5 Awesome Things Your Family Can Do Together

While your kids grow up, the family is together. Once they become adults, they might leave and live in different cities or other countries. At that time, it can be hard to get everyone back together for reunions.

While you’re all under the same roof, though, you need to try and establish loving bonds. If those endure when the kids become adults, that’s often best for everyone.

If the family stays close, the parents might help their adult kids with money when they need it. The adult kids can help the parents when they get to retirement age and aren’t as physically strong or mentally sharp as before.

Part of getting to that point is fun times when the kids are younger, so let’s talk about family activities you can all enjoy.

Swimming

Swimming lessons for kids is a valuable skill that offers lifelong benefits. There will likely be many situations throughout their life when they will be around the water, whether that’s the ocean, a lake, swimming pool, etc. If they know how to swim, a drowning death is less likely.

These deaths occur. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention does mention that between 2005-2014 averaged 3,536 drowning deaths in the United States. Still, you shouldn’t let this prevent you from getting in the water, which many people enjoy.

You can take your kids to swim classes at the YMCA or day camp. Once they have the basics down, this can be a fun activity that the whole family can do. Some kids and their parents love their time in the water.

Biking

Biking is another activity that you can all do together, and it’s also another one your kids are likely to use as they get older. You can buy a bike relatively cheaply, or you can get a top-of-the-line model. Either way, once your kids get their training wheels off, you can start going on longer bike rides and exploring.

You can take weekend days and roll around your neighborhood, or you can go further afield. Perhaps there is a park you can explore, or you might go to a neighboring town and check out some of their quieter suburban areas where there’s not much traffic.

Like swimming, there’s danger when you ride, but this time you need to watch out for traffic more than anything else. You can teach your kids safety tips like helmet-wearing, and you can show them how to check for traffic before cycling along either a side street or major thoroughfare.

Walking

Simply walking around with your kids is something the whole family can do. You can explore all the places you could when bike-riding, but you can do so on foot.

This is ideal for some families who don’t have a lot of excess cash at the moment. Family walks can be suitable if you’re trying to conserve money because they cost you nothing, but they’re great exercise.

You need to watch out for things like childhood obesity. It happens a lot in this country these days, with kids playing video games all day long or watching shows or movies on various streaming services.

You can stay in shape as a family if you walk several times per week. Maybe you’re trying to keep your weight down as well, so doing it together can be a bonding experience that might continue for years.

Watching Movies

Speaking of all those streaming services, you might look at which one makes the most sense for your whole family. You may go with Hulu, Sling, Disney+, HBO MAX, Peacock, or several others.

Many families don’t want to go to the movies so much right now because the pandemic is still going on. 

The average family is also getting away from cable since streaming services are gradually taking over. That means you might want to get either one streaming service or more than one.

You don’t have to spend a ton of money every month on most of these services, and they can be a way to entertain the kids on days when biking or walking is not possible. Think of these streaming services as your rainy-day insurance. It probably sounds a lot better to plunk the kids down on the couch and turn on a Disney movie than to have them running through the house yelling at each other.

You can also look for streaming services that feature adult content you can watch with your significant other if you are co-parenting. Once the kids are in bed, you might turn on HBO MAX and watch Game of Thrones or the Sopranos.

Cooking

Cooking can be another fun way to bind the family together and create some happy memories. If you already know how to cook very well, you might feel eager to pass those skills down to your kids. You can show them all the family’s most cherished recipes. Perhaps your parents taught you, and now you can pass that along.

Cooking is fun but practical as well. If you teach your kids to cook at a young age, they can better prepare their meals when they are older. On days when you might have to work a double, or you’re not around as much, you can leave ingredients for your kids, and they will know how to use them because of the skills you taught them.

If you do some of these things or all of them, it’s likely your family will enjoy their time as the kids grow up. When they become adults, you can hopefully retain that connection, so they will live close by or visit often.

If you allow the family to fragment, that will probably make you sad, but staying together doesn’t just happen. It takes a concerted effort by you, the parent. You might not think about these things very much right now, but the time when you’re all under the same roof lays the groundwork for all of your future together or apart.