Easy Ways to Bond with Your Child For Busy Parents
It’s okay to feel guilty about not being able to give your child enough time of the day. Especially when you’re a working parent.
But know that there are a couple of things you can do to make sure your child feels loved, appreciated, and not neglected.
The saying, “It’s the little things that count” couldn’t be truer when it comes to your little one. These activities will not take up a chunk of your time and will make your child feel immensely loved:
Arts and Craft
Engaging in art or craft activities with children is an awesome way to provide not only a fun and enjoyable experience, but a therapeutic one as well. No matter their age, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a child who can’t find an art medium that interests him.
When engaged in a creative process with children, we provide an outlet for them to express their thoughts and feelings, laying the groundwork to raise an emotionally intelligent child.
This is especially true with younger children, who aren’t yet able to verbalize their complex emotions. When your child has access to a creative outlet, odds are that interactions between the two of you will be more positive.
Listen to Some Music
Whether listening to them play an instrument or dancing to the “Trolls” soundtrack together, music offers lots of benefits for both parent and child, including bringing our awareness into our bodies and into the current moment (your child will also be practicing a mindfulness activity for kids without even knowing it.)
It’s pretty difficult to focus on a mistake at school yesterday or the test coming up tomorrow when we’re busy processing auditory input as well as coordinating our motor skills.
Take a Walk in Nature
Feeling stressed? Stress is often a huge barrier to parents engaging with their children. Spending time with your child out in nature will go a long way to increase emotional health and physical well-being for both parties.
Research tells us the many benefits of outdoor nature play for kids including reducing their blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, as well as the production of stress hormones. Nature is no joke. Even if you don’t have time to go for a hike, simply water a plant together. These studies show similar effects can be derived from even small amounts of nature.
Cook Together
Family mealtimes tend to be stress-laden. This is usually caused by trying to remove children from the scene of meal preparation. As most parents can attest, this automatically prompts our children to persist in their crusade toward the kitchen. Why not save our energy and use this time as a way to bond with your child?
Research has shown that involving children in meal preparation helps foster family bonding and togetherness, and even reduces behavior problems. Although having kids in the kitchen may be a bit more time consuming and a bit less convenient, the positive effects are totally worth it.
Reading
We all know reading with children is a simple way to improve their language and reading skills. But research also shows that reading with children actually stimulates patterns of brain development responsible for connection and bonding.
This makes sense when we consider that story time usually involves cuddling, eye contact, and shared emotion. If you make reading together a priority in your home, you are already taking advantage of an amazing way to bond with your child.
If you’re looking for good books or children, we recommend “Tilly Wise and the Sleephead Sun” by Emily Pray.
Emily is a mother, therapist and painter living in Western Montana. Growing up, her father told her and her brothers stories about Frank and Betty Wise - two owls in their neighborhood in NYC. These stories and memories serve as a rich source of inspiration. Tilly and the Sleepyhead Sun is her debut children’s book as she explores creative outlets for the adventurous spirits of her favorite childhood owls.
The book will soon be available on Amazon.
