Making the Most of Family Time

Time with the family is precious, especially when your children are young and still actually want to spend time with you! It’s a fantastic time when your little ones are learning about the world and seemingly mundane things are enough to fill them with wonder and delight.

Get Creative in the Kitchen

In many households, the kitchen is the heart of the home and a great place for parents to foster a love of food and cooking in children. Taking time out to cook and bake with them can become moments children cherish as they grow older. Helping them to understand about food and where it comes from can provide good grounding in later life. If children know how to distinguish good food from junk, they can grow up to be healthy individuals. But nutritious food aside, it’s also fun to bake the odd treat now and again – cupcakes and brownies always go down a treat and aren’t too tricky for children to master.

Once you’ve finished the cooking, make sure that everybody helps with the cleaning up. It’s a good habit to instil in children and will encourage them to tidy up after themselves more often. Beko do a really useful guide to the washing up, in terms of dishwashers which is obviously safer than doing the washing up (for kids).

Walk in the Woods

A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon is taking a long walk in the woods with the family. Not only does it help teach children about nature and instil a love of wildlife, some exercise and fresh air is going to be more beneficial than spending hours in front of the TV. A child will grow up to be much more concerned with the state of the planet, if they have been taught from an early age to love nature and the world. A great game to play with children during your walk is to encourage them to point out things that crawl, things that fly, things that grow, things that swim etc.

Story Time

A great way to bond with your little ones is to read to them – be it in the afternoon or before bedtime. Children who are read to are more likely to thrive at school (being familiar with books will make them appear less ‘scary’) and will benefit from a vivid imagination. Reading a wide variety of books is great for increasing your children’s general knowledge and helping them recognise more formal language. Books can be a lifelong friend to them and the stories you tell and the quality time you spend together will stay with them forever.

Written by Laura Tolentino.

Laura is passionate about blogging. She writes for several blogs online.