Top Tips to Enjoy Better Family Time

It’s not easy balancing your work, home and social life, especially if you have small children to look after. As a result, parents and children often have far less time interacting with one another on a day-to-day basis which can have major effects on their overall development and wellbeing.

According to one American study, parents spend 40% less time with their children than they did just a few decades ago, so you may wish to analyze your own daily routine to work out how you can make a few small changes to ensure your family are spending better quality time together.

Here are just a few ideas:

Create an open plan living space

One of the major factors as to why many families struggle to spend time together while in the home is due to unsuitable room layouts. Parents often spend a huge proportion of the evening in the kitchen cooking dinner, while the children keep themselves entertained in the living room.

Open plan living could solve this issue, so everyone can be in the same room at the same time, with designated spaces for dining, cooking and lounging. This not only boosts social interaction between family members, but also gives parents peace of mind when keeping an eye on little ones.

In order to revamp your living space, you’ll need to get in touch with a professional builder who can give advice on which walls are safe to be knocked out. Next, it would be best to contact an expert on bespoke designer kitchens, as the kitchen is often the main focal point of any open-plan living project.

Complete chores together

When you do have spare time at home, it can be difficult to make time for the children when you have domestic duties to attend to. Why not combine the two and ask your children to help around the house? One element of a happy family is teamwork, so the whole household can contribute their efforts to create a clean and tidy home. Allocating chores also teaches children responsibility, which should shape their intuition later in life.

Help out with schoolwork

It goes without saying that homework is a chore – even for parents, but as you’ll have no choice but to spend a couple of hours each evening helping with their projects, you may as well make it fun. Showing enthusiasm in their homework tasks is sure to boost their academic development, as they’ll be keen to show you what they have learnt in school, which re-enforces the knowledge they have acquired.

Plan a family outing

When quality family time is limited, it would always be a good idea to plan a date in the calendar for a day trip. When you have little ones in tow, it can be a challenging experience, but a little bit of planning could make all the difference.

A day trip could be as simple as going for a drive, a picnic in the park, or even taking a stroll through the woods so you can catch up with one another. If you have very young children, a visit to a theme park or zoo will generate excitement and initiate interesting conversations on the journey home.