Spending time with your family is always special. It’s even more special when all the family members are involved in planning the fun activities. It creates special experiences and wonderful moments for the family to savor. When a family spends time with each other doing activities together it helps in building deep and meaningful connections which leads to a healthy relationship. When children are connected to their parents deeply, they want to please them / or make them proud. This leads to Quality Family time and a strong family unit.
With a little bit of planning – you can create a lifetime of funny and sweet moments and strong bonds. Here are some of the ideas for Quality Family Time that work for me :
1. Plan a Family Meal
Meal times are a great way to a Quality Family time but, what if you cooked a meal as a family? Plan a meal together and the children love to help their parents especially if it is a dish that they simply adore. You can also go one step further and select a special place like a balcony or a terrace to have a moonlight dinner with the whole family.
In our family, my daughter usually helps me in the cooking and my husband helps in sourcing and table setting. It’s not an elaborate menu but something that all of us like to eat. What makes it special for us is that we take our meal to the terrace and eat under the stars. we select a weekend closer to the full moon day. My daughter loves the moonlight dinner (as she calls it) and looks forward to it every month.
2. Family Scavenger Hunt
The children love clues and mystery. Why not plan a Scavenger hunt during a special occasion (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Pongal, or Diwali)? Festivals bring families closer and it’s a perfect time for a Scavenger hunt. Normally the children participate in the scavenger hunt – but this time the elders in the family can also participate along with the children.
During Diwali celebrations last year, I had organized a scavenger hunt and had included all the family members in it. I had made 2 sets of clues for each stage. At each stage, my daughter gets 2 clues. The 1st clue is to finish a challenge with a family member and the 2nd clue will be handed over by the family member to the child after completion of the challenge. This way the whole family participates. For Example – The 1st challenge may be a Tongue twister/ Plank challenge which the child performs along with the adult. After the child completes the challenge, the family member hands him/her over the clue. The child solves the clue to get his/her present. The Scavenger hunt goes on like this.
3. DIY projects
Plan your DIY projects and execute them together. Source the necessary supplies in advance and let the creative juices flow. You could do tons of DIY projects as a family together. Here are some of the ideas for DIY projects:
- You could draw a family tree together
- Trace everyone’s hands and filling them up (especially if you have toddlers)
- Make a collage with the family photos and hang it for everyone to see
- You could also paint a wall and decorate it
- You could also make candles or Chinese lanterns to light when you are planning for family dinners on the terrace.
4. Keep your Family Fit and healthy
Fit families, stay healthy for a long time. After the recent COVID scare, a lot of people are jumping into the fitness wagon. Why not make fitness goals a family time too? Once a week, work out as a family. It can be as simple as going for a walk or practicing Yoga Asanas/breathing together as a family.
I usually take a walk with my daughter on weekends. It’s a nice time for both of us to just relax and watch the sunset and talk about our school days. Every alternate day we also follow yoga and a stretching routine for about 20 minutes.
5.Make a movie together
There is no better way to preserve memories better than to make a movie. Collect all the funny moments, personal anecdotes, or just memories of all the family members especially the elders. The elders may have some fascinating facts or stories to share with their grandchildren. This way the children are exposed to family traditions and heritage. The children could also make a questionnaire and interview the family members and the parents can help with the editing part.
My Grandfather Celebrated his 80th birthday 20 years ago. I was a young girl in my college days. My cousins and I decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. We wanted to make a film and screen it on the day of his birthday. We interviewed people close to him and edited it into a 20-minute film. I am so glad that we made the film because he is no more now and my daughter gets to know about him through the film.
I hope you create lovely memories and special bonds!
Please share with me your experiences and your ideas of Quality Family time by leaving your comments in the section below or you can connect with me via Facebook and Instagram.