It is natural for every parent to love their child even before they enter this world. There is an undeniable parent-child bond from the moment you conceive your child. You can tell how they are feeling, what must have happened, and you rush to comfort them just from a single look. It comes naturally, right?
But sometimes, you need to express your love in more than one way. You have to express how much you love your little angel to strengthen your parent-child bond.
Even if your child is young or old, your connection matters just the same. It becomes more and more important as your child grows.
If you are a busy parent trying to maintain a healthy and loving relationship with your child, this article is good news. Take notes as you go through the importance of your bond with children and 7 actionable steps every parent swears by. Let’s get started.
Why is a parent-child bond necessary?
Parents play a pivotal role in a child’s life; not only are they a guardian figure in their childhood, but they are also a lifelong influence. If a kid’s early life is cultivated with love, care, and security, they will grow to become healthy adults with confident and stable lives. On the other hand, if a child hasn’t bonded with their parents, you can see its effects throughout their lives.
Bonding with your children isn’t just a sign that you love them; it is also a marker that you will be there for them. To know about the benefits of a strong parent-child bond, head to the pointers below:
- Children with a strong relationship with their parents have been seen to develop stronger relationships with other people in their lives. They are secure with themselves and confident while approaching others.
- A healthy parent-child bond stimulates social, emotional, and cognitive growth in children. It helps children nurture positive behavior and habits for their internal development.
- When faced with stress and challenging situations, these kids regulate their emotions better and are more likely to stay calm.
- Children with parents who check in on their kids’ lives (not helicopter parenting!) have a higher rate of doing well academically. They also have a more heightened sense of security.
- If your kids have a good bond with you, they are more likely to be kind and compassionate towards others. This pushes them towards a path of success and lifelong relationships.
How to bond with your children?
There is not a single doubt that you love your children and you want to bond with them. But due to your hectic lifestyle, it can be harder to find ways to strengthen your parent-child bond. Here are 7 tried and tested ways parents swear by to bond with their kids that you need to try.
- Read together
Since time immemorial, bedtime stories with kids have been a tradition in many families. Most new parents now can relate to this with their grannies telling them stories about magic and land beyond. One thing that is apparent through this is that your bond with the storyteller is still precious to you; after all, the stories were weaved with so much love.
Just as you loved those stories, your kids will love them too. It is the easiest and the most effective way to bond with your children and make the time memorable.
You can go for a bedtime story ritual, or you can simply resort to reading to them when you have time during the day. The shared emotion and quality time will make your relationship bloom.
Reading has several benefits you’d want your child to have the best of. Not only will reading help your child’s reading skills, but it will help them develop verbal communication well.
It also allows kids to improve their language and writing skills; the more words they know, the more they’ll use them. Isn’t it amazing how a simple bonding activity with kids can help them so much!
Here are some tips you can use to making parent-child bonding fun:
- Don’t stick to only fairy tales and storybooks. Shuffle between simple encyclopedia, fun facts, and infographics as well.
- Buy a collection of fun books for kids and let them pick what they want to read with you.
- While reading storybooks, read a couple of pages at a time and ask your kid what they think happens next.
- In the end, always ask your kid how they like the book? Do they enjoy reading with you?
Ready to read for your child? Here are some curated reading suggestions.
- Bubble Gum Brain by Julia Cook
- When Pigs Fly by Valerie Coulman
- A Walk in the Rain with a Brain by Edward Hallowell
- Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn for Kids by John C. Maxwell
- Get crafty!
Kids love colors and tearing things up. What better way to channel their love and energy than fun art and crafts? It is the most fun you can do with your kids even when you don’t have much time.
Even if your child doesn’t like reading, they will be attracted to art and craft. Art and crafts aren’t just activities for fun; they can be a method to channel your child’s energy, creativity, and emotions.
Research says creativity in children is a marker for wisdom, and art and crafts will let your child’s creativity flourish for sure. It can be an outlet for your kids to express themselves when they are happy or sad, and when they do, you will be there to bond with your kids.
Start with easy art and craft for children when you are teaching them. When they can follow you easily and realize they like it, you can level up to low supervision crafts for kids. You can see your child spill their creativity on paper and smile at you when they do something well; how precious!
If you are running late or do not have much time, you don’t need to worry. There is no need to skip your parent-child bonding time; you can just do crafts for kids in under a minute. These easy crafts will help you maintain your art streak with your child and give them a little something to cherish till the next time.
