Spending Time With and Entertaining Your Family At Home

There are many benefits to spending regular time together with your family. CNN published an article about the positive effect quality time with dad has on teens. No matter what their age is, children respond positively to spending time together with their families.

You may think that you'll have to go all out of your way to make your kid happy, but this isn't the case. A lot of times, if you just take an interest in your kids hobbies, they'll be happy. Or you can just stay at home and find something to do together. Here are a few suggestions for you.

Arts & Crafts

I am always looking for or making unique decorations to liven up our house. You can start a similar tradition in your family. Your child may enjoy some of the things you used to do when you were younger, like knitting, crochet, sewing or needlepoint.

Drawing and painting is also a fun way to pass the time. You don't have to paint anything extraordinary. Your kids may enjoy painting something simple, like rocks. Find a rock outside, bring it in, and tell your child to paint it however they wish. Then put it in the yard or somewhere else you can proudly display it.

One of the best things about arts and crafts is that it is both expressive and relaxing. It helps to relieve the stress of a hard day (or week). A relaxed family is a happy family. They communicate easier, bond, and enjoy each other's company more. It's much easier to talk to your kids when you're both having fun than it is when you're both stressed and angry, and it's far more productive.

Cooking & Baking

This may not be for everyone, especially if you're watching your calories, but cooking and baking have the same effect as working on arts and crafts. Both of these activities are relaxing and a lot of fun. Cooking and baking comes with the added joy of knowing you're making something for someone else to enjoy.

If neither of you know how to boil water, there are plenty of ways to learn. You can get on Youtube instead of going to spend money on cooking classes. If you have satellite or cable, you can always watch Food Network or similar channels. They can teach you how to cook anything from ramen noodles to seven layer cakes.

Sometimes just the idea of looking at food is enough. Perhaps you don't want to learn how to cook, but you like watching other people do it. There's nothing wrong with that. The important thing is that you spend time with your family doing things you all find enjoyable.

TV & Movies

A common tradition in many families is to watch a television program together. It gives them something to look forward to every week. It is hard to find a program that is age appropriate for the entire family, but you can do it. This may involve compromising a little bit, but don't turn up your nose just yet.

There have been plenty of people who thought they wouldn't like something because they weren't in the target audience, but then they turned out to love it. A famous example is My Little Pony. It was intended for young girls but actually has a huge following of adult male fans. Most of them got into the show by watching it with a young female family member. All of them enjoy it immensely. Don't knock it until you've tried it, as the saying goes.

If you want to find something for everyone to watch together, you'll need to have a television package the entire family can enjoy. That includes plenty of channels with cartoons, and channels aimed at the little ones. The focus shouldn't be on the premium channels - although if you get them that's a bonus - but on having channels that everyone can watch. This includes sports channels, movie channels, educational channels, news channels and entertainment channels.

One of the great things about these channel packages is they usually come with a unique service. I found out that Direct TV has a feature they call "Movies on Demand." You can stream movies into your home for less than the price of a movie ticket. Sometimes these movies can be seen the same day they're released in theaters, but from your home. For more information about Direct TV and their satellite package deals, visit their site.

With this feature you can take your entire family to the movies for cheap. It's a great way to save a lot of money, since you don't have to worry about buying multiple tickets or expensive snacks. You also don't have to miss important scenes anymore. You can just pause the movie, go do whatever you have to do, then come back to it.

No matter how you spend time together as a family, remember to do it regularly. You'll be helping your family grow into happy, secure human beings, something the world needs a lot more of.