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Why is a strong bond important?

It reinforces love and provides a sense of belonging. The stronger of a bond you have with your family members, the more support you will feel from each of them which leads to a healthy sense of belonging and pride.

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The word “family” describes a group of people that are connected and share time with one another. These are people who bring you comfort and support while also challenging each other and working through rough times. No family is perfect, but by prioritizing family bonding time, each member can benefit in many ways. In the last two years, people have spent a significant amount of time at home with their families especially compared to the years before. As restrictions lift in more places, people are excited and anxious to get back to a more normal schedule and more social events and activities. It’s important to remember to prioritize family time going forward as well. Don’t take it for granted that you share the same address. You need to put in the effort to plan and organize activities that the whole family can enjoy together. We are going to remind you of the reasons family bonding time is important, a few ideas to help you be successful when planning these activities, and some of the best ideas of fun things to do together. Get inspired and start planning your next family fun night.

Get your gang together for a game night!

When you want to get the family bonding, game night is always a great option! Let’s Roam offers virtually-led games in various categories. Test your knowledge with trivia, decode emojis, enjoy some laughs with drawing challenges, or play a riveting round of “Guess Where.” You could even add distant relatives with a virtual party pack!

8 Benefits of Family Bonding Time

Let’s start with the important benefits of spending quality time together as a family. Some of these may be obvious and others might surprise you. Each family is made up of unique personalities, so each person will take something different away from this time, but it’s extremely valuable.

1. It strengthens family relationships.

The different members of your family each have unique relationships with each other family member. Sometimes siblings love doing everything together and other times, they are just neighbors down the hall that have little interaction. By doing activities together as a family, you’ll give everyone the opportunity to spend time together and work on individual relationships and your overall strength as a family unit.

2. It can improve mental health and help to reduce stress,

Daily routines include a lot of stressful activities for both adults and children. Taking time out of your day to spend time with the family can help reduce stress and improve your mental health. Playing games together or going to new places will help engage each family member while having fun, laughing, and making positive memories.

3. It boosts academic performance.

The more time that children spend with adults, the better their mental development will be. Kids get a lot of interaction at school, but that can’t be the only time they are engaged. Family bonding allows time for conversations with your children where you can learn more about each other and grow together. Studies show that children who spend more time with their parents do better at school on average than children who spend less time with their parents.

4. It adds fun to your routine.

Calendars are filled with appointments, meetings, and deadlines. Those are all important, but having fun is equally important. By prioritizing family bonding time, you’ll be fitting in more opportunities to have fun with your kids and partner. Visit new museums, try out new playgrounds, or try any of the fun options listed later in this article and enjoy yourself.

5. It can reduce behavioral issues.

When kids and teenagers spend more time with family, there will be fewer behavioral issues. One of the major reasons for this is increased communication and support from parents. Children will be able to work through their problems using the interpersonal skills learned by spending time with their family members. Teenagers deal with a lot of hormones, emotions, and new stressors as they grow up. By having a closer relationship with parents and siblings, they will feel supported and know where to go and are less likely to turn to drugs and other troublesome substances or activities.

6. It boosts self-confidence.

When parents have multiple opportunities to display self-confidence and a positive self-image, kids will see that and learn to value themselves. Children watch and learn in all kinds of different situations, so it’s important to be a good example whenever you can. During these family activities, you can foster healthy self-esteem and good, positive behaviors for everyone.

7. It reinforces love and provides a sense of belonging.

Families are one of the easiest places to find love and belonging, but it’s not just automatic. Kids feel love and support from their parents through all kinds of different interactions. From bedtime routines that include hugs and storytime to having meals prepped for them each day, kids feel the different acts of service and love. The stronger of a bond you have with your family members, the more support you will feel from each of them which leads to a healthy sense of belonging and pride.

