3 Activites to Strengthen Your Bond With Your Child

What’s more important in life than finding new activities to strengthen your bond with your child?  We all know about the basics: playing board games, card games, sports and even watching tv together can be real bonding experiences. Traveling together forces you to spend time together and can help build memories to bond over forever. But there are actually some things you can do to help strengthen your bond with your child that might not ever cross your mind.  

My kids are growing older. Right now, it just feels like we have really hit a shift as they move from pre-teen to teenage years.  Their interests are changing so fast and even though I know how important it is to continue to find activities to strengthen your bond with your child, it’s hard to keep coming up with new ones.

Finding Activities to Bond With Your Child

I was good at jumping rope, and playing with dolls and LEGO’s. I was great on the trampoline and playing board games. But now that these are no longer things they like to do, I’ve found it harder and harder to keep up the work of building a bond with your child.  In fact, I find that just being my goofy old self that they loved for so many years, is now becoming – dare I say it – an embarrassment.  

I know everyone talks about how at some point or another your kids will be embarrassed by you. But come on.  Not me.  I’m a cool, fun dad. I know how to implement the 7 Steps to Instructional Motivation and have always focused my relationships on being 75% fun. Even I am sometimes more embarrassing to them than I’d like to admit.     

3 Activities to Strengthen Your Bond With Your Child

But, one thing I am not is a quitter.  When I realized that I was not naturally as much fun for my girls as I’ve been previously, I knew I had to act. I’ve come up with 3 activities to help strengthen your bond with your child that I want to share with you today. 

Activity #1: Take Your Child Shopping

As little as I like shopping, my girls love it. When we go shopping, I’m not just buying them things. We talk about their tastes and interests. I don’t get them everything they want, but they will often end up coming home with something that makes them feel good. Those feelings then get transferred to me as we spend that time together.  

Activity #2: Help Your Child with their Chores, Schoolwork and Jobs

As kids get older, they need to take on more responsibilities around the house and with their school work.  Maybe they have taken on a job in the community like a paper route or babysitting.  If you’re wondering how to create a strong bond with your child, the time they spend doing daily or weekly chores poses a great opportunity.  You can spend time with your kids while they do the work or offer to lessen the load and assist them with the chores every once in a while. 

Can you offer to drive them on their paper route instead of having to do it by bike?  Offer to help them with their homework, even doing a couple of the tougher ones for them when you are getting along well.  Help them clean their room so the work is still getting done but it is also helping you strengthen your bond.

Activity #3: Play Video Games with Your Child

If your kids are playing Minecraft, Roblox, Subway Surfer, or even Fortnite, playing with them or at the very least watching them play and showing interest in the game will be a great tool to help you bond.  Ask them questions about it, congratulate them on their successes and show some interest in the different skins or points or awards they have earned.  Showing you can be interested in their interests even if it isn’t your first choice of activities can really help bring you together and keep that bonding level up where it needs to be.

Conclusion

When finding activities to strengthen your bond with your child, it helps to choose activities your children already like. If you are struggling with how to strengthen the bond with your child, consider these three activities:

1. Take them shopping and spend time with them.
2. Help them with their schoolwork, chores and jobs.
3. Play video games or learn to discuss the video games with them. 

If you liked what I offered you in this video blog, you should consider checking out my free workshop video called “How to Get your Kids to Listen without Raising your Voice or Nagging.” You can find the workshop at the button below.