Tips on How to Bond with Your Child Throughout the Year

I love the changing seasons and holidays.  I approach each new holiday and season with the zeal of a toddler experiencing snow for the first time. I have three children, and three step-children who are spread over eleven years, so I am constantly trying to ensure that each seasonal activity holds something fun for each age group. Here are some ideas on activities that will help you bond with your child/children throughout the year.

Spring:

- Search locally for a hiking trail you’ve never tried and go for it! Hunt for the first wildflowers in bloom.

-Paint/Dye Easter eggs, have an Easter egg hunt at home on Easter day.

-Attend a local egg hunt.

-For tweens and teens, have a night time Easter egg hunt verses a daytime hunt. I use plastic eggs with glow in the dark bracelets stuck inside, each egg has a few coins in it.

-Have a spring picnic, your children can help choose the lunch, and the location, as well as help prepare the lunch.

-Play in the rain.

-Color in a coloring book together.

-Volunteer with your local Arbor day group to plant trees and pick up litter. If you don’t have an Arbor day group, then get together with your local 4H or youth group to do the same.

-Plant a garden, let your child choose what they want to plant.

-Dress up for St. Patrick’s day, maybe even attend an area St. Pat’s day parade all dressed up.
-Fly a kite!

Summer:

-Go to the beach, often, as often as you can stand it! Swimming is excellent exercise and we can all use a bit more vitamin D. While there, build sand castles together.

-Go to an outdoor concert! Rock, country, pop, whatever you and your child enjoys. I do this at least once a year with my teen.

-Take a road trip, just for the fun of it. Go someplace fairly close for the day and back.

-Look online for area events and attend a new one each year. For us, this was a local hot air balloon festival, this year.

-Go for an evening walk and/or bicycle ride.

-Set up the tent in your back yard and have a campout.

-Make s’mores…you should do this at least once  a week!

-Draw with chalk on your sidewalk.

-Go camping for real! Anyplace, it can be close or far away.

-Before school starts, and when your school shopping is complete, go through old clothes and donate items that are too small to your local thrift store or to a family in need.

-Travel to someplace you’ve never been.

-Have a 4^th of July BBQ, wear patriotic clothes and make patriotic décor and food.

Fall:

-Head to a nearby pumpkin patch and corn maze. Pack a picnic and spend the day enjoying the fall weather with your children.

-Carve pumpkins;  be sure you carve your own, as well!

-Have a spa day, do makeup nails, toes, etc.

-Take a scenic drive up into the mountains where you can see the many changing colors of fall leaves against the evergreen trees and streams.

-While you’re looking for Halloween costume ideas, have a dress up day and take silly pictures!

-Have a dance/karaoke party at home.

-Go on a camera hike. Give each child the opportunity to take pictures from their perspective.

-Make a “thankful” tree using twigs and small note tags. Have each child decorate one side of the tag and then write what they’re thankful for on the other side, then hang it on the tree along with other fall décor.

-Out together fairly matching outfits and have a family photo shoot in the leaves.

Winter:

-Watch old movies together, choose some  favorites from your childhood, as well as other popular movies from various eras.

-Learn a new art or craft. The internet is full of free resources, you can learn how to crochet together, or how to draw with charcoal, practically anything you can think of.

-Go to the local roller skating rink and try not to kill yourself! Roller skating is like riding a bike, you’ll get the hang of it.

-Spend an afternoon at the local library exploring books.

-Go to a thrift store and have a scavenger hunt. Try to find the ugliest item.

-Go sledding, drive to the mountains if needed.

-See a play…better yet, be IN a community play.

-Bake cookies and other various sweets.
-Build a snowman together.

-Go Christmas shopping and select a few items to donate to needy children, there is almost always a “wish” tree in department stores.

-Have a Bible study together. Take turns reading verses and working your way through a chapter.

-Write a wish list letter to Santa.

-Make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, then read “Twa the Night Before Christmas” before bed.

-Visit Santa, locally, and encourage your children, even your teen, to tell him what they want for Christmas and get a picture taken with him as a family.

-Scrapbook the year’s  worth of memories together. Look at old scrapbooks, too!

-Go ice skating.

There is plenty of fun and bonding time to be had all year round. Children are only little once, better make the best of it!