Parenting Tips: Family Bonding
One of the best parenting tips I ever received was to create opportunities for family bonding. Family bonding will enable a family to endure many trials and still love each other on the other side. A family that is intentional about family bonding will also be a testimony to others about God.
So how do we cultivate family bonding?
Here are 6 practical things to increase family bonding.
- Eat dinner together.
According to The Family Dinner Project there are many benefits of family dinners.
Some of the benefits include:
- Better academic performance
- Higher self-esteem
- Greater sense of resilience
- Lower risk of substance abuse
- Lower risk of teen pregnancy
- Lower risk of depression
- Lower likelihood of developing eating disorders
- Lower rates of obesity
Studies have revealed that over the last 20 years family dinners have decreased by 33%. This is an alarming trend considering the benefits. Eating together without distractions such as TV or electronic devices helps encourage discussion and family bonding.
- Turn off the tv
Studies have shown that the more time spent watching TV the greater the risk of obesity. This can also include things like video games and electronic devices. These things do not encourage physical activity. In fact, the more time spent on these activities the higher the risk of eating unhealthy foods which may contribute to the higher obesity rate.
Another issue is the lack of social interaction when a group of people are engaged with TV and electronics. The TV does the talking eliminating the need for discussion and interaction. Family bonding requires both discussion and interaction.
- Play a board game
Board games are a perfect tool for family bonding. The game doesn’t need to be complex. It is also possible to combine a family dinner with a game. It makes dinner fun and engaging. Some of our favorite games are Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Risk, Monopoly, and even card games.
One family time favorite is Sorry. I used to play this game with my grandparents for what seemed like hours. My childhood memories are filled with laughter-filled moments while playing this game. I can still remember my grandmother’s face when she said “Sorry!” as she sent me home. Such a simple game that was so powerful to create family bonding.
- Read together
Reading is such a powerful way to learn and grow. It can allow you to meet new people and go places in your imagination that you may never actually go in person. It can transport you to faraway places and fictional lands. Reading books aloud for everyone to hear is a great way to end each day. It helps settle everyone after a busy day. It also helps instill a love of reading in children.
We have spent countless hours gathered together in the living room with me reading a book aloud while the rest of the family colored or played with legos.
This can be a great family bonding tool when the family stops other activity and has together time.
Another great way to incorporate reading is to read the Bible together. Everyone can take turns reading and then have a discussion about what was read. You can even choose some verses to memorize as a family. A prize is a good motivator to memorize scripture. Once the passage is memorized by everyone the family can have a pizza and movie night.
Creating something the entire family is working toward helps foster family bonding.
- Go camping
Camping is an activity that is filled with unexpected challenges, especially tent camping. You can prepare for a weekend of hiking, bonfires and kumbaya moments but you can never be prepared enough for an unexpected rain shower in the middle of the night. One of the things that create family bonding is overcoming adversity together. Camping is one of the best ways to have situations where you have to overcome adversity together. From burnt food in the campfire to water soaking through the tent in the middle of the night.
One of our many camping adventures involved a lot of rain. We had our campsite all set up and were settling in for the night when the rain started. It wasn’t a little bit of rain. It was a downpour! The water outside was pooling and then soaking underneath our tent into all of the low spots. Water was everywhere.
When the water started dripping through the tent we all evacuated to the car. Trapped in the car and soaking wet we decided to abandon our campsite and go home. We scooped up the sleeping bags and a few other small things and drove home in the middle of the night. Thankfully it was only about 30 minutes away. We were all so happy to be home.
The next morning we dried out the sleeping bags and went back to our home away from home. Thankfully the tent was still standing so we set to work of cleaning up and drying things out. Soon we were back to camping and ready for a fun weekend in the woods. This was one of our most memorable camping trips but it was also one of the most challenging and memory-making.
So get out in the woods and make some family bonding moments camping!
- Go for a walk together
Sometimes camping isn’t an option so this is the next best thing!
A family that exercises together stays together. This is a great way to get away from the pressures of daily life and interact with each other. Go to a local park and go for a hike. Or a walk around the block after dinner is a great way to unwind after a long day.
Much of modern life leads to a sedentary lifestyle. It is important to teach our kids to get exercise and if we do it together it also helps create family bonding.
Family Bonding
Family bonding is something that helps us stay close as our children grow up. Creating memories together as a family is key to family bonding. Go make some good memories today.
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