- Bond musically
Every day a new video of kids singing and dancing with their kids goes viral. The people in the video may be different, but one thing remains the same, their smiles and the fun time they are having. It is evident that people bond over music; it is a great way to strengthen your bond with children.
The music you listen to with your children doesn’t have to be classical or instrumental; it can be the soundtrack to their favorite cartoon. Or you can try a musical activity with kids. If your kids like it, you can sing it with them.
The first time you sing the song, your child will giggle and laugh seeing you sing along their show, but they will sing with you the next time. Now every time the child watches that show, they’ll think of you and how you enjoyed singing with them.
If you like to dance, you can dance with your kids too. The moves don’t need to be perfect, you just need to jump, and your kid will absolutely love it. And maybe you can make a viral video while bonding with your kids too!
Tip: Music doesn’t need to be something that you listen to on TV or radio; it can be your kid’s homework. If your kid needs to learn a poem, a song, or anything with a rhyme, you can help them with it. Just sing along with them, and they’ll feel much more confident. Try it!
A little singing and dancing will also brighten your kid’s mood after a bad day at school. Maybe they failed a test they studied hard for, or the teacher skipped over their favorite class; you can make up for it with music. Turn up their favorite song and have a little singing or dancing moment.
It is difficult to remember a bad class at school when your child is having a blast right now! Your child may forget about the failed test, but they will not forget about you being there for them, cheering them.
- Go outside
Nature, sunlight, and a breath of fresh air are good for both adults and kids. And there are a million different activities you can do outside. You can go on a walk, exercise together, play something, or just soak in the sunlight.
Your time outside with your kids can be whatever you want it to be. You want it to be an active time; you can play and go for a run.
You want to have a lazy day out; you can sit or lay down in light. Or you want to do something fun? You can water your plants outside.
Here are some ideas you can your kids will love for great parent-child bonding:
- Take advantage of the sunlight and go for a walk during the evenings. The aim can be just talking, looking at the sunset, and meeting someone. The hustle-bustle of your neighborhood will make your day cheerful. If you want some alone time, you can go for a walk in the morning.
- Walk your dog outside together. You can take your dog for a walk on a serene road or to the park where you can play with your dog. Kids love pets, so you can bond over a game with your pets too.
- You can play a sport together. If your child is showing interest in any game, you can play it with them in your backyard, park, or a beach nearby.
- Sit outside during the weekend. Just bask in the sunlight while doing homework with the kids, playing a board game, or just talking. You don’t need a reason to sit and bond with your child.
- You can participate in motor skill development activities for your kids and have fun while learning.
Tips For A Guaranteed Strong Parent-Child Relationship:
- Listen to kids
Yes, listening is not an activity, but it may be the best thing you can do to strengthen the parent-child bond. When you listen to your child, they feel seen, and it is evident that their experiences are acknowledged, just like adults feel.
You may feel like you are already listening to your child, and it is too simple advice to be called a tip. Listening may not be an activity, but it is an active process.
Most of the time, adults are used to hearing what their children are saying. Hearing means just passively paying attention to what the other person says; you do not actually understand what they are saying.
It can be due to a busy lifestyle, burnout, or just because you can’t keep up with your child’s energy. But no matter the cause, your child would love it if you could reciprocate their energy.
You don’t have to respond to every sentence they speak but do respond with interest. Even if they speak gibberish or tell you a story about their out-of-the-world dream, your response will help them be confident with speaking.
To help you enhance your parent-child bond, here are some listening tips you might need:
- Make your responses specific. When your kids are telling you something, pick a specific topic and ask them about it. For example, if they are telling you about their day at school, instead of asking how did your day go, ask how did your lunch break go? Or how was your art class?
- Make eye contact while listening to your child. This is the ultimate bonding action you can do without even saying a word. It will make the child feel seen, and the conversation noticed.
- If your child is telling you about something sad or anything that may have impacted them, you can hug your child or hold their hand while they are talking. Your aim is not to stop the conversation; you want to make them feel comfortable and protected to say anything to you.
- Pay attention; be mindful of the things your kid is saying. If you are busy or something else has your attention, you can always ask your child politely to wait till you are free. But if you do that, you should get back to it once you are free.
These simple listening tips will help you strengthen your parent-child bond and raise emotionally strong adults.
