Fun ways to connect with your kids

By Stacie Gaetz

In this age of technology when there are more ways than ever to “connect”
with others, you may notice that your family actually has less and less time to bond.
School, work, extracurricular activities, friends and other obligations pull our attention away from each other, making it hard to nurture the most important relationships in our lives.
The good news is there are a number of fun and easy ways you can connect with your kids more effectively in the little time you do have together.
The key is to make it exciting. If your children want to take part in the activity, you will get less pushback and more true connection.

On the other hand, if you present it as mandatory “quality family time” and ask them to put away their phone or cancel plans with their friends, they will feel pressured to participate and probably fight it.

It’s all about the buy-in but that part is easy when the activities are simple, free and enjoyable!

Get in the Game
There are a number of exciting and easy games that can help you learn a lot about your family members.
One of our favorite games to play after dinner is Would You Rather? The best thing about this game is that it is literally limitless and doesn’t need any materials to play it.

You can get an app or buy a book, but they are definitely not necessary as your imagination is better than any canned questions.

You simply ask everyone in their family “Would you rather…” and then give them any two options. This is just plain fun, but you can learn a ton about your kids based on their answers to well-thought-out questions.

The best part? They won’t even realize that you are doing a bit of recognisance disguised in a fun game.
Another exciting game that we play when we want to connect is Family Feud. Despite the name, this can really bring the family together and get you using your brains at the same time, but it is so simple that children as young as three can enjoy contributing.
You can play by using a free app or just by Googling some questions.
Other completely free games that strike up a conversation and help you get to know your family better is “Two Truths and a Lie”; “High, Low, Buffalo”; “I Like You Because” and “Never Have I Ever”.
None of these have to take long. Even a few rounds can increase connection and get you all laughing.

Outdoor Adventures
It is easier than you think to make the somewhat boring activities that you may already do as a family into a fun adventure.
If you take the dog for a walk after dinner, why not make it into a scavenger hunt? Who can find the number two first? How about a yellow vehicle? Who can spot the most trees?
Get family members to guess how many dogs you will see on your walk or how many birds or squirrels. How many cars? How many houses decorated for the upcoming holiday?
Up the stakes by rewarding the winner(s) with extra dessert or the chance to choose what the family watches on TV when you get home.
The next time your walk involves a playground, throw a pair of dice into your pocket. Roll the dice at the park and take turns doing an activity of your choice.
Rolled a four? Everyone goes down the slide four times. Rolled a two? You run two laps around the park? You got five? Everyone does the monkey bars five times.
Getting outdoors, exercising and connecting with your family members – it’s a win-win-win.

Share interests
If your kids are anything like mine, they are each drastically different people. My daughter and son have vastly varying interests and talents.
However, encouraging them to support each other in their interests is important. Everyone needs to feel supported, especially in a close-knit family.
One way to build confidence within your children is to have them teach the rest of the family about their interest. Maybe you have an expert Lego engineer on your hands who can talk about their latest project or you can work on creating something together as a family with them as the foreman.
Perhaps your petite photog can school the rest of the family members on what make a good photo and then everyone can go for walk and take pictures with their new knowledge.
Share your interests with your kids as well. Maybe you love working on cars. That is a great skill for children of any age to learn. Or perhaps you are big into home decor. Show your kids how you decide which colors go together and why you chose the furniture you did.
Spending time together is invaluable. Sharing quality time strengthens and builds family bonds, teaches social skills, improves self-esteem, encourages better behavior and strengthens communication skills.
So take the time to schedule that family game night, go on that after-dinner walk or learn a new skill together – you will all be better for it.