8. It builds skills for the future.

Where do you think children learn about relationships and family dynamics? It all happens at home. Kids watch their parents and learn from them. Often, children grow up to have similar principles and ideals to what they were exposed to growing up. They will learn about relationships from the way their parents interact and learn about parenting from the way they were parented. In addition to relationship and family skills, kids and adults will be able to practice different skills and talents during family time based on what the activity is. You can choose physical activities that will develop fine motor skills and coordination. Museums and vacations will inspire and provide fun educational opportunities. Even a game night can help develop strategy and problem-solving. It’s a win/win situation.

Tips to Help You Prioritize Family Bonding

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Now you’re committed to taking some time for the family to do things together, but where do you start? Here are a few tips to help you get started.

Put it on the calendar.

Families juggle a lot of commitments between jobs, school, extracurricular activities, and social events. Do you have a family calendar that is on the wall or shared online? Use that to schedule the time for your family to do something together. Try and make it recurring so it becomes part of the routine. If that’s too challenging, make sure to schedule a few different days at a time. Make them important priorities so no one can book over them or miss them for anything.

Be consistent! And don’t give up.

If you planned something fun for the family and it didn’t go the way you wanted, don’t give up. It’s a rhythm that will take a little time to get used to. You can’t force everyone to get into it right away. Continue planning different activities and you will find the groove for your family. There might be certain activities that your kids like more than others, so just be consistent and stick with it until you find what works for your family.

Gather everyone’s input.

The planning responsibilities don’t have to fall completely on our shoulders. Feel free to involve all the members of your family. Ask everyone what activities they would like to do as a family. Take turns planning different outings or choosing the restaurant to eat at. Usually, people are more engaged when they have some say in the matter.

Create a family mission statement.

It might sound a little weird to make a mission statement for a family because that’s usually a business activity, but it can be helpful. Sitting down as a family and deciding what’s most important to you—as a unit—can help keep everyone working towards the same goals. The statement should reflect the values you believe in as a family. You can talk about different ideas over dinner or at a family meeting and once you’ve come up with something that you all agree on, display it in your home.

Family Bonding Activities

Now that you have all the tips for planning family time, it’s time to choose a few activities that your family will enjoy and have fun doing together. These are just a few ideas to try out. Change it up and try new things together and you’ll find different activities that your whole family loves.

Try a scavenger hunt!

A scavenger hunt is a fun and unique way to get out and explore your own city. Let’s Roam has a huge variety of options that you can explore. Sign up as a family and spend an afternoon running around different attractions and historically important locations. Not only will you learn a few new pieces of trivia about your hometown, but you can compete against other teams! There are fun photo opportunities and different puzzles and challenges to work through.

Enjoy phone-free family dinner time.

A simple way to get some family bonding in is to make sure that you have dinner with the whole family as often as possible. Some families manage to do this every single night while others focus on a family meal one or two nights a week. It can be hard with different schedules, but meals are a great time to connect with one another and take a break from screen time. Make it even more interactive and cook together as a family. You can find all kinds of cooking tutorials on YouTube that are completely free or you can pick out a cookbook or two as a family and choose a new recipe to make each week. If you aren’t interested in cooking or want to do something different for family dinners, you can make a list of all the restaurants you want to try and then choose a new one each week to visit. This is easy to include the kids in generating different ideas. You might have some family members who love tacos, one who loves pizza, and another who loves trying new cuisines all the time. By rotating, everyone will get to enjoy their favorites while trying new things on other days.

Create new family traditions.

You probably have some special traditions that you enjoy with your family around the holiday season, but why stop there? The calendar year is filled with all kinds of fun, unique holidays, like National Ice Cream Day. Make some new traditions to celebrate those days in a fun way with your family. Birthdays are another great opportunity to introduce new traditions. Consider giving your kids a “yes day” like the Netflix movie where you lay out a few ground rules and then let your kids plan a day and you have to say yes to everything. Plan something fun for the last day of school or the first day of winter. You decide, but having a few fun things that you do year after year will create great memories and you can continue these traditions even after your kids have grown up and moved out.

Plan a family vacation.

