Valentine’s Day is upon us! I don’t know about you, but I like to look for simple ways to make Valentine’s Day special around my house. It’s fun to find unique ways to make our kids feel special, but doing so once a year isn’t enough. We need to make sure we show our children how much we care throughout the year.
Try these tips for connecting with your kids any day of the year.
Show Kids You Care Every Day
1. Bake With Them
My youngest children adore making cookies with me. It doesn’t matter what we’re making, they love to stir, measure, and mix. Nothing says I love you like allowing a budding baker to pour the chocolate chips into the batter.
Baking with older kids is a bit more difficult. Now that they’re busy making their own cookies, brownies, and cakes, they don’t need us to measure and pour. Instead, pull out new or challenging recipes to tackle together. Create truffles for the teen party, whip up a couple of specialty pizzas for the Friday night movie, or bake a fancy cake.
The time spent together says I love you more than a dozen boxes of chocolate.
2. Run Errands Together
Running errands may sound like a chore, but it’s actually an excellent time to get to know your child. For some reason driving around town together in the car encourages kids to open up and can result in meaningful conversations.
You can chat about your favorite movies, the book you’re reading, or the news. Talk about sports, work, or tell funny stories from your childhood. When your child begins to engage, stop talking and listen carefully.
Many heart-to-heart conversations occur during mundane errand runs.
3. Learn Their Favorite Game
My kids play a lot of games that I’ve never played before. As the mom, I’m usually busy cooking dinner, cleaning, or running errands. It’s hard to find the time to sit down to play games. That time is the luxury of childhood.
However making the time to learn my kids’ favorite games shows them how much I care, even if it’s not Valentine’s Day. My kids get the opportunity to teach me the ropes and explain the rules, while I’m the student.
Playing my kids’ favorite games with them is a fun way to show them how much I care.
4. Read What They’re Reading
Another fabulous way to show my children how much I care is to read their favorite books. Sometimes, instead of reading one of the books we’re using for our homeschool studies, I grab the books my kids are reading during free time.
Later I start a lively discussion about the book emphasizing the points I like. We’ll chat about character motivation, what we think should have happened, and if there are more books in the series. Dinners turn into a long discussion about their favorite stories.
Books connect families.
While Valentine’s Day makes a great time to show kids you care, it’s not the only time. Make an effort to turn daily chores into fun activities which bind you closer as a family.
What’s your favorite way to show kids you care?
updated from an article originally published February 11, 2016
Baking and reading to them – yup. You just named two of my kids’ favorites.
Such good ideas! It’s easy as a homeschooling Mom, to just thing you are doing enough by homeschooling. However, true relationship takes a lot of time. One thing I do with my two girls, is to write a journal back and forth. I write a letter to them and leave it in their room and when they receive it, they write one back. It is a lot of fun and amazing the things I learn about them, especially my oldest daughter.
I sit with my son while he does his math. He seems to get a mental block, but if I am just sitting there, to tell him yes or no on the answer, he seems to do much better. He doesn’t even need help, just someone to bounce his thoughts off while he works out the problem.
My son is like that, too. He wants to do most of his math with me. He knows it; he just wants that reassurance before he hits enter after putting in his answer.