Families are better together. For many of today's activity-focused families, it may come as a surprise that spending regular quality time together as a family is one of the best ways to improve your family's health and well-being. For some families this might involve some slowing down and perhaps some difficult choices about what structured activities you might need to reconsider. Try making these habits a part of your family's approach to healthy living and watch the relationships in your home blossom and grow.
Helpful Healthy Habits
GIVE THE SPECIAL GIFT OF TIME
Special one-to-one time helps develop and strengthen the important adult-child relationships in a healthy family home. Children need adult time and attention like they need healthy food and playful activity. When it is missing, kids will find other ways to ask for adult time and attention often resulting in negative behavior and stress on the relationship. Special time doesn't always just happen. Most of the time it takes some planning, but the thoughtful gift of your time is one of the things that will help your child learn, grow and thrive.
Tips for Building this Healthy Habit
Go Out on a Date
Plan regular dates for each child and adult in the family. On a regular schedule, pair up for a special evening out. There’s no end to what you can do. Whether it’s going fishing or dressing up and going out to dinner and a movie, the commitment of scheduling and spending special time together will mean a great deal to both parties. Print off and use the invitation below to make some special plans, or design your own one-of-a-kind invite.
TOOL - DATE NIGHT INVITATION (.PDF) Opens a new window
Use this invitation to invite your child out on a date with you.
Read Bedtime Stories
Bedtime is perfect for one-to-one time. Take turns reading aloud to one another or just let your child listen to your voice. Many experts recommend reading to your child for at least 20 minutes a day, even after kids can read for themselves. Some is better than none, and even if you only have 10 minutes, plenty of terrific children’s literature comes in chapters that you can read in the time that you have.
Make the Most of Little Opportunities
If one-to-one opportunities are tough to plan, try to enrich everyday moments with more conversation and connection. If you can, pull a child aside to join you on an errand and talk in the car, perhaps stopping for a treat or taking the long way home. Or turn family chores like gardening or folding laundry into little chunks of time where the two of you can talk while you work. Kids often share feelings or concerns during these opportunities.
MAKE FAMILY TIME A PRIORITY
One of the greatest gifts that you can give to your family is the time that you all spend together. In today's world, too many families are go, go, go all of the time resulting in too little time spent together. Try to find an hour a day when your entire family has an opportunity to connect and share.
Tips for Building this Healthy Habit
Check Priorities
If work and activity schedules are making family time or meals together impossible, first see if you can change or even eliminate any of your commitments. What could you streamline or drop to make more time together possible? If you can’t shuffle things around, then how could you grab other chances to spend time or eat together? How about mornings or weekends?
Turn Off the TV
Turning off the television can be one of the best ways to improve your time together as a family. When the seasons cooperate, take a walk in the evening or go for a bike ride together. When the days are shorter, why not designate one night a week as board game night? Family movie nights in front of the TV are okay too, but try not to make sitting in front of the television your only family time ritual.
Volunteer Together
Sit down with your family to discuss places in the community where you can make a difference in ways that are important to you. Is there someplace in your community where your family can make a difference? Is there a local soup kitchen, a special event, or an animal shelter that could use your help? What are the important lessons about life your children could learn by volunteering somewhere with you? After volunteering, make sure you take the time to reflect on your experience.
Togetherness: the Main Mealtime Ingredient
Eating together as a family can strengthen your relationships at home and help young people learn to be better friends at school. The family meal can be about being together and supporting one another. It's also a great time to catch up on family news and discuss plans. Try to eat at least one meal as a family every day. Planning family meals in advance will help accommodate busy schedules. Preparing them together will strengthen family bonds. Establishing rules and rituals will make mealtimes memorable and create lessons that last a lifetime.
Tips for Building this Healthy Habit
Hold a Weekly Planning Party
Once each week, gather the family around some healthy snacks and hold a meal planning party at which everyone gets to have input. The first time you try this, an adult will need to do a little preliminary work so that you can present the kids with healthy choices that fit within your family’s budget. The good news is that once you have established a healthy weekly menu, the time and preparation involved each week will decrease dramatically. Keep kids engaged by introducing some new options every few weeks and allowing them to continue selecting from your pre-determined choices.
TOOL - PLANNING TO EAT HEALTHY (.PDF) Opens a new window
Use this tool to plan healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner for the week.
Cook Together
If yours is a home where an adult typically handles the food preparation and cleanup, involving the kids will be a big change. Kids and adults both respond well if the new and unfamiliar job of preparing the meal is broken down into manageable pieces, and if they are thanked for their help. Keep the environment fun and let everyone experience how good it feels to work together. Encourage children to touch, taste or smell ingredients as you prepare foods. Help your children feel like chefs by having special aprons they can wear while they help you, or their own set of cooking tools that are stored in a special drawer.
ACTIVITY - FIVE IMPORTANT KITCHEN LESSONS TO TEACH YOUR KIDS (.PDF) Opens a new window
Keep the environment fun and safe and let everyone experience how good it feels to work together with these five important kitchen lessons.
Good Times Table Talk
Mealtime is perfect for family conversation as long as you don’t expect it to be perfect. Keep in mind that after a long day, school may be the last thing they may want to talk about at the table. Try using mealtime for sharing stories about things unrelated to school or work. Engage your children in conversation that excites them and give yourself an opportunity to learn more about their other interests. For fun, you might even try asking some questions that engage their imagination. Conversation guaranteed!
ACTIVITY - FUN QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS! (.PDF) Opens a new window
Asking questions that engage the imagination can be a great way to get fun and meaningful conversations started with your kids. Try some of these the next time you need to get everyone talking!
