Playing soccer with mom and dad and building huge sandcastles, staging snowball fights in the garden or building the biggest and most beautiful snowman in the area. Whether inside or outside — children are happy when their parents spend time with them. Some may be surprised, but besides small children, teenagers also want to spend more time with their parents. Based on studies, we inform you what children want from their families and give tips on how to turn shared time into quality time.
What do adolescents want more family time for?
SOS Children's Villages commissioned a survey at the Institute for Youth Culture Research to find out where the stress factors lie for Austrian families and the adolescents living in them. The study revealed that 15 percent of young people between 14 and 18 feel the desire to celebrate festivals together more often. 22 out of a hundred adolescents wish their parents would take more time to discuss important topics with them. Almost a third of the youngsters enjoy more frequent shared meals. With 55 percent, most adolescents said they would like their parents to do more activities with them.
What do children want from their mother
One third of children in Germany wish their mothers would give them more time. With 40 out of 100, the largest portion of respondents are happy when their mother bakes or cooks with them. Almost as many, 38%, prefer playing with their mother. 30 out of 100 children wish that she would do sports activities with them.
Many children long for shared time with their parents in which they do things together such as:
- eat,
- do crafts,
- talk,
- watch TV,
- play computer games together,
- listen to music, or
- go hiking.
This was the result of the study LBS Children's Barometer Germany 2012.
Do children want something different from fathers than from mothers?
The Landesbausparkasse found that children in Germany have similar wishes of their fathers as of their mothers. However, the percentage of children who prefer to bake with their mother is higher than with fathers. In contrast, more boys and girls want to play with their fathers than with their mothers.
Why is it important to spend time with children?
Clinical psychologist Ms. Acelya Sahin Firat explained in an interview with the magazine for diversity Brücke köprü, that children need time with their parents to prepare for life outside the family. If a child feels neglected, problems arise such as:
- loss of self-esteem,
- depression, and
- outbursts of anger.
When you spend time with your child, you get to know and understand each other better. The bond between you strengthens. The child learns to appreciate what you model for them. They become less susceptible to peer influence.
Stressful everyday life and spending time with the children – how can that be reconciled?
If everyday life is packed with a lot of work, there is little time left for the children. Lightening your daily routine is one way to be able to spend more time together. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is it necessary that everything around you is always one hundred percent in order? Can the lawn grow a little longer before you mow it? Does the laundry have to be neatly ironed and folded into the wardrobe right now, or can that wait for another time?
- How important is it to you that your house and garden appear perfect to your neighbors?
- Is it possible to remove items from your to-do list without replacement?
You spend extra and valuable minutes together if you involve your child playfully in everyday activities. Does your boy or girl want to keep playing construction worker with you? Let your child finish the workday by tidying up the construction site while you "at home" prepare the meal before the hardworking worker returns home tired. If you play with ships, your child can help as the ship's cook to prepare food for the whole crew. When mopping or vacuuming is on the agenda, you are a sailor on a ship and "scrub the deck." In this way you play with your child and at the same time get your work done.
Tips on how to spend time with your pubescent children
Getting adolescents to spend time together doing activities they don't find boring or that they absolutely don't feel like doing is difficult. Here are some tips on how to get your pubescent teenager to enjoy doing things with you:
- Tip 1:If your child likes playing on the console, invite them to a real-life action game. Do laser tag together. Super Mario fans will have fun at a go-kart track. If your child likes paintball, invite friends along with your teenage children.
- Tip 2:Adapt outings to the children's ages. Instead of a scavenger hunt, try to impress your child with geocaching. A zoo visit becomes an adventure in the safari park. Instead of visiting a boring natural history museum, choose museums with exciting topics such as criminology or espionage. Adolescents also enjoy experiential museums where they can be active themselves.
- Tip 3:Sporty and action-loving adolescents enjoy climbing in indoor facilities as well as in outdoor rope parks. Skiing and sledding are popular winter activities. In summer, sports like canyoning, surfing and stand-up paddling are suitable for having fun together. Horse lovers will be happy about a joint ride.
- Tip 4:Adolescents also enjoy hanging out at home with their parents and beating them at an exciting or funny board game or a computer game.
Coloring, drawing, crafting and tinkering – activities for all ages
Do some crafts with your children again. Playing in a self-built fort, raft or castle is especially fun. Homemade masks and costumes bring great play value not only at Carnival. The children's room is transformed into a cozy place for your children with a mobile made together from planets, spaceships, fairies or other motifs.
If your children like tinkering, build birdhouses or bee hotels together with them, or make your own Christmas decorations with fretwork or great gliders.
An activity that small children as well as adults enjoy is painting or drawing. There are numerous tutorials and books online for this. Those who like coloring search the internet for coloring pages that match their interests.The selection is huge.Whether you and your children color vehicles, enjoy cartoon characters like Asterix and Obelix, or are interested in mandalas — the finished picture serves as a gift or decorates the walls. In a self-made and decorated folder it will find a safe storage place for a long time.
Preparing and celebrating parties together
Nothing bonds people more than joint projects. Once in a while, prepare a big party out of the ordinary. Each family member contributes according to their abilities. Surprise your guests not only with culinary attractions but also with a rehearsed sketch or a small play. Alternatively, your little and big guests can contribute to the success of the celebration with karaoke performances.
Time with children, a valuable asset
It doesn't matter what you do with your children, whether it costs money or not. Your child learns to appreciate when you spend time with them together, at home or outside. There are no limits to the imagination for shared time.
