all of the family. There are very few more enjoyable things than playing a ball game in the summer or playing more traditional gameson the lawn after school. You can make this time really special by going the extra mile, meaning you can get Personalized Cornhole Bags to enrich the enjoyment of your children. This can also help negotiate who’s cornhole bag is whose and create an extra element of competition for this fun game.
Board Games
Board games are one of the great classic ways of spending time with your friends and family. They bring together a group of people and help them enjoy each other’s company in a friendly but competitive environment. This can help your children bond with those in your family who might not be able to participate in more physically based games, such as the elderly and those who are disabled.
Imagination-based Games
Imagination-based games are great for your younger children. This can be anything, from ‘The Floor is Lava’ to cloud gazing. There can be a plethora of ideas out there that can help your children’s minds grow and expand. Even getting your children to invent their own games might be a good way to begin to explore the world around them in a more imaginative way.
Enrichment Games
Enrichment games can be the ideal way to help them learn different ways of thinking. Things like searching games, such as hide and seek and treasure hunts, are a great way to get their minds thinking in alternate ways and solve puzzles that are in front of them. It can be a good way to find out how your child’s thought patterns work, such as through logical approaches or more spontaneous ideas.
Skill Games
Skill-based games can be a great way of growing talent and ideas. It can help your children work on what they already know. These can be things such as Rubik’s cubes, word searches, puzzle books, or games that challenge your child’s spatial acumen, such as pool or darts. These games can help your children explore their own talents and will help their intelligence blossom.
#2 Books
Books are, needless to say, a great source of entertainment for both the young and old. There are many ways to help your children bond with yourselve or even other members of the family. With that in mind, here are some ways that books can help your children bond with your family.
Group reading
Group reading can be done in one of two ways. This can be through everyone in a circle taking turns to read or one person reading and everybody listening. This can be done in large groups or more one-to-one, such as reading bedtime stories and helping your younger children learn to read. This can not only be beneficial to their bonds with others in your family, but it can also help them get a head start on spelling, punctuation, grammar, and the language that they choose to use in everyday speech.
Educational books
Educational books can help them pursue their interests. Whether it is a biology book, a book on animals, or even the basics of painting, it can help their imaginations grow, and the base knowledge of what they are interested in truly flourish into something amazing. It can help you as a parent talk to them about their interests and help give them the right support for what they need to make their future ambitions a reality.
Fictional books
Fictional books can be a great way to help their creative skills and to boost their imagination. It can help them have a greater level of comprehension when it comes to unique and interesting ideas and will certainly inspire them to come up with some great ideas of their own. This can be especially beneficial to children who are creative and love to play imagination-based games, as they will feel enriched and far more fulfilled.
#3 Extracurricular activities
Extracurricular activities are something that is great for children. Whether it is for more of a social aspect or to pursue one of their interests that they have discovered through school, friends, or even through reading or games. Here are some of the types of extracurricular activities your children might want to participate in and what they might do for you.
Sports
Sporting extracurricular activities can help your children get the exercise they need that isn’t just running around in your backyard. There are sports such as football, soccer, tennis, and baseball that teach children the benefits of teamwork and communication, strategy, and how to deal with problems very quickly. There are other sports such as martial arts that teach your children discipline and courage and teach them mindfulness and respect to those around them. Whatever kind of sport your child decides to participate in, you can help encourage their dreams and ambitions to help them bond with you and the people around them.
Arts and crafts
Arts and crafts clubs can be a great way to help your children learn and explore what they are good at, especially if they are creatively inclined. This can be a good way to make sure they feel enriched and meet their needs. Yes, running around a field is great, but playing around with glue, paint, and glitter is, sometimes, far more entertaining and enjoyable.
Personal Interests
Allowing them to participate in clubs that follow their personal interests can be a great way to help their bond with you grow. This can be anything from a niche activity, like a young mechanics club, to something a little bit broader and well known, like a Dungeons and Dragons club, or even a chess club.
#4 Days out
If there is one thing that helps a parent bond their children to their family, it is making memories. It can be though going somewhere fun, doing something educational, and even doing things that involve the whole family, not just the immediate family. If you are short on ideas, here is how those days out can positively impact the bond between your family and your children.
Can be educational
Trips out can be educational, especially if you visit somewhere with a family member who knows a lot about the subject. It can be very interesting for your child and can also help engage the family member, too, meaning that the two will be brought together more effectively by bonding over something that they might both feel interested in.
Can be fun
Days out are supposed to be fun and enjoyable, but sometimes they can feel like a bore. Having fun days out for everyone, especially those that either don’t get out very often or can’t often get time off work to enjoy time with their family. By choosing days that have fun elements for all of the family, you can make better associations between some children and adults.
Can be suitable for all members of the family
When it comes down to it, you want to make sure that everyone in your family is supported and has bonding time with your children. You want them to feel good about their relationship and trust the adults in your family. Having days out with the family, which are inclusive to everyone, can be really beneficial to your children. Being able to see members of the family that they might not have met before and making a big day of it will be a good way to help your children build happier and stronger bonds with your family, no matter how infrequently they see them.
Some final thoughts
Building bonds with children is never easy. However, some key investments of time and money can help you and your child bond with your family. These can be through games, though fun days out for all of the family, through bonding with them over family activities such as reading, and even supporting them with whatever extracurricular activities they want to participate in. There are a lot of ways that both your children and yourself can benefit from the right investments, and you just have to experiment and find out what the best ones are for you and them.
