Friday, February 13, 2015

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.


33 Smart Readers SAID::

Amanda Love said...

These are all really great suggestions, because of my job I don't spend as much time as I want with my family and it did affect my family life. I'm hoping that now that I'm retiring I'll have more time to do things with them. Even the simple things makes them happy as long as I can do it with them.

Dave, Amy and Jace said...

It looks like you have a lot of fun with your family. You girl is very talented.

Caitlin Stevens said...

Great ideas! I really miss the nice weather so that we can all go outside and do things. being trapped in the house during the winter is awful for me!

Jess Benoit said...

I love that you guys are always doing something actively as a family!

Unknown said...

I love this post. It's very important to spend time with your family. We love to do all of the things you listed. My daughters love helping me cook.

papaleng said...

Indeed, quiet times with family members strengthens bond. Biking and watching TV together, pwede. But arts & crafts no way. mahina ako riyan.

Nova said...

Nice and inexpensive way to have fun with your family at home.

Teresa Martinez said...

Spending quality time with family members makes the family strong and I can clearly see that this is exactly what you are doing. Happy for you!

Masshole Mommy said...

These are all great ideas and we do all of these, too. We also do things like have Lego building competitions and play lots of board games.

Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle said...

I love all these ideas. We try to make family time at least twice a week. It doesn't sound like much, but it's more than some families get. It's nice to really bond.

Kelly Hutchinson said...

We like to travel as a family because it brings us closer together. We also like to listen to music and play board games.

Melissa Pezza said...

These are great ideas. It's so important to spend quality time with the family. It's how we bond as unit for a lifetime.

Lisa B said...

We are a very artistic family. We have a room set up for painting and crafts. We love to bake and cook together. Now that my kids are teenagers i find it is getting harder to spend quality time together.

Colette S said...

These are very good ideas.
I love spending time with our family too, especially just cuddling and reading a book or out riding. I wish we did more outdoor stuff, but maybe I'm just saying that because it's winter!

Anosa said...

I think these are great ideas for spending time with family without even breaking the bank. I am very fortunate to come from a very extended family where we always spent time together with my family and all the extended family too

Liz Mays said...

Both of my kids enjoyed doing crafts and cooking with me. I agree that it's a great way to spend some quality time together.

Autumn Blues Reviews said...

My son is into learning to cook these days. We all have fun spending quality time in the kitchen. He is turning into quite the little chef.

Unknown said...

I love watching the Food Network even if I am not cooking. I just enjoy watching other people cook sometimes, lol.

Anonymous said...

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun! Your daughter is very artsy!

Lisa said...

We have family movie nights. We also do family game nights.

Nina Say said...

One of my favorite ways to entertain my family (kids) so my husband and I can actually speak to each other, is a craft station. Set it up, let the kids have at it, 15 minutes of peace and quiet well worth it.

Emberlinmoon said...

it looks like you guys had a lot of bonding time and more importantly a lot of fun. I always loved spending time with my folks as a kid especially just sitting down and watching a movie. Very good memories.

Unknown said...

It's so much better to do things at home as a family then spending money and going out! I love all of these ideas so much!!!

Bonnie G said...

What a great post and so true. Sometimes it so hard these days with all the hustle and bustle to find that time but it's so important. We love making arts/crafts and cooking the best.=)

Unknown said...

We try to dedicate one day a week to a family day out but I think it's so important to spend quality time at home with kids. This really helps with bonding. My daughter loves baking with me. We even paint.

Kori at Home said...

These are all really great ideas. We're starting to do arts and crafts, as well as cooking.

HilLesha O'Nan said...

It truly doesn't have to cost to spend time and have fun with the family. My family and I love making art and crafts. We also love spending time together by getting in touch with nature, whether it's going to the park, walking alongside the riverfront, or hitting the trails. :)

Unknown said...

These are such great ideas for fun family time! Love posts like these! Thanks for sharing!

mail4rosey said...

Spending time together really is easy and it really is important. That feeling it creates of being secure/happy/loved will last a lifetime.

Alyssa Collazo said...

We love doing arts and crafts in our house, I always try and do a new craft as the seasons change. I'm thinking about a small indoor garden this year!

Debi Gerhart said...

My kids love to cook and bake. I will have to start planning to make something every week with them.

Unknown said...

The kids and I love to do all of these together. It's so important to make time to make memories that the entire family will cherish. Love this!

krystal said...

Looks like a nice time being with your family. I would love to do more arts and crafts activities with my toddler!

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