Spending Quality Time with Your Kids

Spending Quality Time with Your KidsEvery person knows that the actions of their parents or caretakers shaped the adult they grew into , impacting them either positively or negatively forever. Summer is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with your children – encouraging, mentoring and loving them. Are you looking for fun new ways to spend quality time with your kids? Continue reading for creative ways to share life with your children.

Reading
The importance of encouraging your child to read is a crucial factor in determining their success in school and beyond. Instilling a need to read, both for pleasure and educational purposes, is vitally important. If you have young children, take them to a library and have them pick out books they want you to read to them. Spend some time throughout the week reading to them and having them read to you; a good exercise especially if they are just learning to read. If you have older children, consider reading the same book that they’re reading and discussing it with them. Ask them what books they’re reading and what they’ve learned from them. A final word on the topic of reading: in order to make sure that your children are reading literature of substance and value, make sure you know what books they are reading and remove unwholesome books if need be.

Outdoor activities
Outdoor activities are always a fun way for families to bond and a great way to enjoy God’s creation. Instead of spending time watching television on the couch or going to the movies, take your family to a park to play sports, hang out at the pool, go hiking or try out a ropes course. You may want to spend time with your children separately – dad can take the sons fishing or camping, while mom takes the daughters to the beach or builds a new flower garden with them.

Dates
Take your child out for dedicated one-on-one time. Ask them if there is a new place they want to visit or something special they want to do, and take them out for a time focused on them alone. Parent-child dates do not have to be expensive to be fun!

DIY projects
Working with your child or children on a project is a great team-building exercise and a valuable learning opportunity. Build a treehouse, bake and decorate a cake, sew a colorful blanket or doll clothes, tinker with an old car, or create dress-up ensembles. Whatever it may be, encouraging them to work hard and persevere through projects and activities even when they might be frustrated by a mistake or outcome, is an important life lesson.

Educational investment
Your kids may be out of school now, but you can help them remember everything they have learned by quizzing them about school subjects, using flash cards, giving them reading assignments and more. They may not embrace your efforts to incorporate educational activities into their summer, but it will help them in the long run, whether they realize that or not. Also, when your child goes back to school, help them with homework if they need it. Do not do the homework or projects for them, but if they need help mastering a topic or improving their skills in a subject area, spend time helping them succeed.

Board games
Playing a board game as a family can be aggravating, challenging and fraught with small tantrums, but it can also be a lot of fun and a great family bonding experience. Dig out your old Scrabble pieces, Life board, or deck of cards, or take a family trip to Target to buy new games to try. Look for some educational games to play as well, like Bible Baseball, which includes Bible trivia for children and adults.
Abigail Van Buren once said, “If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money.” Use some or all of the above ideas to put this poignant advice into practice with your children this summer!

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