The best activities for parents and teens to bond together involve fun and collaboration. It is usually around this age that teens seek out other forms of social support, so getting to spend some time with them can be challenging at times. Regardless, the best ways to bond are to actively involve both parents and teens and show the human side of both. Opening that connection with your teenager and showing that parents are there to support them positively lays the groundwork for a fulfilling and meaningful relationship. Here are the five best activities for parents and teens to do together.
Exercise together
Exercising with your teen can be a great way to bond. In addition to the various health benefits of exercise, the release of endorphins from physical exertion is a big mood booster. When tensions can arise between you and your teenager, a good activity for parents and teens is to engage in a similar workout routine or physical activity. I’ve written previously about the benefits of enrolling your teen in a sport. While they will probably use that time to bond with their peers, exercising with your teen can be an excellent complement to their fitness training. Family exercise may even help them discover what type of sport is most suitable for them.
Play games together
While some parents are understandably cautious about the presence of gaming in their teen’s life, this can be an opportunity to understand your child’s life better. Games are a large part of pop culture for teenagers and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. Playing their favourite games together, or even sharing your favourite games with them, allows both parent and teen to share a part of their lives with each other. You can also take the opportunity to introduce healthy gaming habits and time management tips to prepare your teen for greater lifestyle independence. More importantly, playing games is a lot of fun, and bonding is best done when fun is involved.
Cook together
Nothing warms the soul better than a good meal, and there’s no better way to have a good meal than to make it yourself. Cooking together is an excellent way to teach life skills and bond with your teen. This activity provides a dynamic environment to learn, explore, and experiment. It creates an opportunity for your children to relate to your experiences while creating new ones together. Parents and teens can try following online recipes, learning how to create new dishes, or refining old childhood favourites. There is no shortage of things to do in the kitchen. This also puts both parties in a similar working environment, lowering the barriers and encouraging cooperation, which can carry forward into other aspects of life.
Work on a shared project
In the same vein of creating things together, it can also be beneficial to find a project for your whole family to work on together. One great activity for parents and teens to work on is jigsaw puzzles. Assembling a jigsaw requires both independent and collaborative problem-solving and good communication skills. In addition, it teaches teens the value of teamwork and patience and deepens the relationship between parent and child. Other shared activities for parents and teens might include building a Lego set or planting a garden.
Make a time capsule
What better way to create memories with your family than to preserve them for the future? A great activity for parents and teens is curating and creating a family time capsule. This involves collating cherished items such as photographs, toys, childhood drawings or poems, and anything else that your family would consider precious. After that, place these items within any container of your choice and store the container away. You can consider placing it within a storeroom or burying the capsule underground, waiting about five to ten years to open it again. Ideally, you and your family will have a fun box of nostalgia to open in the next period of your life. Regardless of what happens to the capsule itself, the process of going through precious items and cherished memories will strengthen the bonds between you and your teen.
More great activities for parents and teens to do together can be found at TransCultural Group. Head over to their site for fun and enriching courses about the world and its various cultures.
Sources:
- https://www.chicagoparent.com/things-to-do/at-home/at-home-activities-tweens-and-teens/
- https://www.moneyprodigy.com/activities-to-do-with-teenager/
- https://everydaychaosandcalm.com/family-activities-to-do-with-teens/
- https://www.maryhannawilson.com/activities-teens/
- https://www.verywellfamily.com/things-to-do-with-or-for-your-teen-2609590
- https://teens.lovetoknow.com/teen-activities-things-do/fun-activities-parents-teens-do-together
Leave a Reply