- Have a ritual
It’s almost automatic how you wake up in the morning and follow a set morning routine. Some of you may go directly to brush your teeth, and some might start making their bed even before their eyes open. A daily ritual is very important in everybody’s life; it keeps everything organized and gives you a sense of calm.
Similarly, if you create a ritual with someone, it creates an undeniable bond with them. You can bond with your children with a common routine that only you share. This will keep your child excited, and they’ll look forward to spending time with you.
Here are some ideas to bond with kids through a simple ritual:
- Your ritual doesn’t need to be fancy or out of the ordinary; it can be as simple as having breakfast (or any meal of the day) together.
- Reading can be a ritual, too; you can go for a bedtime story.
- Another great habit you and your child can form together is going out on walks. It can be to get some fresh air daily or to walk your dog. You don’t need to talk during this time; you can just walk in silence.
- If your kid is inclined towards sports, you can play with them whenever you have the energy and time. It applies to board games too!
- You can cook together. Ask your child to help you with food preparation and teach them critical tips while cooking; it’ll be fun and learning.
- You can also do simple things, such as coloring pages for kids, and have a great time making memories.
- Eat together, stay together
It is said, a family who eats together stays together, and this statement holds true. Due to the hectic lives of both parents and children, having dinner together has become a task.
Children get tired easily, so they have dinner earlier and sleep. Parents like you can get caught up in their professional or personal life and choose to eat alone or even skip dinner.
But meals aren’t only sustenance; they are a way of sharing love and warmth. When someone (especially parents) cooks, they pour their heart and soul into the process to make the food as delicious as they can. And when people enjoy that meal, it keeps them happy and makes the person feel appreciated for all their effort.
Even if you order takeout, nothing beats sitting together and enjoying the burst of flavor. Below are some more reasons why is eating together important:
- Sitting together for meals makes every family member feel connected to each other, especially kids. Kids feel loved, safe, and comfortable.
- Even if you don’t have much time to interact with children, mealtime gives you a chance to enjoy each other’s company.
- Starting meals with a grateful message helps children develop values and appreciation towards their family.
- Eating together also allows every family member to share their day-to-day experiences and build up each other’s morale. Mostly, it is a chance to support each other.
Now that you know the benefits of eating together, you might need these tips to make your mealtime special:
- Of course, use this time together to teach your kids about your family values but don’t make every meal about it. It’s okay to lay back and laugh about stupid things sometimes. It’ll make the children feel less burdened.
- Focus more on your interactions to bond with kids rather than bringing up their eating habits, grades, and discipline. It may have an adverse reaction, and your child may shut off.
- Keep conversation light; it will encourage your children to speak their minds.
- If you have anything difficult or tough to speak or ask your children, save it for some other time. Bringing tougher things during meals may often result in your child not eating well.
Tip: During eating, turn off the TV and tablets. Teach your child to keep away their phones and other devices while eating and focus more on eating and bonding.
You can encourage your child to make their own fun kid’s desserts for mealtime too.
I hope this article helped you to reflect on your relationship with your child. All these tips and steps are meant to strengthen your parent-child bond and give your child healthy adulthood. If you are still looking for more parenting tips, read out informational blogs on activities to keep kids occupied, things to do on a walk with kids, and how to make reading fun.
Summary
Why Is A Parent-Child Bond Necessary?
- Children with a strong relationship with their parents develop stronger relationships with other people in their lives.
- They are secure, confident, stable when they face a challenge.
- Kids with a strong parent-child bond have healthy social, emotional, and cognitive growth.
- Such kids are kind and compassionate towards others.
How to bond with your children?
- Read together: Reading increases kids’ verbal and communication skills and their imagination too. Shuffle between storybooks, fun facts, and encyclopedia.
- Get crafty: Give your child’s creativity new wings with simple art and crafts. Help your child be imaginative while binding with them.
- Bond musically: Sing along your kid’s favorite tracks and learn to dance to their tune.
- Go outside: Bask in the sunlight and do your favorite activities. Take a walk, go to the beach, or just do your homework in your backyard.
- Listen to your kids: Be an active listener when your child is telling your something. Ask specific questions and focus your attention on them.
- Have a ritual: A ritual activity will help you and your child bond over shared time and emotions. It can be playing, reading, or coloring.
Eat together: Have at least one meal a day together with your family. Have a light and hearty conversation and enjoy the deliciousness!
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