By Eric Putnam -

Our daily lives are filled with repeated attempts to define our place in society.  We ask questions like “who are we?” and “where do we come from?”  We find strength and unity in words like “us” and “them.”

Families are naturally wired to seek out unity both in individual personal growth and as support in life’s most difficult times.  Even though we may be wired for unity, families are not always unified.

The good news is that since we are wired this way, it is pretty easy to get families back on track and one of the best ways to unify a family is in creating a family bonding ritual like Family Fun Time.

What is Family Fun Time?

Family Fun Time is:

-       Scheduled fun

-       Ritualized family interaction

-       Bonding time

-       Relationship building

-       Self-esteem building

Why should you have Family Fun Time?

Family Fun Time strengthens the family!

It brings the family together.  It makes it easy for the family to support each other during the challenging times.  It strengthens family relationships in a ways that encourages children to seek guidance from their parents.

How do you do it?

-       Commit

-       Create a new family ritual

-       Engage the children

-       Strengthen the bond with your children

Commitment

Commitment should be the driving force behind Family Fun Time. Children quickly learn to look forward to fun time together. Don’t commit to something you can’t do.  Commit to a specific day and time.  Post it on a calendar and remind your children that it is coming.  Commit to weekly if you can or at least every other week.

Family Fun Time does not have to be that long in duration.  If commitment is difficult, try 30 minutes a week.

Create a new family ritual

Habits, routines and rituals are powerful tools to motivate behavior.  Habits are repetitive behaviors.  Routines are several behaviors or repetitive activities.  Rituals have symbolic meaning behind routines.  With Family Fun Time, the routine is scheduled fun and the family is the symbol

Engage the children

Allow your child to choose the activity.  Allowing choice in a child’s life is empowering and self-esteem building.  Each child need to feel empowered within the family and it is very difficult to teach and guide a child with low self-esteem.

For families that have more than one child, allow a different child to choose, but make sure that it is an activity that everyone can enjoy.

Choose interactive instead of passive.  Make sure that the activity encourages family interaction.  Unfortunately this leaves out TV, movies, and most video games.  These activities should be done outside of Family Fun Time.

Interactive activities could include riding bikes, playing at the park, or playing board games.   Remember to choose activities that encourage communication and family support.

Strengthen the bond with your children

Acknowledge your children.  Use Family Fun Time to strengthen the connections with your children further by acknowledging them.

-       Acknowledge what children do

-       Acknowledge what children feel

Constantly remind your children that you care about what they think, feel and do.

Celebrate your children’s talents

-       Discover their talents

-       Teach their talents

Family Fun Time Rules

Choose inexpensive activities

Don’t let finances stand in the way of whether or not Family Fun Time is going to happen.  Let your children know in the beginning the cost maximum they can choose from.

Besides, there are hundreds of activities that are fun and don’t cost any money at all.  Some options could include, drawing, make believe, or just getting all dressed up and putting on a show.

Set a few rules that encourage cooperation and bonding

Some example rules could include:

-       No teasing or fighting

-       No complaining

-       No problem solving

Keep the rules simple and remember the overall goal is to HAVE FUN!!!