The pinnacle of family bonding is a vacation. Vacation means you get to spend a big chunk of concentrated time together having family fun. It doesn’t need to be an extravagant and expensive trip either. You can pack up the car and head to a campground or visit a nearby city and stay in an Airbnb for a change of scenery. Exploring new places with kids helps them be more accepting and empathetic. It’s important to experience the world outside of your family’s usual environment. It will lead to some great conversations about other people and places. Plus, everyone will have fun trying new foods, exploring new parks and outdoor spaces, and getting to have extended family time doing fun things together. If you want to add a little something extra, plan the trip with your family and give them options and the ability to add ideas to the table.

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Celebrate the little things.

Each member of your family has small wins all the time that probably go unnoticed by most people. Put some energy into celebrating some of those moments as a family and cheering each other on. Did your first grader come home with a folder full of artwork from school? Create an art wall in your home to display all of it and host a little art show. Shout out your high schooler’s science fair project on social media. Bring home a special dessert when your kids get their report cards. In addition to celebrating the accomplishments of your kids, make sure to share your exciting moments with them as well. Kids may not totally understand your job, but they are more interested in the things happening in your life than you may realize. Did you get a promotion or make a big sale? Tell your kids and make it a fun celebration. It’s important that these relationships are two-way and that you share things with your kids instead of just expecting them to share with you.

Participate in school activities.

Kids spend a lot of time at school with their teachers and classmates, so it’s important that you are in the loop with things happening at your child’s school. The good news is that schools offer all kinds of different opportunities for your family to get involved. Check the school’s calendar and see what’s coming up. Go to sporting events for your child’s school and cheer on the team (even if your child isn’t on the team.) Volunteer to chaperone field trips with your kids. Any opportunities you have to experience part of their daily routine and life will help bring you closer together and build your relationships.

Exercise together.

Physical activity is another way to build a strong family bond. Improve on teamwork by playing games that require working together like doubles tennis or basketball. Encouraging different types of exercise and movement is good for a hundred different reasons and everyone in the family can benefit from it. When in doubt, have a dance party with the music turned up loud or try a family yoga class or fitness class on YouTube for free. Learn to rollerskate together as a family or take ski lessons if you live near the mountains. Check out new hiking trails in your area. Spend the day at a pool or waterpark. Any activity with movement will benefit everyone’s well-being and create incredible memories, and you get bonus points if it involves fresh air. Nobody loves doing chores. Many households split up chores by family member and each person is required to complete their chores each week to keep things on track at home. Consider making a few chores family events instead of doing them as individuals. By working together, you can conquer some of the activities that aren’t as fun and make it fun or at least suffer through it together as a family. By asking kids to help around the house, you’re teaching them how to clean, fix, organize, and get things in order which will help them as they grow up. Plus, it will feel good to accomplish something as a team.

Have regularly-scheduled movie nights.

Gather your immediate family once a month (or whatever regular interval you’re looking for) for a movie night. Choose the flick as a family or rotate letting someone different choose each time. Stock up on all the necessary movie snacks like popcorn and candy. Even when you aren’t spending the time talking, you’re still enjoying a shared experience. Keep phones in a different room and just enjoy the peace of lounging and watching a movie.

Get everyone on the same page with family meetings.

Meetings don’t always sound fun, but they can be insanely effective in getting everyone aligned. If you are starting to prioritize family time to improve your family bonds and relationships, gather everyone together and fill them in on your goals. Ask for thoughts and ideas from all the members of your family and include them in the decision-making process. By communicating with each other in a relaxed and productive manner, you can iron out the details for your family activities and get excited about them.

Schedule family game nights.

Game nights are simple to plan. There are so many great board games made for families, so you can stock up on a few and gather everyone together to play. It doesn’t matter how old your kids are, there are options for all ages. Candy Land is a classic game for younger children, but it’s still fun for adults to play. Video games are another option if you have a high-tech family. You might even gain some cool points with your kids if you’re able to hang with them in their favorite video games. It’s a great way to see what they are playing and make it a bonding opportunity. A little friendly competition is great and kids learn strategy, problem-solving skills, and how to be a good sport by observing adults in these situations.

And don’t forget to try a virtual game night from Let’s Roam!

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letsroam.com - Why Family Bonding Is More Important Now Than Ever Before

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