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Tips for creating and enjoying better family time
It’s just a matter of Priorities
It has been said that we can know a lot about a person’s priorities by looking at two things: their checkbook and their calendar. If your children were to look at your calendar, day planner or palm pilot, what would it say? *Got teens? Click here.
- Make Time! Before deciding what to do for family time, we must first make the time. A great way to do this is to create a family time calendar. Plan ahead. Put family time and date nights with your spouse on your monthly calendar, palm pilot or online to-do lists. In our fast paced world, families must be deliberate about spending time together!
- Eat Together Regularly. Meals are opportunities for communication and unity. Turn off the television and allow the answering machine to pick up phone calls during mealtime. Families will get the most out of this time by actively listening, praising and encouraging each other. Eating together helps parents practice active listening and in turn instills trust and self-worth in children.
- Help With Schoolwork. Helping children with schoolwork shows interest in their education and increases the child's interest in learning. Parents can help their children get organized and encourage them when they get stuck. Helping children with homework also allows parents to find out what their child is learning, how they learn and what they find interesting.
- Read Together. Research indicates that reading to children cultivates an interest for knowledge and stimulates language development. It also increases their attention spans and helps them become more curious. A regular reading time creates opportunities for talking and sharing. After reading, ask your child questions about what you've read.
- Assign Chores. Giving children chores will help them learn responsibility and a sense of self-worth. If chores are a shared family event they foster teamwork and create family-time opportunities in addition to reducing a parent's workload.
- Play Games. Turn off your television and video games at least once a week and play games one-on-one or as a family. Play outside if the weather permits. Encourage and guide children to create their own games.
- Go on Family Outings. Go on family hikes, drives and picnics. Go to a park and watch a high school or youth sporting event. Go out to local concerts, movies, the zoo and museums. Visit family or friends together. Let children plan some trips to encourage their involvement.
- Share Hobbies & Projects. Spending hobby time with children encourages learning and skill development. Activities like cooking, collecting, crafts, fishing or biking open the door to greater involvement and family time. Hobbies are a great way to spend more time with teens and to create opportunities to listen and talk with them.
- Encourage Athletic & Musical Participation. Children have boundless energy! Sports can promote positive physical, mental and emotional growth while building character and teaching teamwork. Likewise, music contributes to childhood development by improving intellectual abilities and skills. Musical training facilitates cognitive skills, self-expression and reading. A word of caution: It is easy for parents to go overboard when children participate in competitive activities.
- Enjoy a "Date Night." Plan a regular "date night" without the kids. Date nights give parents the time they need to cultivate their relationship. Fathers and mothers should also take their children on "dates." This is a great way for children to learn manners and what they should expect on dates. Date nights with children give them the exclusive attention of parents to talk and have fun. Pre-teens especially need this one-on-one attention to help them prepare for teenage dating.
- Get involved in Family Community Events. Make family a visible part of your city or town. Plan a festival of families and invite health and education organizations. Contact Families Northwest to find out if there is a Marriage & Family Agreement in your community. Request that pre-marital and parenting classes be offered at your church.
- Make Time for Faith. Take time to pray and reflect with children everyday. Bedtime is a good time to reflect on the day and offer prayers of thanks and petition. Attending religious services encourages children to live virtuous and disciplined lives. When a mother and father go to religious services, they instill in their children a reverence for God.
GOT TEENS?
Our research shows that teens, even though they may not always seem interested in family time, want time with mom and dad. When asked what would improve their life, 65% of teens felt more time with their father would improve their life and 62% felt more time with their mother would improve their life. Parents also told us that "just talking together" is the most common activity they share with their teens. So talk and listen to your teens frequently. Ask them what they think about celebrities, movies, song lyrics and current events. Welcome your teens' friends into your home and talk with them openly. Find activities that both you and your teens can enjoy together to create opportunities for talking and listening.
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