Bonding with your baby is an indispensable part of early childhood development. Children who receive adequate attention, love, guidance, and nurturing grow up to be stronger individuals. The family bond is stronger when the parent-child bonding activities are enjoyable. A family that laughs together, stays together!
Outdoor Parent-Child Bonding Activities
The primary advantage of parent-child activities outdoors is that you all can enjoy the sunlight and fresh air. The easiest and cheapest activity is, playing together in the nearby park. You can walk, jog, race, or play football. Other equally pleasurable outdoor family-bonding activities include:
- Gardening – For you, tasks like weeding, digging, planting, trimming, etc. are chores. But when you include your little toddler to plant seedlings, it becomes an enjoyable activity. You can put each kid in charge of tending one plant.
- Nature trails – Plan a nature trail to a nearby forest. While walking along the paths, point out interesting trees, plants, flowers, creepers, birds, and small animals. Believe me, even your toddler will absorb some of the information. Kids have an infinite capacity to store knowledge. Gardening and nature trails will also teach your kids to love nature.
- Parent-child classes–There are several parent-toddler classes that you can enrol in. Parents and children can enjoy together, leading to a stronger parent-child bond. Such classes may be art and craft, colouring, music, dance, etc.
Indoor Parent-Child Bonding Activities
In bad weather, you compel your kid to stay indoors. They become restless and irritable. But these fun-filled indoor parent-child bonding activities give a lot of pleasure:
- Reading competition – Take turns in reading storybooks aloud. The best reader gets the largest piece of cake. Your toddler gets a turn to read as well, and never mind the gibberish!
- Dance session–Clear floor space in the center of the living room. Use CDs or smartphones to play the latest popular tracks. Sing and dance together to your heart’s content!
- Artwork – One of the most popular and effective parent-child bonding activities indoors is painting. You can use paper, stones, shells, discarded cans, boxes, or any other surface on which to paint. Always use toddler-safe paints, crayons, and pencils for artwork. Try out Origami (paper folding) and colouring books.
- Soft-toy party–The most thrilling way of teaching kids organizational skills is by letting them plan and organize a party for their teddies and dolls. From seating arrangements for the toys to the choice of music, leave it to the kids. You are invitees and so are the soft toys. The kids will love being in charge. Keep some scones, sandwiches, and juice.
- Photoshoot–In this activity, each family member wears a favourite outfit and you click pictures in different sections of the house. Make sure you all pose differently for each shot. Make a collage of the pictures and frames.
Irrespective of the parent-toddler bonding methods you use, expressing love with kind words and hugs always strengthens the bond. Listen to your kid’s words and spend a lot of time together.