Spending Quality Time With Your Children

Can you think of the last time you really spent time being present with your children? This doesn’t involve waking them up, driving them to school, or the 101 other daily tasks that make up their routine. Spending quality one on one time with your kids is more difficult that people think. With work, and keeping your children clean and healthy, the time just spent listening to your children and spending time with them can be limited. Making time for your children, beyond the normal routine, is important and makes them feel valued and listened to.

Have fun in the kitchen

Cooking is an excellent way to enjoy spending time with your children, and also teaches them valuable skills. If you bake, for example, you will need to carefully measure and weigh ingredients for the cake to come out well. Baking and cooking in general requires a lot of patience and good communication between cooks. These are all excellent skills to pass on to your children. The actions used in cooking help exercise the motor skills of children. So, by stirring a mixture, or kneading some dough, your children will be strengthening their mind to muscle coordination. Specific tips and tricks that can be learnt in the kitchen might be how to soften brown sugar for baking, or how to use vinegar to get the perfect poached egg. These are all things that children and adults can pick up in the kitchen and remind them of the person who taught them this.

Go outdoors

As well as being a healthy form of entertainment, spending time outdoors with your children will enable you to communicate with them and provide you with an opportunity to talk with them outside the normal setting of your home. You can make great memories with your children by playing with them. The great thing about going outdoors is you don’t need to bring anything apart from maybe some snacks or a ball. Let nature be your entertainment. Go to a park, or a forest and watch as your children soak in nature. Being in nature is proven to contribute to your physical and mental well-being, reducing stress and anxiety, and even increasing our ability to pay attention. If you have a child who suffers from ADHD, spending time in nature or with animals is a nice way to both enjoy each other’s company and also help them with their concentration.

Be present while they play

You don’t have to always be physically involved with the play of your children. Sometimes stepping back and observing them in play can be equally beneficial. The form of parenting known as RAI parenting involves building on the mental connection between parent and child and respects the child as an individual who is capable of being autonomous. Communicating and being present for your children while they are occupied with their own activities will make them feel safe enough to explore the world for themselves.