What you can do
If you live a busy life, consider breaking up the special times spent with your children into smaller pieces. By doing so, it’ll allow you to complete your chores and work around the time you spend with your children.
You can give the special times you spend with your children names and allocate certain times of the day for them. It doesn’t have to be long; 15 minutes is enough. This routine will give your children something to look forward to as they’ll have your undivided attention for that set period.
We recommend having some ideas or activities to do in this time. If you’re unsure of what to do, lean on the suggestions of your children.
Free activities to do with your kids around the home
Reading is a basic activity to do with your children. Books with chapters are great as you can set a goal to read a chapter or two a day. Depending on your child’s age and reading ability, get them to read to you too.
Other activities that you can do with your young ones around the home include:
- Playing dress ups
- Colouring in
- Playing board games
- Cooking together
- Telling them stories
- Singing
- Gardening.
Free activities to do with your kids in the community
There are plenty of free activities that you can do in the community. Keep an eye out for events happening at local community services (i.e. the library, fire station, police station or PCYC). Stay up to date with these events by looking at your local council’s website or social media pages. If you live in a metropolitan area, look up what museums and galleries are around you. They may have free exhibitions for you and your child(ren) to enjoy.
Other activities that you could do in the community include:
- visiting your local park
- enjoying a picnic
- visiting a botanical garden
- going to the beach
- going on an adventure
- going on a bike ride.
Why special time with your children is important
Special times can be a way to connect with your child(ren). As adults, it’s not uncommon for us to get caught up in the stress of our busy lives and children can sense when things aren’t right, even if you try very carefully to hide it.
Scheduling time to connect with them can give them reassurance and a sense of security. It’ll help with family bonding and allow you to focus on smaller things to do around the home and just live in the moment.
Common barriers
You might find yourself having thoughts like, “this is just another chore to add to the list,” “I don’t have the time or energy,” “I can’t think of things to do,” or “it’s just going to cost more money.”
When these thoughts come up, think outside of the box. Look around you and make use of simple things to do that’ll allow you to give time to your children. It’s about the time spent with them, it doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy.
When you spend time with your children remember not to answer the phone (unless there’s an emergency) and fully concentrate on them. Doing so can help improve your relationship with them and your family.
More information
Anglicare Southern Queensland specialises in family and wellbeing services. We provide family support and children and parenting programs for families needing assistance to improve their emotional wellbeing, development of their children and connection with their communities. To learn more about these services, visit our family wellbeing page on our website.